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In The Time Of The Butterflies Essay

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People are supporters of the opinion that art is designed to influence a social behavior through plays, propaganda, newspapers and by paintings. For example, paintings are used to promote a powerful form of protest against inequality and atrocity. In a fictionalization story based on real facts, In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez. It demonstrates a clear understanding on struggle, loss of freedom and the living conditions in which one lives in a reign of terror. In the novel, art is used in a way of protest towards Rafael Trujillo, who was the dictator of the Dominican Republic from February of 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. Minerva who is one of the Mirabel sisters, is in a religious school where she meets Sinita. Both of them are part of a play in which they win a recitation contest. Her group gets informed that they will go perform in the capital in front of Trujillo for his birthday. Minerva disagrees with Sinita on going to the capital and doing the play …show more content…

Within the novel, “El Jefe” states the following on page 100, “He and the others have turned the campus into a propaganda camp”. Trujillo is claiming that Virgilio Morales is not a good person to be known of since he turned the campus into some sort of protest against the government. He wants to shut down the university since he might be endangered towards those that are studying law at the campus. The university is a way of propaganda because it’s well known in the world. As Minerva said on page 100, “Ours is the first university in the New World. It would be such a blow to the country!”. If the school gets shut down, others would immediately notice and it would be a bad representation towards the Dominican Republic and its government. Another way of using art to promote protest is the usage of

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Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

253 Words | 2 Pages

Do you have secrets that you would never tell anyone else? In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez formats Maria Teresa’s chapter as a diary to offer the reader a more personal connection to the character and her life story. Maria Teresa, who is eleven and twelve in this chapter, confides in her “Little Book” and tells it things that she would never tell others, like how she cries when others laugh at her (Alvarez 31). Through the reader being able to read her diary, they know something that Maria Teresa’s family and friends do not know giving the reader a more intimate connection with the character. It also allows the reader to become more invested in the story because they now want to see if any of Maria Teresa’s secrets have

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In The Time Of The Butterflies Chapter Summary

725 Words | 3 Pages

In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about 4 sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa. The book is about the three girls growing up and their experiences during the time of the underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The book was written in memory of Dedé’s 3 sisters who had been ambushed and murdered, which we are aware of since the beginning of the novel. The beginning chapter of the book is describing Dedé as she waits for a woman who is going to interview her about her three sisters, she then goes into a flashback she has of her family talking at the dinner table and her father mentions someone named Trujillo, which then gives a hint at who this book might be formed around. Through the book, we read stories about times in the girls’ lives when they were going to school at Inmaculada Concepcion and being at home and falling in love, as well as there run ins with Trujillo himself.

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Summary Of Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

683 Words | 3 Pages

Once out of prison, Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa drove across a mountain pass to visit their husbands in prison, but they are ambushed and murdered under the request of Trujillo. Their deaths were stage to look like a car accident and Dedé was forced to live on and tell the world of how Trujillo destroyed their

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In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

1234 Words | 5 Pages

The historical fiction novel In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez illustrates how important historical and political shifts in a government affect the lives of the characters in a society or culture. The characters in this society are punished for acts of rebellion because of Trujillo’s ruthless dictatorship. The sisters

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In The Time Of The Butterflies Theme Essay

1029 Words | 5 Pages

Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.

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In The Time Of The Butterflies Religion Essay

741 Words | 3 Pages

It provides a role in character development shown predominantly in Patrias character. It shows the extent of Trujillo’s actions against the Dominican people by showing Patrias desperateness for her son. These examples depicted in the book show how the theme of religion has an impact on In the Time of the

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Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez Character Analysis

919 Words | 4 Pages

For one, Minerva Mirabal is the one who initiated it all; she first learned of the “secrets of Trujillo” and immediately sprung into action to help her people, acting on her love and desire for her people’s freedom. After Minerva had been involved for a while, she came to Patria “with her six-month-old Manolito and asked [her] to keep him… it did hurt her to make this sacrifice she was convinced she needed to make” (Alvarez 155). The readers are shown that despite how distressed Minerva is, she still drives through. Her sacrifices are painful to make, but because it is for her nation, she throws her tears aside. Minerva is incredibly devoted to the revolution and the liberation of her country, and is willing to do whatever she needs for her people, even forsaking her family.

