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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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