In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a novel that highlights the struggle of being a woman while being under the regime of General Rafael Trujillo. In the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, the protagonist, Minerva Mirabal, plays one of the most important roles by starting a revolution and believing that she could change the ideal image of a woman in the Dominican Republic. Minerva and her three sisters are demonstrated in a way that emphasizes the hardships of being a woman during that time. Julia Alvarez traces one of the strongest historical narratives about the Mirabal Sisters during the regime that took place between 1930 and 1961. Patria, Minerva, Dedé and Maria Teresa Mirabal were four strong women that fought against the stereotype established in the Dominican Republic.…
Imagery is a technique frequently used by authors in order to promote the theme(s) that they are attempting to convey to the reader through their work. It is the use of figurative language to represent objects, and communicate ideas to the reader so that they may mentally visualize them, and understand themes in the work of literature. Generally speaking in literature, the reader may only recognize or relate to a few of the themes that the author is portraying through contrasting imagery, but to the author, all of the themes may be of importance. In The Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez conveys many themes through the use of imagery, including sacrifice, feminism and religion. Alvarez uses contrasting imagery to develop the story’s theme…
Rhetorical Analysis of In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez, in her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, emphasizes the humanity of the Mirabal sisters, that many portrayals of leave out, in favor of highlighting their heroism. In order to make the Mirabals more relatable and to show that there’s a hero hidden in all of us, she (Alvarez) shows us their weaknesses, their fears,and most importantly, their faults. Alvarez’s purpose in my selected passage (pages 108-112), is to show that even in a scene where from the outside, Minerva’s behavior would often be perceived as courageous (and probably a bit stupid), Minerva Mirabal is in fact, filled with a sense of dread, and doom. Alvarez opens Minerva's scene at the National Police Headquarters…
Segregation from the society “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don 't matter, and those who matter doesn’t mind.” – Bernard M. Baruch. In today’s society teenagers are more concerned about fitting in with the widely held groups that they forget to discover their own aptitudes and faculties. This book hints on the issues of the young people who find it difficult to fit in. The Cage of Butterflies is a book inscribed by Brian Caswell in 1992.…
Metamorphosis Everyone in the world has felt some kind of hardship, whether it is the death of a family member, an illness or political oppression. Although many are blessed with stability and safety, much of the world does not know if the next morning is in their future. Julia Alvarez's novel, In the Time of Butterflies, conveys the theme of transformation in each character and the world in which they live. The Mirabal sisters transform throughout the story and in the revolution that starts with them. One only comes to know themselves by the hardships that one faces.…
Also in “The Death of a Moth,” Dillard not only continues to use the symbolism of candles throughout the narrative, she also mentions the number of candles or wicks numerically throughout her writing. When on the mountains, Dillard first only refers to “the candle” (7) when the moth begins burning from its flame. Later on, the author writes that the candle the moth continues to fuel “had two wicks, two flames of identical light, side by side” (8). At the very end, Dillard writes “I have three candles here on the table which I disentangle from the plants and light when visitors come” (10). This deliberate use of numbers that are in numerical order throughout the essay seem to suggest progression for the author. This most likely signifies the…
The True Colors of the Revolution The Underdogs is a fascinating story of the Mexican Revolution and its effects on some of the people. It was a perfect blend of fiction in the form of characters and personalities, and history in the form of events and occurrences. Mariano Azuela, a medic during the Revolution definitely infused his personal experiences into the story to make it full and real. Azuela did not clean up the revolution for the reader and make it look completely heroic.…
“Faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness.” This quote perfectly describes Patria who is one of the sisters in the book, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. This novel takes place in the 1900’s in the Dominican Republic while it was under the rule of Trujillo. Trujillo ran a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic for over 30 years with strict rules and harsh punishments. The story follows the real lives of the Mirabal sisters and each chapter is through one of their perspectives.…
Everyone and everything has a code name. ”(Alvarez, Pg 142) Even though in Mate’s perspective, Minerva shows intellectual courage by explaining their plans of the revolution with secrecy and the willingness to revolt against Trujillo’s regime to establish a free democracy. Minerva’s bravery to explain to her sister and recruiting her shows that people want to fight and shows her political influence over…
“In the Time of the Butterflies” is a historical novel by Julia Alvarez, relating an account of the Mirabal sisters during the time of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Maria Teresa is the youngest of the four Mirabal sisters. She is very superficial and materialistic in the beginning of the story, but she becomes a resilient, strong-willed revolutionary hero. Further, Maria Teresa is willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of her family’s right for a liberal nation. Maria Teresa is very artificial and bourgeois in the beginning of the story, but she becomes a robust, determined revolutionary hero.…
We all have families that guide us to discover our identity and background, but does that mean we have to follow through the same traditions? The short story “The Moths” by Helena Viramontes tells the story of a fourteen-year-old who describes herself as unattractive, disrespectful and unlike other girls. Although she is mistreated and abused by her family she has an Abuelita who cares for her. She is then forced to care for her ailing Abuelita who is dying through her last days shaping her to become responsible, and discovers a sequence on how she and her family were raised. The story argues that every individual can obtain rebirth through the discovery of self-belonging, self-reflection, and by spreading affection.…
Terrorist Profile: 1. Name of individual: Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. He was also known as Carlos the Jackal. His nickname “Carlos” was given to him by Abu-Sharif (spokesman of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).…
In the book In the Time of the Butterflies, symbolism is used throughout the book. Two objects that are symbolized in the book are the scales on Trujillo’s desk and the dice on Trujillo’s scales. When Minerva enter’s Trujillo’s room, she notices that the scales are unbalanced, as one set of die are weighted, and the other is fairly balanced. The scales represent the power struggle between Trujillo and Minerva, each trying to get the upper hand.…
i nodded. I said 'I want to be with them" (pages 177 and 308) In both the book and movie Minerva is protrayed as an exceptionally courageous and outspoken character. In both the beginning of the book and movie, Minerva is shown trying to free a rabbit from a cage which foreshadows and symbolizes her efforts to try to free her country from Trujillo`s regime. Even though the movie focuses more on her this similarty is important because it developes the stories…
Gabriel García-Márquez’s short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” criticizes human nature’s brutal and self-serving tendencies. The townspeople, at first the most apparent representatives of humankind, struggle to understand who the old man is, what kind of creature he is, or from where he has come. Upon further analysis, many elements of the story lead to the conclusion that García-Márquez intends to ridicule human nature by exploring the townspeople 's’ reaction to strange man with wings, who later seems to represent humans better than any other characters. Through his use of setting, characters, and tone, García Márquez satirizes the brutal, self-obsessed aspect of human nature in his characters’ ruthless cruelty towards the old…