Stepping into their Shoes

         Each character in Julia Alvarez's story give a different dynamic to the legend being told.  From the beginning four chapters of the story, we are introduced to the family of the narrator. Each family member contributed to taking the reader beyond the story, by giving each person a voice. In each chapter, the main character changes and we get to see the life or a story through that one characters eyes. Also, within the case of the family characters, each one had a different personality but contain some of the same attributes showing that they are too related. With each character, she expresses the things they do in great detail which gives the reader a view of what is going on. She goes in depth about each character, such as the father. She speaks on him drinking, but never says that he is drunk but that she head the sound of the glass rum bottles clanking against each other. Without the characters of the story, Alvarez wouldn't be able to give the full effect of the story and also she most likely wouldn't be able to tell it. The thoughts of the people involved and her family give her a sense of peace at mind when she's telling the story. At the beginning, it is apparent that she is tired of telling the legend every year or month at the same time. She must mentally prepare herself to tell the story the way people want to hear it. So, with each of these characters being so dynamic and containing such a huge role in the story it makes it much easier on her. She does accomplish the goal of using the characters to take us beyond the legend and into the legend. As a reader we can somewhat relate or place ourselves in the shoes of the characters and at times close our eyes to visualize the events and situations they go through. The characters give the story a personality in which the reader can and must relate.