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Marxist Criticism In Time Of The Butterflies

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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. When applying Marxist Criticism to the novel, readers can see that one way Trujillo is able to maintain his power is by convincing women to live in his homes. Trujillo owns many homes and has a woman live in each one. He uses his power to manipulate women to live secluded from their friends and family. The only thing that Trujillo gets out of doing this is having a fling, but he is able to show …show more content…

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. However, he eventually jails two of the sisters. His overall goal is to jail these citizens to keep his reign safe, but he also uses his authority to mess with them and make life

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