The Garcia family goes through many different challenges to fit into both the American and Dominican culture. Language has the power to isolate a person from the rest of society. We see this throughout the book as the family migrates into American society, but then returns to the Dominican Republic every year. Sandra goes through a breakdown which makes her think that she is losing her language and her ability to talk. She starts speaking in only words from poetry or words that someone else has spoken to her. The girl’s mother, Laura tries to use idioms to express how she feels, but uses them wrongly. The daughters have to use context to figure out what she means.