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Marxist Criticism In Time Of The Butterflies

804 Words | 4 Pages

Trujillo gets worried when he learns about the 14th of June Movement because he knows that the goal of the movement is to overthrow or kill him. One by one, he starts jailing members of the movement, as well as ransacking or destroying their homes. At Patria’s house, Trujillo has the SIM tear “...the house apart, hauling away the doors, windows, the priceless mahogany beams of Pedrito’s old family rancho” (Alvarez 192). The way that he messes with those involved in the movement is cruel. After having their homes ransacked, Trujillo jails only the Mirabal husbands, which makes the sisters think they are safe.

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Summary Of In The Times Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

762 Words | 4 Pages

In the Times of the Butterflies is a historical novel written by Julia Alvarez in 1994. The writers of the historical novel usually put the situation and the setting of the story in a specific time period in the past. In most situations, the writers usually refer the history, and they use it as a model to craft their story. And the writers always use the accurate information of the historical events to develop their stories. But sometimes, writers like to change the time setting or the actions that happened in the historical events in order to keep the story going or add some depths to it, or add some traits to a character.

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In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

1144 Words | 5 Pages

They died trying to make women as equal as men in the dominican Republic, and it made all the difference. “It was Minerva who proposed to a group of friends and relatives to form a national political-military group to confront the regime. The goal: to overthrow the dictatorship and introduce a democratic government.” Minou Mirabal. These sisters wanted Trujillo gone because that was a very big step in getting their country out of dictatorship, and start on getting it to were women can have a say and have more

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In The Time Of The Butterflies Archetypal Criticism

993 Words | 4 Pages

An American poet once stated, “Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree” (Pound). Every piece of literature has an impactful underlying meaning and can be interpreted into universal symbols, motifs, and patterns. Archetypal Criticism is a theory based off common myths, images, and symbols in literature. The definition of an archetypal can be defined as a very typical example of a certain person or thing (Davidson). With that being said, readers can apply Archetypal Criticism to In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.

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In The Time Of The Butterflies Analysis

996 Words | 4 Pages

Entry 9: Defiance According to the UN Secretary-General, “In 2012, almost half of all women who were victims of international homicide worldwide were killed by an intimate partner or family member,” (“Violence Against Women”) while men only accounted for six percent. November 25th marks the International Day Against Violence Towards Women as well as the deaths of the three Mirabal sisters. The novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez describes their journey to serve as “models for women fighting against injustice of all kinds” (Alvarez 324). In the Time of the Butterflies can be looked upon through a Feminist lens by analyzing how women defy and overcome their stereotypical gender roles.

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In The Time Of The Butterflies Essay

703 Words | 3 Pages

This moment really exposes Minerva to the secrets that even those she holds close keep and the weaknesses that even the most strong seeming people have.. It can be seen that in the future, Minerva is more mysterious and secretive about things in her life concerning the revolution. Her exposure to betrayal and discovering these things unintentionally shape her in the future. Even past learning about her father's other family, she then finds an invitation in his pocket from Trujillo that “Caused another uproar- This time from Mama.”

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In The Time Of The Butterflies And Hamlet Reaction Essay

977 Words | 4 Pages

To begin, in both Hamlet by William Shakespeare and In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the theme of action vs. inaction is prevalent. People's choices to act or not act can have serious consequences, and in both works, characters make choices that result in death and tragedy. This essay will analyze the causes of action and inaction in the two works, and examine the consequences of such choices. It will argue that love can cause people to act, while fear can cause people not to act, and that in both works, inaction has serious consequences. To continue, love is a powerful motivator that can cause people to act, even when the stakes are high.

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Butterflies: A Short Story

1533 Words | 7 Pages

butterfly In your seventeen years, you have learned something crucial about your family: there is a curse that looms over each one of you, you are doomed to death, desolation and destruction. (That is why you were born, that is why your mother was floated that is why you were sent to the Earth and that is why Bellamy’s soulmate has a knife to his neck.) If it were any other person alive, perhaps even yourself, they would be lying in the dirt by now but not her, not the girl who has just shouted the words carved neatly across his back ("Bellamy Blake?

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