In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

Culture of the Dominican Republic Compared to In the Time of the Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a novel about four sisters and their journey fighting for themselves and their country. The book all started after an interviewer showed up to one sister, Dedé, for her and her sister’s story. The reason being because Dedé is the only surviving sister from a car accident that took the lives of her sisters, Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa. They all had a normal life, until they convinced their Papa to allow them to go to Inmaculada, a Catholic school located in the capital of the Dominican Republic. This is where they began learning about the Dictator, Trujillo. The sister met one girl who had her family murdered

Julia Alvarez uses In the Time of the Butterflies as a great channel to show feminine freedom. Although women can be seen as inferior to men and experience many hardships, over the course of the novel the women see more independence. Darren Broome analyzes Julia Alvarez’s use of females, and their prescription throughout the novel. Broome is currently a professor at Gordon College teaching French and Spanish. He has a PhD in Romantic Languages from the University of Alabama. He also holds a Masters of Arts degree and a B.B.A in International Business from various colleges. When he conducts research it is normally in the area of Contemporary Latin American literature, Contemporary Peninsular literature, linguistics, and foreign language pedagogy. In Broome’s analysis of Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies he says “Alvarez undoubtedly “defies convention” as she constructs the female body as a vehicle for empowerment, voice, and ultimately, change (2).” There are many ways in which Alvarez uses her book to show women's accreditation. One way is simply through the point of view she chooses to use. Most of the sister’s are speaking in first person, and we are able to read their thoughts. Their thoughts can be free flowing instead of censored. Another way is pregnancy. Alvarez is showing the power in which the female body holds, the ability to create life. Also, through the novel experiencing love stories, marriages, and hardships each sister goes through. The way Julia Alvarez knows females have this type of fight and determination in them is because she is one herself. She has also been through her fair share of hardships and life experiences that led her to be prosperous in writing and expand her knowledge. Silvio Sirias is a California native who immigrated to Nicaragua at age eleven, but then returned to the United States to attend college. He graduated from the