Calamity in the D.R.
Latin American writer Julia Alvarez, was born in New York, but her parents later returned to their homeland, in the time of President Trujillo’s regime. Her family got into trouble and had to flee the country before the worse was to happen to them. Alvarez explains in her biography the transition she had to make when arriving in America at the age of ten. She had to shift from speaking Spanish to English, so as to avoid being bullied by her classmates. In turn, this helped her to become a better writer since she paid keen attention to the language. Even though she didn’t have her first book published until in her older years, Alvarez is a very influential writer, who gives a voice and sheds light on the injustices that were occurring in Dominica Republic. With her first successful novel, Alvarez opened the door for others who have enriched American literature with insights into the Hispanic world (Julia Alvarez Biography).
Alvarez in the author of: How the Garcia Girls lost their Accents and In the times of the Butterflies, among many other, including short stories and essays. She writes historical fiction books that recount events that happened while Dominica Republic was under the control of Trujillo. We encounter numerous prevailing themes such as feminism, society and
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He ruled Dominica Republic for over thirty years, in which he did as he pleased, murdering supporters of the opposition, constructing monuments in his honor and “in 1937, he went so far as to orchestrate the massacre of thousands of Haitian immigrants” (Biography.com Editors). The Mirabal sisters carried a normal life, came from a middle class home, got married and had children, but they were concerned about the way life was headed and were tired of living in fear, one of the reasons why their father passed