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Julia Alvarez Sisters

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Recommended: Gender roles in 20th century literature

In the Dominican Republic, General Rafael Trujillo 's dictatorship is being judged within the eyes of the four Maribal sisters. In the story "In the Time of the butterflies" by Julia Alvarez the four sisters that are all strikingly different, are contemplating on whether to follow along with the anti- Trujillo movement. Minerva being the most dominant one out of all the sisters, is first to follow through against Trujillo. Alvarez involves feminism, rhetorical and literary devises, and portrayed various themes in her novel. Along with showing the strong relationship, and the differences between the four sisters, they showed us readers the true meaning of family. The sisters were best known as "Las mariposas" that means butterflies. Trujillo’s …show more content…

It was highly expected for the women to obey either their husbands or father’s decisions. At that point in time women weren 't as well respected, men were always the most dominant. Julia Alvarez could portray that otherwise by the four sisters showing women 's self-worth and righteousness. Minerva was unhesitant about women 's right she was first to join against Trujillo. Each sister had strong characteristics to show their willingness to not give up on a better life for them and their children. "Your responsibility is to your children, your husband, and your own! His face was so clouded in anger; I couldn 't see the man I loved" (Alvarez 166). Patria 's husband was filled with anger due to her decision that she wanted both her and her husband to take part of the resistance with their eldest son, but Pedrito was more worried about losing his land when it was Partia 's dad 's land to begin with. ""What if I can 't"" Dede 's voice shook. 'Jaimito thinks it 's suicide. He told me that he 'll have to leave me if I get mixed up in this thing. ' There, she 'd said it... She was hiding behind her husband’s fear"(Alvarez 180). This quote showed that Dede was the one with the most fear in her heart, she was afraid that Jaimito would leave her if she were to join with her sisters. As the reader, we come to realize how

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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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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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In The Time Of The Butterflies Entrapment Analysis

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Butterflies Reflection In The Time of the Butterflies I am exposed to many different viewpoints. An important one being Minerva Mirabal. This novel takes me through the crazy lives of the Mirabal’s. This family is in a personal war against El Jefe Trujillo.

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Lola takes advantage of her deteriorating mother whose illness represents the declining hold of the norms over Lola. Since her mom “will have trouble lifting her arms over her head for the rest of her life,” Lola is no longer afraid of the “hitting” and grabbing “by the throat” (415,419). As a child of a “Old World Dominican Mother” Lola must be surrounded by traditional values and beliefs that she does not want to claim, so “as soon as she became sick” Lola says, “I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance and I eventually took it” (416). When taking the opportunity to distinguish herself from the typical “Dominican daughter” or ‘Dominican slave,” she takes a cultural norm like long hair and decides to impulsively change it (416). Lola enjoyed the “feeling in [her] blood, the rattle” that she got when she told Karen to “cut my hair” (418).

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The female characters are portrayed as independent, strong willed women that are full of determination to fulfill their dreams, who also defy stereotypes. Minerva is portrayed as a strong woman when she fulfills her dream of getting a form of higher education, which also goes against social norms in the Dominican Republic. She says, “I want to go to the university[...]I’ve always wanted to study law” (Alvarez 98). By attending the university, Minerva is completing her dream and going against female stereotypes. Another example of women being strong willed in the novel is when the Mirabal sisters fight and die for a cause they believed in.

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1412 Words | 6 Pages

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