Julia Alvarez's The Garcia Girl Does Not Have an Accent is a novel that explores the growth of four sisters in Dominican immigrant families, and depicts their life changes from Dominica to the United States through flashback and jumping perspectives. Research often analyzes their cultural identity and identity issues from the perspectives of ethnicity, immigration, gender, and other factors. This paper points out that the existing research ignores the historical context of the growth of the four sisters, especially the influence of consumerism on their subjectivity construction in the neo liberal period. In the process of pursuing American social identity, the four sisters seem to have established their subjectivity, but in fact they lose themselves under the influence of consumerism, reflecting the common dilemma of contemporary people under the pressure of neo liberalism homogenization.

Symbolization of the Body: The Anxiety Behind It

This paper discusses how the personality and body of the four sisters in the novel The Garcia Girl No longer Has an Accent were shaped and influenced by consumerism and neo liberal economic order from 1950 to 1989, especially after they immigrated to the United States in 1960. The theories of Henry Lefebvre and Han Bingzhe are used to analyze how consumerism transcends social norms and profoundly influences individual self-awareness and positioning. In the novel, the body of the four sisters becomes the reflection of cultural facts and the organizational model of social relations, especially in Sandy. Her white characteristics make her recognized in the United States, but also become the starting point of self deconstruction. Sandy's transformation and beauty of the body aimed to emphasize ethnic identity and combat the passive position of ethnicity, but ultimately led to the body becoming a sacrificial lamb of resistance, exposing the problems of body symbolization and self alienation under consumerism. Sandy's change in body attitude, from Dominican Catholic beliefs to the symbolization of the body under neoliberalism, reveals that the body never truly belongs to itself, but rather follows various cultural norms, reflecting the illusory nature of subjectivity construction and the underlying anxiety.

2. "The Terror of Homogenization": Where does "Personality" come from

Explored the impact of "homogenized terror" on individual identity in the context of neoliberalism. In this society, individual personality is shaped to exclude others in order to consolidate oneself, but this personality conflicts with the requirements of a performance society, which demands individuals to be flexible and have no personality. Yolanda's experience in university reflects this conflict, as she feels a sense of personality alienation from the perspective of categorization and consumerism. Rudy's parents' acceptance of her was actually a recognition of her ethnic identity, but they overlooked her personality. This classification and worship of the 'minimum margin difference' obscure the erasure of individuality, leading to the sacrifice of Yolanda's personality for recognition. The 'freedom in fantasy' under neoliberalism alienates and castrates the seemingly self actualized, eliminating the possibility of resistance. The relationship between Yolanda and Rudy broke down due to different sexual beliefs, and Rudy avoided colliding with the 'other', making true love impossible to happen. Yolanda's disappointment stems from the impossibility of pure lust and the neglect of her personality in the consumer society. She began to self attack, yearning for the mainstream tendency of "homogenization" and the disappearance of true subjectivity and freedom. The details in the novel metaphorically represent the disappearance of personality in symbols, such as a mother's address to her daughters and Yolanda's naming of a stray kitten, implying the death of personality under consumerism.

3 torn apart 'selves': lack of emotions

This paper probes into the influence of the disappearance of personality on the vitality of interpersonal relationships in a homogenized society, especially in Alvarez's novels, the "concern" that the four sisters feel in American life is actually a production mechanism, which produces sociability and turns concern into a consumption symbol. This apparent concern hides the economic truth, which leads to the lack of sincere emotional flow, and then makes the four sisters feel the lack of emotional subject. In the Dominican Republic, sincere service contrasts with functional service in the United States, which becomes a flat symbol. Mark Fisher sees this transformation as an inevitable result of late capitalism, where etiquette and faith are transformed into ornamental objects. The twists and turns of the four sisters in interpersonal relations reflect the maladjustment from traditional concepts to capitalist interpersonal relations. The lack of sincere emotional flow leads to the isolation of individuals in instrumental rationality and purpose oriented logic. The tearing up of Yolanda's speech symbolizes the deprivation of individual freedom of expression and the deceptive rhetoric of 'freedom, equality, democracy'. The symbolic castration of emotion caused the four sisters to give up their sincere response to others in the emotional exhaustion, and declared their death as emotional subjects. Yolanda's distrust of helpers after returning to her hometown reflects the aftermath of functional concerns. She no longer believes in genuine help from the bottom of her heart and has lost her instinct to give or even discern sincerity in emotional indifference. The concern for the production mechanism ultimately leads to individuals being "incapable of love" and "incapable of sincerity". Sincere treatment is eroded due to the inability to be recognized, and individuals' emotional abilities are also castrated, creating learned helplessness in emotional flow.

4 Conclusion

This paper probes into the dilemma of the four sisters in the identity politics in the period of neo liberalism, and reveals the individual vulnerability under the consumerism ideology. In the process of striving for physical liberation, integrating into society and establishing ties, the four sisters constantly lost themselves and fell into the trap of symbols and "freedom". This is not only a problem of constructing minority identity, but a typical symptom of the whole society. The tragic ending of the novel serves as a warning to marginalized groups and individuals in identity dilemmas that they should be cautious about their identities and differences, and not resort to self harm due to anxiety. Structurally, it uses the writing method of "root seeking journey" to imply the search and retrospection of each sisters's most authentic self. The solution to anxiety is to be seen and accepted, but one should be accepted in their true self as they are, without giving in to anxiety and recognition, self destruction, and self sacrifice.