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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Beloved World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Optimism, Determination, and Adversity
Family and Friendship
Education and Learning
Puerto Rican Identity and Culture
Morality, Justice, and Giving Back
Summary
Analysis
Seven-year-old Sonia Sotomayor wakes up to her parents yelling at each other about who will give her the insulin shot. The yelling is normal, but the subject matter is new. Sonia thinks that the shot hurts, but the yelling is worse—and worst of all, if Sonia’s grandmother (Abuelita) won’t do it either, Sonia won’t be able to spend weekends with her. She decides she must learn to give herself the shot, so she pulls a chair to the stove so she can sterilize the syringe and needle. Mami shows Sonia the process. Despite being an active child, Sotomayor knows that her life depends on being patient while she sterilizes the needle. She learns more self-discipline from diabetes than she did at her Catholic school.
By opening her memoir with her childhood diagnosis of diabetes, Sonia makes it clear that her tenacity and determination came, in part, from growing up in a family where she often had to do things herself. Her diabetes has the arguably positive side effect of teaching Sonia skills that she’ll need throughout her life, which reinforces a point she makes throughout her memoir: that a person can’t learn everything within a classroom setting.
Themes
Going back in time, Sonia says that her saga begins when she faints in church. The sisters call Mami, who shares that this isn’t the first time this has happened and takes Sonia to the local doctor, Dr. Fisher. Dr. Fisher sends Sonia to the lab at Prospect Hospital. When the tech approaches with a huge needle, she screams, runs, and hides under a car. Later, Dr. Fisher calls Mami into his office. Sonia can see Mami crying. Dr. Fisher calls Sonia in and explains that she has diabetes. He has it too, and he assures her that she’ll be fine if she changes how she eats. Then, he offers her a soda that has no sugar. Things don’t add up for Sonia—a diet change shouldn’t make Mami so upset.
Even before she really knows what’s going on, Sonia is trying to understand. She does so by paying close attention to the behaviors and emotions of the people around her. And by doing this, she’s able to come to the conclusion that none of this makes sense—so she must be missing something. All of this illustrates her natural inclination to watch and figure things out for herself, a skill that will be important for her to develop.
Themes
Mami drives Sonia to Abuelita’s apartment, where Abuelita tucks Sonia into bed. From the bedroom, Sonia listens to Abuelita and various family members talk about a “curse” that came from Mami’s side. Abuelita vows to send word to a brother in Puerto Rico so he can pick a specific plant with which she can make a special concoction to cure Sonia’s diabetes—but when she eventually does so, the cure doesn’t work. Hearing her family act so afraid and learning that she needs to be hospitalized makes Sonia understand how serious this is. In the hospital, nurses draw Sonia’s blood hourly every morning for a week. She also attends lectures on diabetes and understands little, so she’s terrified.
Because Sonia doesn’t know what’s going on and only experiences pain and confusion, she’s terrified. It’s also probably scary when Abuelita’s herbal remedy doesn’t work, as this means that an important element of Sonia’s sense of self, her Puerto Rican identity, may seem less meaningful or useful—and this is probably even more disconcerting when the alternative (time in the hospital) is painful and scary.
Themes
What makes things even scarier is that Mami doesn’t make Sonia go to school and even brings gifts to the hospital—Mami is a stickler for education and attendance and seldom gives gifts. On Sonia’s last day at the hospital, her arm and fingers hurt before the sampling begins. She starts to cry. Mami fiercely tells the nurses that they’re done. Back at home, Mami coaches Sonia through giving herself the insulin shot.
Noting how unusual it is that Mami brings gifts gives the impression that Mami isn’t particularly affectionate with her children. This sets up Sonia and Mami’s relationship as somewhat strained, though Mami’s careful, calm coaching when Sonia administers the shot also suggests that Mami is supportive—but perhaps not always in the ways that Sonia would like.
Themes
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