How we cite our quotes: (Act.Chapter.Section.Paragraph), (Act.Special Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Beli had the inchoate longings of nearly every adolescent escapist, of an entire generation, but I ask you: So f***ing what? No amount of wishful thinking was changing the cold hard fact that she was a teenage girl living in the Dominican Republic of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, the Dictatingest Dictator who ever Dictated. This was a country, a society, that had been designed to be virtually escape-proof. Alcatraz of the Antilles. There weren't any Houdini holes in that Plátano Curtain. (1.3.2.10)
It seems like the desire to escape is much more than a teenage whim in Wao. It's also the essence of an oppressed people. Being a teenager just magnifies that desire. Our conclusion: Trujillo is a big meanie, and he drives everyone at least a little crazy.
Quote #8
And would have stayed invisible too if the summer of sophomore year she'd not hit the biochemical jackpot, not experienced a Summer of Her Secondary Sex Characteristics, not been transformed utterly (a terrible beauty has been born). Where before Beli had been a gangly ibis of a girl, pretty in a typical sort of way, by summer's end she'd become un mujerón total [full-grown woman], acquiring that body of hers that made her famous in Baní. (1.3.5.9)
Like we mentioned earlier, Beli and Lola gain some pretty significant sway over men when they hit "the biochemical jackpot." But we'd also like to note that these new looks usually lead to trouble. Belie ends up attracting The Gangster. And remember Jacquelyn, who attracts Trujillo's attention? While hotness can make women powerful, in a way, it also makes them much more susceptible to the abuses of men.
Quote #9
It started with me. The year before Oscar fell, I suffered some nuttiness of my own; I got jumped as I walking home from the Roxy. By this mess of New Brunswick townies. A bunch of f***ing morenos [dark-skinned Dominicans]. Two a.m., and I was on Joyce Kilmer for no good reason. Alone and on foot. Why? Because I was hard, thought I'd have no problem walking through the thicket of young guns I saw on the corner. Big mistake. (2.4.1.1)
Even Yunior falls prey to some youthful nuttiness. Guess we can add Yunior to the list of others who end up in trouble because of changes during adolescence. In this instance, Yunior thinks he's tough enough to take on a whole group of young punks. He's not.