A White Woman of Color

Story Title: A White Woman of Color by Julia Àlvarez

Briefly: Julia Àlvarez’s short story “A White Woman of Color” tells the personal history of herself. The author and her Dominican family immigrate to America in the 1960s, a time of racism. They have a very pale skin color, so it is very important for her and her family to keep their “Latino-ness” to add color to their complexion. It proves not to be that easy for them to integrate into the new culture. The reader gets introduced to the terrible time of racism in America in which it is very difficult for immigrants to assimilate.

Afterthought: The story is told by a first person narrator. As it is a kind of autobiography, the narrator is also a character in the story and at the same time the author. This makes the whole story very emotional because the narrator influences the story with his feelings and thoughts. The plot is chronologically sequenced: It starts when she is a child and immigrates with her family and then it goes all the way through her life, until she gets old. There is a climax quite at the end of the short story when she starts to get in contact with Latino- communities and begins to hear the” language in color”. Through her own stories and poems she is called as a writer and teacher of color. She becomes a spokesperson for Dominicans in America.

The protagonist of the story is Julia, the author. This is a round character, because she developes throughout the story.  As race is a very important topic in this story, the characters are described in great detail.
Supporting and also stock characters are all the sisters of the main character and also her parents. There is just a short direct description of them at the beginning of the story.

Rating: Julia Àlvarez’s short story “A white woman of color” is very emotional. The reader is able to share her pain and misery in every single sentence.  The topic of the story is very gripping and makes you very musing. It is a work that echoes in the heart as well as the mind.
 I think teenager would like this autobiography because it is a topic, which concerns many of them these days and purely it’s also a current topic in our society.

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