Summary Of Short Story 'Names/Nombres' By Julia Alvarez

Names/Nombres written by Julia Alvarez is a short story regarding a little girl, Hooleetah, moving with her family from the Dominican Republic to New York City in the 1960s. It is extremely clear within the beginning of the story that the girl absolutely despises it when people pronounce her, or her family's’ names wrong, this is proven when she corrects the customs officer under her breath when he mispronounces her family’s last name. “At Immigration, the officer asked my father, Mister Elbures, if he had anything to declare... but I said our name to myself, opening my mouth wide for the organ blast of trilling my tongue for the drumroll of the r, All-vab- rrr-es (Alvarez 1). As the story continues each member of her family is assigned with many different American names, as people found it hard to pronounce their actual names. Her mother, father and two sisters all had a variation of names they went by,

At the beginning, when Julia was just a little girl she was very proud of her heritage and easily frustrated when people were to mispronounce her family's names. This is because she never had a surrounding environment influencing her to change. However, as the story countries and she spends more time in New York City, she develops a likeness for her American names. She pushes away her own self, dismaying her 12 word name and her Dominican family. Julia became influenced by the people around her, all owning an American name. She became more worried about fitting in and having friends then of being proud of who she was and where she came from. This proves the harshness of moving to a new country during the 60s and possibly even now. There is a constant need to change and adapt yourself in order to be accepted. However, by finally accepting herself nearing the end, Julia was able to laugh at all the names she was given while still having a connection with herself and her