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In The Time Of The Butterflies Feminist Analysis

1377 Words6 Pages

In society many find that males hold dominance and make all of the major choices. This is just a stereotype that many people seem to believe. There are many stereotypes for a variety of concepts but that does not mean they are true. There are few females that stand up against sexist stereotypes, but for the few people who have spoken out against them literature has been an effective way of getting their message out. Feminism has impacted literature in several ways; it allows people to share their messages about stereotypes. In the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez there are many times when feminism is present, along with the many stereotypes found in the Dominican culture. Julia Alvarez had many elements within her writing, when she developed a character she made it so …show more content…

For many Dominicans they did not do much to go against their country. There were many things that fit the typical Dominican way of life, like how men held all power and were not challenged by women (Vega 1). People were used to having men in high powered positions and there were not many occasions where women wanted to hold that same power. Many women missed opportunities because they lacked an education. Normally men got a better education than women did so they were more qualified for these higher positions. Men were known to hold higher positions than women and they did not like to be threatened by powerful women. Most Dominican people were into their religion as well. Dede Mirabal fit this stereotype in many ways. Dede was very religious and she did not do anything that could hurt her country even if she did not agree with everything in it. She fit the typical citizen because while her sisters were out planning to rebel she stayed back and took care of the children. The Dominican stereotypes come into play in shaping the Dominican culture. Dominican culture is demonstrated many times throughout the

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However their stories and actions were told by their youngest sister Dede. Dede brought their story and death to light as well as their hopes and dreams they had fought their life for. As Patria mentioned of creating a world without corruption and tyranny for the their future children. The Mirabal sisters threw their lives on the line by joining the underground resistance against the Regime of Trujilo and sacrificed everything to get a better

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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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773 Words | 4 Pages

In Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies, we glimpse the destruction of the Dominican Republic amidst the oppressive reign of General Trujillo through the eyes of a survivor with familial ties to the attempted rebellion. Surprisingly the US does not get involved in the affair—however, they have been accused of catalyzing it. Raymond Pulley’s article, “The United States and the Trujillo Dictatorship, 1933-1940: The High Price of Caribbean Stability” makes the following claim, “Trujillo’s climb to supreme power in the Republic may be traced from the United States occupation of that island” (22).

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796 Words | 4 Pages

In this novel, Drown, women are simply perceived as objects. The inevitable gender norms dictate what behavior is socially acceptable, specifically for women in the Dominican Republic society, but also encourages the practices of machismo. Machismo is defined as a strong sense of masculine pride; this umbrella term has become the explanation for the actions of males in Latin American countries like the Dominican Republic. Though machismo does not identify the women as inferior, it defines the man as superior. Gender roles in the Dominican Republic set the males as the providers and ultimate decision-makers, whereas women are seen as the caretakers of the home and family.

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653 Words | 3 Pages

During the 1930’s, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was the dictator of the Dominican Republic. Corrupt Trujillo ruled with an iron fist and maintained control by using the unscrupulous patronage system for appointing people to important offices, discretely murdering political opponents, and enforcing strict censorship laws. Many countries invested into the Dominican Republic without Knowing the horrors that the Regime was causing for the povern stricken people. Junot Diaz was raised in the Dominican Republic’s chaos and a sense of unity has been forced upon him for survival as a result.

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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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Compare and Contrast Essay Outline Template I. Introduction a. General information about DR and Dominican Republic b. Similarities between these two countries c. Thesis statement II. Body a. Body paragraph 1: Differences/people. i. How are they considered - Extroverts vs shy people 1.

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1005 Words | 5 Pages

Stereotypes are simple images or beliefs over the attributes assigned to a particular social group, are models of behavior that become schemes deeply rooted in our mentalities to the point that we adopt them as part of human naturalness. Stereotypes can be racial, religious, sexual and social. These could be the caused of a known incident or attitude years earlier, or simply the result of frequent rumors. Stereotypes can affect different spheres of society. These assumptions can filter into many aspects of life.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

After skimming through Volume 1 of The Norton Anthology Literature by Women, I noticed the reoccurring themes of patriarchy, women subordination, and the strength to be creative despite oppression. During the times that these literary pieces were written, women were constantly battling the patriarchy in order to get basic rights. During the earlier time periods, intelligence was seen as a sign of an evil spirit in a woman, resulting in miniscule amounts of literary works written by women. Women were not provided with equal spaces to creatively express themselves, as mentioned by Virginia Woolf. Moreover, they were not given the same publishing opportunities, many women either went anonymous or by a fake male name to have their works published.

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Chapter 1: Cultural Analysis: The chapter focuses and is centralize on the cultural environment and phenomena of Dominican Republic. We have tried to study and determine the cultural factors on how and what our service will be. Along the run our introduction will tell us the main points in Dominican Republic’s Cultural Analysis. I. INTRODUCTION: “Dios, Patria, Libertad”

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474 Words | 2 Pages

Out of those practices one of them is that they are very religious, like it mentions in the book “Dominican Republic”, “90 percent of Dominicans are catholic”. That means that only 10 percent aren’t! Another one of those cultural practices is woman class, the book “Dominican Republic”, “A woman often is expected to be as self- sacrificing and as dutiful as the Virgin Mary”. Also the social class system is very unique, only 5 percent make up the “upper class”, about 35 percent of the population belongs to the “middle class”, and the remaining 60 percent make up the “lower

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1805 Words | 8 Pages

The novel, Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic written by Ernesto Sagas explains about Dominicans facing issues of race, particularly inrelation to Haiti and national identity. “Dominican faced with the inescapable fact that their country shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, have erected barriers of prejudice and racisms to distance themselves from their poor, dark skinned neighbors.” (SagÃs, Ernesto. Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic) In the first chapter, it briefly talks about the racial prejudices of Spanish colonial society in Santo Domingo.

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569 Words | 3 Pages

Another popular food they eat is called Mangu dominicano it contains Plantains,meat,eggs,vegetables, and they put other things if they decide to such as spices. They mainly eat it at lunch because that’s one of the most important meal of the day. Merengue Festival is one of the most popular festival’s in the Dominican Republic in July 26-31 which they dress up and dance with a partner as they shake their hips rapidly to their music. Baseball is one of their most favored sport by far in the Dominican Republic. The dominican Republic has the second-highest number of baseball players in Major League Baseball.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

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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1000 Words | 4 Pages

Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

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