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In The Time Of The Butterflies Essay

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It is quite evident that tyrannical governments often deprive its citizens of their inviolable rights as humans. While some struggle to grasp the gravity of this suppression, Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies provides a way of better comprehending the corruption behind the denial of these entitlements such as freedom of expression, liberty, and no discrimination. In this story, Alvarez intertwines the real life tragedy of the Mirabal sisters with fictional writing to fully connect the reader to the evilness of dictatorships. Her use of characterization and admiring descriptions of the Mirabals lead to her readers being emotionally connected to each sister, prompting a better response to her message. Stressing the immorality behind the oppression of human rights, Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies displays a reverent tone as the heroic actions of the Mirabal sisters against a totalitarian government are described, showing Alvarez’s desire to possess the same courage. Though filled with numerous themes, the most prominent message …show more content…

By recounting numerous tragedies and their effect on people throughout the story, Alvarez emphasizes the wickedness behind suppressing one’s unassailable rights while also underlining the importance of sacrifice. The difficulties of the Mirabal family to live under the Trujillo rule and still resemble a family ultimately culminate in the deaths of Maria Teresa, Minerva, and Patria and the removal of Rafael Trujillo. Readers are more adept to connect and respect the story of the Mirabals due to Alvarez’s constant reverent tone. Though lacking the same valor as each sister, Julia Alvarez does carry the same sense of passion in herself and for human rights. In the Time of the Butterflies will be a novel remembered throughout the ages, just as Julia Alvarez had

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In the Time of the Butterflies, characters are seen making morally challenging decisions. Maria Teresa, Mate, is the youngest Mirabel sister. She is described as virtuous and fears elementary things. However, Mate and Minerva are held captive in prison. Fortunately, The OAS Peace Committee schedules to interview a prisoner in each pavilion, Mate has been selected.

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In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical fiction novel written by Julia Alvarez. The book focuses on the lives of the four Mirabal sisters who were killed on November 25th, 1960 as a result of organizing against the government. Throughout the novel, the sisters are oppressed and hurt by the many men in their lives. The book takes a view that is not very tolerant of men. The men often do things that hurt the women in their lives, such as physically hurt them, cheat on them, or control them against their will.

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The novel Time of The Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, narrates the Mirabal sister’s stories: their issues stemming from Rafael Trujillo’s regime, and their eventual opposition against him. Living in a time and place of corruption, the sisters watched as Trujillo’s reign of terror grew, and so did a rising revolution against him, prompting each of the sisters to form their own beliefs and ideas. The second youngest sister, Minerva, lived her life as a bold, determined woman; making her a prominent figure, with many looking up to her as a role model. Her interest in politics, paired with her boldness, exposed Minerva to a political environment from an early age: being the first sister to partake in the revolution and enlightened by Sinita’s story.

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In The Time Of Butterflies was written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. She wrote In the time of Butterflies in 1994. The book divided into four sections, which make the sisters to have their own sections. The story took place in Dominican Republic during President Trujillo’s dictatorship government.

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In the Time of the Butterflies tells us the story of Minerva and her three sisters, and how they fought for their freedom for everyone under Trujillo. While using a variety of literary techniques, Julia Alvarez skillfully embodies her character in her depiction of Minerva's struggle for dominance over Trujillo. Minerva's defiance is conveyed with vivid imagery by the use of figurative language, which portrays her resilience as a flame burning against the oppressive darkness of Trujillo's dictatorship. With the difficult political climate, Alvarez's vivid detail captures Minerva's inner strength and sensitivity in a complex portrayal. Minerva uses dialogue to express her firm conviction; her words, when she challenges the dictator's power, are

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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 novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, the author, Julia Alvarez, uses the Mirabal sisters to show how the sanction of a man changes the outcome of their

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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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Marxist Criticism focuses on class struggle and power structure in a literary piece (Davidson). In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez can be analyzed using Marxist Criticism to show how power is maintained in the novel. Trujillo maintains his power by convincing girls to live in his homes, jailing citizens who try to overthrow him, and killing citizens that he has large problems with. Trujillo uses his authority to make all of his citizens obey him so that he can keep his power, or else they must deal with severe consequences. Trujillo acts this way to prove that he is the man in charge and ultimately prove that he is unbeatable.

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One of the strongest traits to possess is not courage nor intellect, but rather love for one another. The novel, In the time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, perfectly illustrates the capabilities love can accomplish. Love is shown to bond families like the Mirabel sisters together and evoke emotion that encourage others to sympathize with them. The stories about the Mirabel sister’s children, husbands, and themselves, paved a path to ending Trujillo’s regime. The emphasis of love that the sisters and their families share is prevalent throughout the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, as it influences them to protect and sacrifice for one another, which ultimately inspires a revolt to successfully end Trujillo’s regime.

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Anaca Griffin Ms. Rudolph Honors English 10 January 9, 2023 In the Time of the Butterflies Character Analysis “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” Anthony Brandt. Brandt is stating that no matter how much one changes throughout one’s life, they are born with family and die with family. People have highs and lows throughout their lifetimes, but they have family to make it through.

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Although the world has managed to bring significant changes toward women’s empowerment, there is still more to do. It’s important to see that Rafael’s actions and attitude do not come from his own intentional choices, rather he acts this way due to the generational transmission of this ideal from father. To stop this cycle, change must come from the root which means men need to be better educated about the negative impact of machoism. They ought to understand the role of the women, the freedom a child needs and the consequence of machismo. Henriquez’s goal with her book is to portray the reality of these unknown Americans.

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This novel was written based on the Mexican revolution, which was an important event in history for the people of Mexico. The author of this novel, Juan Rulfo portrays the characters as being lost in purgatory to show how the people of Mexico felt during the time of Porfirio Diaz. Juan Rulfo used his experiences and suffering during the revolution and turned it into literature. During the Mexican revolution, there were situations in which men were more powerful and played a more important role in society than women. The use of descriptive language and imagery in the novel allows readers to understand how horrific the time period was and how the people felt.

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Throughout history, women have made a name for themselves. By rising up and fighting for something that they believed in, the Mirabal sisters made a name for themselves in the Dominican Republic and in Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies. By applying a theory to a novel, readers can relate the book to the world they are living in today (Davidson). Feminism can be defined as a dynamic philosophy and social movement that advocates for human rights and gender equality (“Feminism”). Feminist Theory involves looking at how women in novels are portrayed, how female characters are reinforcing stereotypes or undermining them, and the challenges that female characters face (Davidson).

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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.

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