Something to Declare (Pgs181-240)

Summary:
Since the book is coming to an end and it is already in Part Two: Declarations, Julia decided to reveal her struggles as becoming a writer. In order to become a writer, Julia needed to have a job first to support her necessities. She lived most of the country because she would apply to any job no matter where they were located that interested her. Even though she needed money, she did not go to her parents because she felt that she has disappointed them several times because of her choices. Her mother had always told her that she needed to get a teacher certificate and that would make her life much better. But Julia’s truly passion was to write. Her mother told her that she could write during the summer but she did not agree with this. Even though she was not successful at first, she kept on writing and finding inspirations until the day in which she found what she always wanted; a triumph in publishing her books. Julia was considered a Vermont writer, everyone kept asking her why she decided to live in Vermont after she had live in the city. But she said that in Vermont she could concentrate more in her writing than living in the city where she was distracted by movies, parties, restaurants and different types of attractions. In Vermont, this was not the case, people were united; something that reminded her of her native country. Not only that, in Vermont, Julia had written her novels. It is true that she has written stories and poems in other states, but her revisions and publishing happened in this small state where she found the inspiration to write her literatures. One of her books was inspired on one of the most touching events that had happen in the Dominican Republic. This was the murder of the Mirabal sisters during the regime of Trujillo. This event was so horrifying that November 25, they day they were killed, was declared the International Day against Violence against Women by the United Nations. She traveled to the Dominican Republic and went to almost all the places where the Mirabal sister went, to find information about them. She even discovered something that she did not know about; there was a fourth sister and she was still alive. After 22 years of teaching, Julia decided to give up tenure and dedicate all her time to write. Even though she has made this decision it was hard for her to do it because she was started to feel homesick because the academy was her home in the United States.

Quote:
“In a way, I am, for a happy ending redeems the past and makes the struggles meaningful. Still, the shadow of the lean years falls n the present like dust motes in a shaft of sunlight even after a thorough housecleaning. After so many years living on the shaky side, you never quite believe what other people keep telling you, that you’ve arrived” (Alvarez 185-186).

Reaction:
When I read this quote, the first thing that comes to my mind is that sometimes you need to fail a lot of times in order to be successful. It is true that when someone keeps failing, they give up on themselves and start to feel disappointed thinking that they are not worth anything. Not only that, they also give up on what they have always wanted without thinking on all the things they have done to accomplish it. Sometimes it takes a long time for you to accomplish it but in the end everything you went through and everything you did is worth because you get what you want. In the case of Julia, it took her a long time to stop struggling with her writing, but she accomplished what she wanted by writing a lot of stories and poems until she wrote one that people were interested in and made her famous, and faithful in her writing. It is important that no matter how many times you fall, you always have to stand up on what you believe and be strong because someday you will get it.