In The Time Of The Butterflies: Psychological Analysis

In Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies the theme of entrapment is seen multiple times throughout the book, mainly to represent the authoritarian regime of Trujillo. There are several different types of entrapment in the book but the main three are the discovery of entrapment, physical entrapment and the roles of women holding back the women from fulfilling their destinies. These three point mainly surround Minerva, who can be considered the bravest sister for being the first one to get involved with the revolution, but the other sisters deal with entrapment as well.

In the novel “In the Times of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, the 4 Mirable sisters tell their stories about how they will destroy Rafael Trujillo. The two sisters that standout the most are Minerva and Mate, which is also known as Maria Teresa. Minerva, thro first person narration and Mate, throw her journal entries are developed to show they are unique personalities, both their feelings and, and how they develop. All 4 sisters fight for theyre rights and against Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

Four beautiful Dominican heroines known as the Butterflies make a big change on the world for women. “Each represent courage, love, and sacrifice”. The Butterflies bravely went against their ruler Trujillo and went through a lot of troubles. One of the four Butterflies whom were the bravest is Minerva. Minerva was the oldest, and wanted to go to law school.

The novel, “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, is a fictionalized story of the real events surrounding four sisters who lived in the Dominican Republic during the reign of terror of the dictator Trujillo. The story recreates a fictional life of the sisters since they were young girls until three of them met their untimely death. The story is told through Dede Mirabel’s eyes, the only surviving sister among the four. The four sisters are different and join their sister Maria Teresa, who is the mastermind of the resistance movement, after their own various experiences that prompts them to desire a just environment. In the end, they are assassinated in a mountain pass as they are traveling back after meeting their husbands in prison.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez portrays the Dominican Republics in a time where Rafael Leonidas Trujillo is the ruthless dictator. Throughout the novel, Trujillo accentuates the idea of manipulation by controlling all aspects of Dominican life and manipulates Dominicans from an early age by alluding himself to be the ideal leader. In the beginning of the novel there is a passage from a textbook that is meant for young Dominican children: “All through nature there is a feeling of ecstasy. A strange otherworldly light suffuses the house smelling of the labor and sanctity.

From the time in which justice and order was enforced by governing figures, man has struggled with the conflict of balancing freedom and protection. Often times, those who seek answers to the disorderly find solace within religious beliefs; they find protection and answers to questions of security, where an omnipotent being took reign and watched over one’s life. However, when applied to governing forces, these laws based off religious beliefs regulating certain actions and desires restrict freedom. In The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller argue that conscience should supersede religion. Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter uses pathos to enforce this claim; whereas Arthur Miller argues the same claim using logos in his book The Crucible.

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.

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.

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).

Another turning point in which McCandless lost trust in his father occurs during the revealing of his father’s secret, second family after questioning a number of old family friends. This pushes McCandless past his limit, and results into him rejecting his

Courage Courage is strength in the face of pain. Julia Alvarez portrays different types of courage in her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies. The novel is set during the time of Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. As a result, some of the Mirabal sisters; Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria, to take a step in joining a revolution against him.

Religion in The Butterflies The theme of religion is found throughout the book In the Time of the Butterflies. Julia Alvarez uses the theme to give life and development to the characters as well as advance the story. It provides a brighter more pure side to contrast the events of the Rebellion and Trujillo’s actions. Religion also keeps the people of the Dominican Republic together providing guidance for them.

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.

There are many different ways that reader can choose to interpret a literary work that they are reading or examining. The Freudian lens is one of the many tools that helps reader understand the in depth meaning of the main characters through their behaviors, characteristics, actions and their surroundings. Fight Club, a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, can also be interpreted by using the Freudian theory to analyze the main character, Joe (the narrator) and his discreet personality, Tyler Durden. The story is about the narrator’s depressing life in which he has been suffering from reality, until he has created another personality that represents his desire. In Fight Club, the narrator’s traits of aggressiveness, his desire and his sense of

to still keep established pace and tone, which is that calm, disassociated mood. At this point the father, the reader might think, is a construction of the husband’s mind, because the husband had focused on “the idea of never seeing him again. . . .” which struck him the most out of this chance meeting, rather than on the present moment of seeing him (Forn 345). However surreal this may be in real life, the narrator manages to keep the same weight through the pacing in the story to give this story a certain realism through the husband’s