Rafael Nadal

“Chucha shakes me awake. Sunlight is streaming in through the jalousie windows. Before I can ask her what’s the matter, gangster men in their dark glasses storm into the room, thrusting their guns here and there in the corners of the closet and under my bed, in search of something they can not find. Chucha and I clutch each other and watch the men pulling open drawers, throwing my clothes into the floor. Soon another bunch of men come into the room, pushing Mami in her nightgown before them.…

behavior of violence in Dominican Republic. Literature in Dominican Republic was also affected by Trujillo in that the general theme and motif of masculinity and patriarchy became commonplace (Horn 59). Maja Horn wrote that literature had depicted Rafael Trujillo as an overly masculine figure, focusing on his sexual appetite, as seen in In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. While texts have been written in an effort to emasculate Trujillo, the opposite has been accomplished…

Boom! Goes many shots that killed Haitians within a blink of an eye. The Farming of Bones tells the story of Amabelle who was a servant to the family of Señora Valencia. Her life was infringed by the horrific events dictated by Dictator Trujillo in order to massacre many Haitians. Haitians were forced over the border into Haiti. Many people went peacefully over the border, but thousands of people died because of the Parsley Massacre. The book is effective with the descriptions of the Parsley…

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 Fire of Revolution A desire for change gives fire to the spirit of revolution, yet few dare to chase it. One such person is Martin Luther King, Jr. who fought for racial equality. The fire that burned inside him was, in his childhood, just a flicker lit by watching his father protest segregation. Then, it was fanned by his own treatment in the South and he started the bus boycott. As a result, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and his house bombed; however, each incident simply motivated…

In the Time of the Butterflies In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is the story of the Mirabal family during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. The story is told through the perspectives of the 4 sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva and Maria Teresa as the family is slowly torn apart by the Military Intelligence Service. Minerva was the first of the sisters to become involved in the underground movement against the government. She made friends at Inmaculada whose family had been…

woman who dedicated her life to terminating and rebirthing the government system of her home country, the Dominican Republic. Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies revolves around the dictatorship of the Dominican Republic—the dictator being Rafael Trujillo, also known as El Jefe—and the four Mirabel sisters, named Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dede. These sisters are what started…

The time period of Trujillo’s control made people feel like they were locked in a cage with no way out. The only way out through many people was religion. The problem was that religion and politics were very much connected. It is a recurring theme in this novel, In the Time of the Butterflies By Julia Alvarez. The connection of religion and politics was seen throughout this novel, allowing the reader to understand the perspective of the character that showed this thematic thread. The recurring…

Each of the Mirabal sisters are very courageous, even though some are more outspoken than others. Patria develops her courage out of necessity when she witnesses the horror of Trujillo’s regime. Minerva is the most outwardly courageous of the four sisters and her bravery comes more naturally. Dedé is the most reserved of them all, however she still finds ways to display her bravery and help her sisters. Maria Teresa looks up to Minerva and models her courage after Minerva’s, but she still…

In 1930, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina gained control of the Dominican Republic through questionable means, becoming head of police and then president, his regime was well recognized for its oppressive tactics and effective means of keeping the population controlled, by the time he was deposed and assassinated in 1961, he had been responsible for the deaths of as many as 50,000 Dominicans (U.S DoS), meaning that 1 in 66 was executed. As his time as president continued, more opposition grew,…