The poem “Exile” by Julia Alvarez dramatizes the conflicts of the family of a young girl fleeing an oppressive dictatorship in the Dominican Republic to the freedom of the United States. The setting of this poem begins in the town of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, renamed in honor of the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo; however, it eventually turns into New York when the family manages to escape. The speaker is a young girl who is not aware of the world; therefore, she does not know what is happening to her family, although she assumes something is wrong. The author uses an extended metaphor throughout the poem to compare "bathing" and fleeing the Dominican Republic. Through the phrase “A pressed bag, allowing one toy per piece” (13), we get the impression that the family was exiled or forced to leave their country. The title of the poem “Exile” informs the reader that the family had no choice but to leave the Dominican Republic, but certain words and phrases reiterate the title. In this poem, the speaker expresses her feelings of running away from home and how isolated she feels in the United States. The poet uses four-line stanzas or quatrains, and it is a narrative poem because the speaker is telling a story. The speaker seems a little strange in a way because she doesn't know what's going on; “Worried whispers” (6) is an alliteration and also symbolizes the anxiety of the speaker. His uncle and his father do not tell the truth to the speaker, but “sweeten” it. This is similar to Emily Dickinson's poem "Tell the whole truth but tell it sideways" because children might be afraid if they learned the truth right away. In the line “What a good time she will have learning to swim” (11), the poet again highlights how adults lie to children so as not to harm them. The speaker feels like her parents are lying to her; however, she simply trusts them because she believes that what adults do can't go wrong. Additionally, “A week at the beach for grandpa to rest” (15) gives the impression that the speaker's father needs to leave the Dominican Republic because he represents some sort of danger. The speaker struggles throughout the poem because she is giving up everything she has. known behind, and she leaves for a new country about which she knows nothing.