Women's Voices Julia Alvarez Snow - Book Report/Review Example

Research Paper Based on the Short Story Snow by Julia Alvarez Introduction Snow is a short story in Julia Alvarez’s novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. The novel is organized into three books, each of which is in turn divided into five chapters. The story contained in each chapter is narrated from the perspective of a different member of the Garcia family(Castillo-Speed 126). These members are the four sisters Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia and their parents Carlos and Laura. Snow is found in Chapter 4 of Book II and is told from Yolanda’s point of view. Carlos hates the military rule of General Rafael Trujilo and as a result, the Garcias flee to the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis takes place while Yolanda is in her fourth grade in the United States. Based on this story, the thesis of this paper is that the Cuban Missile Crisis was more traumatic for children in New York than in any other state. Discussion The Cuban Missile Crisis was the October 1962 confrontation between America and the Soviet Union following the latter’s deployment of ballistic missiles in Cuba(George 12). The event almost escalated the Cold War into a full-scale nuclear war. The event lasted thirteen and was highly televised across the world. When the Garcias moved to the United States, they settled in New York City where they lived near and attended a Catholic school. When the Cuban Missile Crisis started in October 1962, Yolanda was in her fourth grade(Castillo-Speed 127). As the event was highly televised, Yolanda and her family watched it. She was highly traumatized following speculations that the Soviet missiles assembled in Cuba were destined for New York City. Her trauma was worsened by the pictures of a visibly worried President Kennedy explaining that the U.S. might be forced to declare war on the Soviet Union. Yolanda’s trauma persisted for months after the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the story, she described the following months of November and December as growing cold(Castillo-Speed 128). They added that it was dark when they got up in the morning and frosty when they walked to school. Then, one day Yolanda mistook snow in the form of fine powder for a bomb. Even though she had never experienced snow in the Dominican Republic, in a way her reaction to the snowfall may be argued to have been the result of the fear that had compounded over the months following the Cuban Missile Crisis. Unfortunately, the story focuses on Yolandas perspective alone and does not indicate how the other three Garcia sisters reacted to the event. Also, the story is silent on the impact of the event on the children in New York City and elsewhere the nation. Nonetheless, one may safely assume that any child who at the time of the event lived in New York City and was old enough to comprehend the confrontation, must have been traumatized watching on television speculations of an imminent nuclear attack on the city. The effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis on American children are fragmented. However, in her book Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis, Alice George attempts to give a systematic account of the event on American children. Prior to this event, American children had quickly become familiar with nuclear war (George, Children of the Cold War 139). In the aftermath of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, many American children started making toys of the lethal weapons. A survey in the late 1950s reported that sixty percent of American children were having nightmares involving nuclear wars. At around this time, television was fast transforming itself from a mere tool of entertainment to a powerful source of information. It kept alive the harsh realities of the possibility of elimination to the minds of children. As a result of the harsh realities pouring in on a daily basis, psychologists concluded that American children were growing increasingly insecure even in their heavily protected homes. Even as President Kennedy grappled with managing the crisis, it appeared the interests of American and other children around the world were close to his heart (George, Children of the Cold War 139). He was once recorded as making the statement to the effect that were it not for children, he would have declared war against the Communists. Like every other parent, he also sought to protect his children. To prove his point, time and again images of himself having fun with his children would be broadcast on television. However, with the imminent danger of a nuclear war, it was difficult for his or any other American children to have fun. In mails addressed to the President, American children expressed their fear of an imminent war (George, Children of the Cold War 139). One nine-year-old boy the President that he did not like his plans and that he was too young to die. Others tasked the President to explain the necessity of war. In the end, the children liked their president for averting war. A survey conducted in Detroit shortly after Kennedys death showed that nearly all of the 1,349 elementary and secondary school involved cited the late President’s aversion to war as a major part of his legacy. An Internet search conducted by the author seems to indicate that the question of the traumatic effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis on children in New York City and elsewhere in the nation has received little research attention from scholars. In fact, one scholar has argued that compared to the September 11 attacks, the Cuban Missile Crisis may have been less traumatic for children for a number of reasons(The National Association of State Mental Health Programs 145). First, in the early 1960s, the penetration of the television was much less compared the turn of the twenty-first century. As a result, it is probable that fewer children were exposed to the 1962 crisis than those who watched the events of the 9/11 attacks. Secondly, the 1962 crisis was more overt than the 9/11 attacks that were planned and carried out in sheer secrecy, thereby taking everyone by surprise. Logical as the authors arguments are, they are not persuasive to the extent that they are not backed by empirical data. Thus, the traumatic influence on children of the 1962 crisis cannot be discounted on the basis of these arguments. Every major historical event affects different people in different places differently. In addition, while the effects of an event may be felt by several generations, it is the generation or generations that experience the event first hand that is affected the most both psychologically and in all other aspects. Still, research has shown that the younger a person is when they experience the event, the longer the memory of the event lasts in their mind(The National Association of State Mental Health Programs 42). For instance, the American who grew up during the Great Depression is likely to be haunted by the fear of not having enough to eat. Consequently, even in the absence of empirical evidence, it is logical to argue that of all American children, those who lived in New York City were the most traumatized by the imminent danger of a nuclear attack on the city. Indeed, a few months after the incident, Yolanda is greatly terrified by snowfall that she mistakes for a bomb. Conclusion Information regarding the effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 limited and highly fragmented. However, from the few sources accesses, especially Alice Georges book, it is clear that the event induced the fear of an imminent nuclear war in American children. As far as the thesis statement is concerned, the accessed sources, other than the one with the short story, do not provide direct evidence to support the claim that New York City children were the most traumatized. Clearly, this is an area scholars need to pay close research attention to. Meanwhile, it is safe to conclude that following speculation that the Soviet missiles were destined for New York City (Castillo-Speed 128), the city would have been the worst hit and its children most affected. Works Cited Castillo-Speed, Lillian. Womens Voices From the Borderlands. New York: Touchstone, 1995. Print. George, Alice. "Children of the Cold War." George, Alice. Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. 138-163. Print. George, Alice. The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Threshold of Nuclear War. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print. The National Association of State Mental Health Programs. "TRAUMA-INFORMED PEER SUPPORT ACROSS THE LIFESPAN." Peer Engagement Guide. n.d. 40-47. Print. Read More