Juliet Takes a Breath

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Preface-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Character Analysis

Juliet Milagros Palante

Juliet is the protagonist and narrator of Juliet Takes a Breath. At 19 years old, she is discovering more about what makes her confident and how to love herself as a gay Latina. She is naturally anxious and struggles to breath when she is nervous or overwhelmed, a condition that her asthma exacerbates. Throughout the novel, Juliet works on her self-love and realizing how special she is. Coming out as gay to her entire family before she leaves for her internship with feminist author Harlowe Brisbane is only the beginning of her journey towards self-love. Even without the absolute support from her family, Juliet sticks to who she is and flies to Portland, Oregon, “off into the unknown, alone and feeling so raw” (38).

While in Portland, Juliet’s confidence goes up and down constantly. She went to Portland seeking acceptance and a better understanding of herself, but she finds, through characters like Phen and Harlowe, that her identity is called into question, similar to the way fellow Puerto Ricans identified her as a white girl. Juliet learns from these struggles that she cannot internalize Harlowe’s version of feminism, and she must create an identity and set of values and beliefs for herself.

Juliet’s disillusionment with Harlowe after Harlowe racially stereotypes her is the final catalyst Juliet needs to come into her own. When she leaves Portland at the end of the summer, she has a deep and genuine love for herself and recognizes that her journey in Portland opened her eyes to her own importance and the importance of her unique story.

Harlowe Brisbane

Harlowe Brisbane is the author of Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind. Juliet interns with Harlowe over the summer in Portland, Oregon and learns a lot about white feminism from her. Harlowe acts somewhat as a mother figure to Juliet. She teaches Juliet about polyamory and how to embrace her period holistically. Harlowe also introduces Juliet to a new culture of queer feminism because Harlowe has a large queer community surrounding her.

Without Harlowe, Juliet would not have been able to be more critical of white feminism. As a white woman, Harlowe writes about feminism from her own perspective without realizing that it can be harmful to queer women of color. Although Harlowe is trying to be less racist and more inclusive of people of color, she still struggles with her whiteness. At the end of the novel, when Juliet confronts Harlowe about her racist words towards Juliet at her book reading, Harlowe admits that “hippie gentrifying, well-intentioned whites like [her]” aren’t any better than the more obvious white racists in the world (294). Harlowe’s inability to change her actions even when she understands her own racism leaves Juliet more confident in her own ability to be a queer feminist and not rely on Harlowe and her book for the answers she needs about being a queer woman.

Mother

Juliet’s mother plays an important role in Juliet’s ability to love herself. When Juliet comes out as gay before leaving for the summer, her mother has a difficult time accepting her. She doesn’t even leave her room to hug Juliet goodbye before she leaves for the airport. Later on, she continues to say that Juliet’s orientation is just a phase and that she’ll get over it once she dates a man. She tells Juliet that her love for Lainie isn’t real love and that she can only experience real love with a man. Even with her lack of support, Juliet is consistently glad to talk to her mother because that “meant that her door wouldn’t be closed forever” on their relationship” (75).

By the end of the novel, Juliet learns that her mother read Harlowe Brisbane’s book Raging Flower and that she was trying to understand Juliet better. As the person who Juliet relied on for support for her entire life, Juliet’s mother still continues to love Juliet fiercely and encourage her writing. When she returns to the Bronx at the end of the summer, Juliet hugs her “mom so tight, tighter than ever while she criticized and complimented [her] undercut” (302). Interestingly, Juliet’s mother encouraged her to tell her own story all along, but Juliet had to grow up a little before she could see the truth in her mother’s suggestion.