Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction which is about four sisters who fight the oppressive leader, Rafael Trujillo, in the Dominican Republic. Dede, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria Mirabal are the four sisters who go against Trujillo, that are the epitome of a person’s courage, faith, compassion, and growth. These sisters come together and use these exemplary characteristics to fight an oppressive regime. The theme of the courage and strength to stand up to tyranny in In the Time of the Butterflies is best exemplified through the character of Minerva Mirabel, through her courage to stand up to Rafael Trujillo.
She poses more questions and introduces more concepts which leave the reader with this bittersweet feeling of nostalgia. In part three she touches on the subjects of genealogy as it pertains to desire. She extrapolates form the ideas of Sigmund Freud’s theory of the Psyche to argue how the Oedipus complex has left its imprint on Chicano/a cultures. She juxtaposes four “cultural bodies”, Selena, La Malinche, Delgadina, and Silent Tongue, which if read from a third space feminist interpretation shifts the perspective to unveil women’s desires through their own agency. She analyses the Oedipus complex and introduce the Oedipal conquest triangle.
“Power is one of the themes in Fuentes’ short story, “Chac-mool”. The symbolic use of water supports this theme as does the evolution of both characters, the Chac-mool and Filiberto.” While some think this statement is invalid, it is the complete opposite. For example, according to Fuentes, “At some times like a child, .. at others, nervous, to the point of declining into unintelligibility.” (Fuentes, p. 4)
In his work “The Underdogs”, Mariano Azuela is able to master the spirit of villismo regarding both its theoretic, underlying principles as well as the movement’s subsequent physical manifestations. Though significant characters conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the humble agrarian spirit central to villismo’s origin, characters in this text also exhibit the disruptive, callous behavior that is more characteristic of the federalist forces and dictatorships they aimed to unseat. Moreover, Demetrio’s degenerating understanding of the reason he’s fighting, coupled with his few instances of immorality, symbolizes the collapse of villismo morality into its culminating bandit-ridden reality. Cowboys, farmers, and other agrarian people suffering from land and labor oppression united together as the diverse “pieces of a great social movement [to] exalt their motherland” . Demetrio and Solis embody this original character of villismo revolution, as they maintain a moral, humanitarian compass throughout the novel.
The novel Across a Hundred Mountains is told from the eyes of a young Mexican girl named Juana. Juana learns the value of a family after her family is broken. Her family is described as poor but unified. Her family is also observed to be loyal, virtuous and of good ethic which we see in a few of Juana’s actions.
Drug addiction is a constant war. It is a battle being fought between oneself, possibly family, friends but always, the drug. Yet for anyone that is struggling, there is hope. Despite our differences, there will always be a path to recovery. In “Water by the Spoonful”, Quiara Alegría Hudes incorporates several strategies and tactics through various character’s agencies and symbolism to ultimately create a piece that centers recuperation.
The presentation of the tree as fertile and the links to Ofelia’s mother presents it as the womb of Spain withered by the effects of Franco’s fascist dictatorship. This interpretation is consistent with Ofelia’s understanding of reality, and Del Toro’s use of symbolism subtly invites the audience to draw a comparison between the two
In Montaigne’s essays, Of Cannibals and Of Coaches, he examines the way of life and culture of those in the New World, and compares them to that of Europe. Through his examination of the people of the New World, Montaigne gains a unique perspective compared to many Europeans around him at the time, in which he seems to favor the culture and people of the New World over that of Europe. Although Montaigne starts these essays with seemingly unrelated topics such as motion sickness, this is his way of preparing the reader for what he really wants to say, which is a criticism of his own culture and people of Europe. In Montaigne’s Of Cannibals, he shares information about the strange way of life of the “noble savages”.
Throughout “The Bronze Horseman”, Pushkin used symbolism. The river Neva, Peter the Great, his statue, and even Evgeny are all hold another meaning. The use of symbolism in ”The Bronze Horseman” was vital to the poem. Without symbolism, the poem is simply about a man losing his mind in St. Petersburg.
Tina Alvarado SPA222-A5 3/52017 WAC 5: Response to Sor Filotea The letter that Sor Juana wrote was a biography about her life and rationality. It was a declaration of her scholarly, innovative freedom, and rebut of censorial intrusion. Sor Juana was known as the world’s first women with the artistic and intellectual privilege to publish, write, study, and teach freely. She wrote the letter to inform Sor Filotea who was trying to silence her that she would not go still into the night.
The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María is an essay by Judith Ortiz Cofer that addresses the impact of stereotyping on Latino women. Throughout the essay, Cofer relates her personal experiences with stereotypes to discuss how they have negatively affected her life and the lives of other Latinas. She also explains how these stereotypes originated and calls on her audience, the majority-white non-Latino population, to stop propagating the stereotypical portrayals of Latino women. In The Myth of the Latin Woman, Cofer speaks out about how stereotyping hinders the process of assimilating to a new culture by appealing to ethos through her personal experiences, using similes that show how stereotypes create isolation, and adopting
Written by Gabriel Garcia Márquez in 1958 as part of Los Funerales de la Mamá Grande, Un Día de Éstos is a short story addressing a vast theme; that of power and how it is balanced. By constructing the narrative primarily around the two characters of Don Aurelio Escovar, an unqualified dentist, and the mayor who is suffering of toothache, Márquez uses their reactions towards each other to guide the reader into understanding how easy it is to become vulnerable, notwithstanding their social class. CHARACTERISATION The theme of power is explored through the characterisations of the two men in the story and it could be said that this done primarily through continuous contrasts between them. To start with, the vocabulary that surrounds Escovar
The Mirabal sisters were revolutionaries who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. During the revolution, they were given the code name “Las Mariposas”, or “the butterflies”. The term “mariposa” suits each sister in a different way. Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and Mate Mirabal each have their one reason to be compared to a butterfly. The nickname “mariposa” shows who the Mirabal sisters are; they transformed from domestic, innocent mothers and wives into brave, defiant martyrs for national freedom.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is one of the last great baroque poets. She was a nun, but not by vocation. This poem is also about how beauty decays over time however in contrast to Góngora 's poem, which is about an unnamed woman, De La Cruz 's Sonet 145 is about herself. Also there is the further theme of beauty as a lie, or a trick, to deceive us into thinking that we are doing somthing more other than passing through time, waiting to die.
Throughout Miguel de Cervantes novel, Don Quixote, there is a fine line between reality and illusion that seems to vanish portraying a prominent theme in the novel. Don Quixote de La Mancha, a fifty-year-old man, has an insane obsession in reading chivalry books; he is so absorbed in reading these books that he decides to become a knight-errant himself that will set off on adventures for his eternal glory. These books of chivalry have left Don Quixote so deep within his fantasy that there is no risk of him perceiving true reality. There are a plethora of examples where Don Quixote 's perceived reality is his idealistic fantasies. Cervantes expresses these complexities so much that we begin to notice the social criticism Don Quixote receives from people he encounters.
