Something to Declare: Essays

In her autobiographical collection of essays, Something to Declare: Essays (1998), Julia Alvarez describes life in the United States as a Dominican woman. She wrote the essays because she had so much left to say after speaking with diverse audiences across the U.S. Alvarez is the author of numerous books, all of which raise questions about Dominican identity and the immigrant experience. She owns a coffee farm in the Dominican Republic, and she helps farmers and their children with reading and writing. She has also served as the writer-in-residence at Middlebury College.

Something to Declare comprises twenty-four essays, divided into two sections: “Customs” and “Declarations.” The essays in “Customs” center on Alvarez’s family traditions, and how difficult it is to adopt another culture and language. In “Declarations,” Alvarez explains why writing is so important to her bicultural identity, and how she has built a successful career as a writer in a foreign land.

Although the essays are personal to Alvarez, they shed light on American multiculturalism and the challenges faced by migrant families. To become a successful writer and to thrive in America, Alvarez must unite very different fragments of her life into a single identity. All immigrants face this struggle.



Alvarez is the daughter of wealthy Latinos, a Dominican American writer, and a twice-divorced woman. She is honest about her struggle to integrate into US society at first. Only a young girl when she moves to America, Alvarez immediately feels alienated from her homeland and her cultural heritage. At the same time, she feels disconnected from her American peers who do not understand her. She spends much of her adolescence doubting herself.

Alvarez’s family back in the Dominican Republic hinders the settlement process. Back home, Alverez explains, everything revolves around family, every person a product of his or her family’s collective identity. Mothers and fathers, for example, remind children of who they are and of who they should be. Some of Alvarez’s family stay behind, convinced moving to America is a bad idea. They’re afraid that they won’t recognize Alvarez again. In America, Alvarez must do something unheard of—decide who she wants to be.

The first essay, “Grandfather’s Blessing,” describes this dilemma clearly. Alvarez is the granddaughter of a UN representative. While she is grateful for the privilege she experiences as a result of her family background, she is still confined by gender and familial expectations. Her parents expect great things from her, but only within certain boundaries. For example, she is educated and forced to learn English, but she is also forced to marry. Her sisters face similar problems.



One day, Alvarez realizes there is more to life than following her family’s expectations. In the essay, “I Want to Be Miss America,” Alvarez talks about the impact the Miss America beauty pageant had on her self-esteem. For the first time, Alvarez sees women with personal goals. These women stand up for themselves, asking society for what they want. Alvarez learns that she shouldn’t be afraid of American culture; the American people can teach her something about herself.

In America, Alvarez can be anyone she wants to be. For the first time, she knows what hope feels like. She realizes there is one thing at which she is very talented—and it is not motherhood or homemaking—it is writing. Just like the girls in the beauty pageant, Alvarez decides to pursue her own dream.

Alvarez sheds her original identity in favor of a new one. She decides that the only way to become a new woman is to give up her heritage. Defying social conventions, she focuses solely on work. For example, in “Imagining Motherhood,” Alvarez describes her reluctance to have children, and why she would rather fulfill her writing dreams. She doesn’t believe that she can achieve this transition without fully immersing herself into American society.



However, Alvarez knows there is something missing in her life. Now that she has rejected her heritage, she feels incomplete. She worries that she is not good enough and that she is disappointing her family. “Have Typewriter, Will Travel,” describes Alvarez’s conflicted mental state. On the one hand, she believes in herself and works hard. On the other hand, she often wants to give up and settle for what her family wants. She spends many years battling these conflicting feelings.

Eventually, Alvarez finds ways to reconnect with her Dominican identity. She comes to understand that she does not have to give up her birth identity to succeed in America. She also sees that she can teach her American peers about multiculturalism, and her Dominican family how to be “both.” Embracing her varied experiences and reinventing herself, Alvarez shows how it is possible for immigrants to succeed. Her message is that, if she can find herself, so can anyone.