Kiss by Julia Alvarez Julia Term Paper

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The Phenomenon of Inspiration by Negative Expectations

By referring to his daughters pejoratively as his "harem" in connection with his fears about their failure to produce a male grandson, he also reveals his incestuous psychological refusal to acknowledge that, as adult women, they are perfectly within their rights to pursue sexual relations with men. In that respect, he could just have easily referred to a family of all female daughters as his "sorority" rather than his "harem" and there is probably a psychological relevance to his choice of the more sexualized term. Like many men of his generation, especially within highly chauvinistic cultures, Carlos has lived his entire life profoundly threatened by the prospect of his daughters' sexuality. Instead of accepting that adult women have the same right, particularly in contemporary American society, to express their sexuality in any manner they wish, he is tormented by the thought that any of his daughters might ever enjoy a sexual relationship outside of the strict boundaries of a traditional marriage.

The sad irony of the degree to which Carlos has obsessed over his compulsion to deny his daughters' sexuality is that his excessive preoccupation over that concept in their lives has precipitated the very behavior that he fears the most. By continually repeating his mantra about "loose women in the family" and by inexcusably calling his youngest daughter a whore, Carlos likely contributed to their acting out sexually more than they might have on their own and without the additional impetus provided by the need to escape their father's control by violating his moral values.

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This, as is so often the case in human behavior, likely occurred at a subconscious level, at least with respect to his third daughter and even more so to Sophia. Specifically, when his third daughter was under the influence of a little alcohol, her first instinct was to get "out of hand, making musical chairs of every man's lap" at the party. Moreover, the fact that this occurred in front of her father rather than at some other party suggests that she deeply resents the manner in which she has had to deny her sexuality throughout her entire life as a condition of retaining her father's respect and affection. Meanwhile, Sophia kisses her father's ear in a completely inappropriate sexualized way, and in front of strangers, no less. Quite obviously, and whether or not she is aware of it consciously, this is her way of saying to him "OK, Papi: Remember how you said that I'm the whore of the family? Well, now I'm going to prove it to you beyond any….....

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