Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

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Having the Courage to Rise Against Imagine this… the United States, a beloved nation, being ruled by one individual, the rules of the country being entirely arbitrary, rules based on violence and force, having no difference between state and government, and last of all having little to no rights or freedom. The picture that was just painted would be the United States if it were under a dictatorship. Currently in the world there are still forty nine countries that are run under a dictatorship. Out of one hundred and ninety five total countries one hundred and forty six managed to escape the fate of a being under a dictatorship. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a novel that explains about the brutal dictatorship that the Dominican Republic was under and how 4 …show more content…

From 1931 to 1961 the Dominican Republic was under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Born in 1891 Trujillo was raised in San Cristobal and in a middle class family. Wanting to escape his rural life Rafael Trujillo joined the army and through force was deemed the highest office possible. After his time in the military Trujillo placed himself as a candidate in the presidential elections and “organized a secret police force to torture and murder supporters of the opposing candidate. Not surprisingly, Trujillo won the election by a landslide” (Rafael Trujillo Biography, 2014). While this was happening the people of the Dominican Republic didn’t know. To them he won fair and square, and he was going to take care of their country. This was the first of many of wicked Trujillo's unfair stunts he pulled on the people of the Dominican Republic. Only one hundred and forty miles away from the Dominican Republic was the little country of Haiti. Due to the two countries being so close to each other, naturally some Haitians lived in the Dominican Republic and vise versa. September of

Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez
675 Words | 3 Pages
The novel, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, tells the story of the four Mirabal sisters during the time of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. All four sisters take turns narrating the novel, making them each the protagonists of their chapters, but overall, Dede is the main character throughout the story. She is the second-oldest sister, the one who keeps the shelves stacked neatly, the one who can read and write. Dede is also the only sister who didn't join the revolution and wasn't killed in the 1960 ambush. She is the one who survives, which makes her the one to tell that story of her sister’s deaths.
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Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez
960 Words | 4 Pages
In Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, a young, naïve girl transforms into a prominent figure in the revolution against Leonidas Trujillo as we read page after page of her most private thoughts. This character is Maria Teresa (Mate), the youngest of the Mirabal sisters. Alvarez weaves Maria Teresa’s story as a coming of age story under a dictatorship, and slowly, but thoroughly, shows us how it corrupts childhood innocence and forms revolutionaries. Mate’s chapters in the novel are solely journal entries. In Julia Alvarez’s words, “Techniques are just tools on the wall to help you get at what best reflects the stories in your heart to tell.
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Analysis Of The Time Of Butterflies By Julia Alvarez
441 Words | 2 Pages
This is a fiction book based on the historical facts about the Mirabal sisters, Trujillo and the Dominican Republic. Just imagine yourself being in the country which is ruled by the dictator. Would you stand up for your country or would you just be a traditional woman? In this, In the Time of Butterflies book by Julia Alvarez, Minerva led the anti- Trujillo movement and tried to get the independence, after she found out how horrible he is.
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In The Time Of The Butterflies Chapter Summary
725 Words | 3 Pages
In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about 4 sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa. The book is about the three girls growing up and their experiences during the time of the underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The book was written in memory of Dedé’s 3 sisters who had been ambushed and murdered, which we are aware of since the beginning of the novel. The beginning chapter of the book is describing Dedé as she waits for a woman who is going to interview her about her three sisters, she then goes into a flashback she has of her family talking at the dinner table and her father mentions someone named Trujillo, which then gives a hint at who this book might be formed around. Through the book, we read stories about times in the girls’ lives when they were going to school at Inmaculada Concepcion and being at home and falling in love, as well as there run ins with Trujillo himself.
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In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez
1564 Words | 7 Pages
Butterflies are exceedingly beautiful. They gracefully fly as the sun beams on them endlessly. Their delicate wings allow them to be “free”. In Julia Alvarez’s novel “In The Time of The Butterflies”, four sisters (The Mirabals) from the Dominican Republic, encounter many obstacles. The novel takes place during Rafael Trujillo’s rule.
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Why The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao
1557 Words | 7 Pages
In the introduction to the novel, the narrator says,” For those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history: Trujillo, one of the twentieth century's most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality” (2). These notes were important in our reading to understand the extent to which Trujillo was responsible for the family’s fukú. In part 3, we learn about Lola and Oscar’s mother Beli. A woman who was unfortunate to live in the time of Trujillo, and who lost her parents because of this dictatorship. This is the beginning point for the fukú that the family experiences in the novel.
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What Are The Sisters In Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies
1047 Words | 5 Pages
Brothers and sisters can shape a person's ideas, and even their own personality. Their influence can dictate their perception of the things around them and how it might differ from others. Those new ideas can be beneficial, but also detrimental. In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez tell a compelling story about the Mirabal sisters who rise up in a time of cruel dictatorship from their government.
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In The Time Of The Butterflies Themes
1490 Words | 6 Pages
Through her novel In the Time of the Butterflies, Alvarez explores the impact of dictatorships on religion, the socio-economic structure of a country, and the role of women in Dominican society. A key theme of this novel was the Trujillo regime’s iron fisted control over every aspect of Dominican life, which was especially prevalent through religion. The Dominican Republic is a predominantly Catholic nation, therefore control of the church was imperative to gain control over the Dominican people (Gale Group 122). Thus, Trujillo insisted on being honored at churches, popularizing the phrase “God and Trujillo”
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Butterfly In The Time Of The Butterflies
159 Words | 1 Pages
In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez uses the motif of a butterfly to compare the four sisters and depict their experiences. A butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis, and the larvae grows to become completely different than the adult butterfly. They begin as eggs, then become the larva, or caterpillar. They continuously grow throughout this stage caterpillar stage. After full growth, a caterpillar develops into a pupa, or chrysalis; which is kept protected inside a silk cocoon.
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Junot Diaz Analysis
1291 Words | 6 Pages
Díaz has also been stripped of the Order of Merit awarded to him by the Dominican Republic in 2009. " These accusaions are from Diaz and Writer Edwidge Danticat telling congressional leaders to take action on the human rights crisis in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In addition to the Political scandal stated erlier about the trouble that Diaz shed to light, "After authors Edwidge Danticat, left, and Junot Diaz appealed to members of Congress to address what they say is a human rights crisis in the Dominican Republic, officials from the Dominican Republic attacked Diaz as "anti dominicano. "Díaz, who had visited the Dominican Republic earlier that month, said, "There 's a state of terror" in its capitol city, Santo Domingo.
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In The Time Of The Butterflies Theme Essay
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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How Did Rafael Trujillo's Influence On The Dominicans
1230 Words | 5 Pages
Dominican Republic was very unstable at the time with many revolutions. They needed a great leader who could help them lose their problems. Little did they know that he was going to be far from a "great"
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Caamaño Revolt
345 Words | 2 Pages
In the period quickly following the death of General Rafael Trujillo, known as "El Jefe," the Dominican Republic was in shambles. The country was under the control of a three-man junta which, with the assistance of the United States, was getting ready for presidential races. In 1963, Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was chosen President of the Dominican Republic; that same year, just a couple of months after his initiation, he was removed from the administration by the Dominican military that later settled another three-mean junta in Bosch's place. In 1965, Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó drove what was known as the Caamaño Revolt, the opening salvo in the Dominican Civil War.
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In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez
1234 Words | 5 Pages
The historical fiction novel In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez illustrates how important historical and political shifts in a government affect the lives of the characters in a society or culture. The characters in this society are punished for acts of rebellion because of Trujillo’s ruthless dictatorship. The sisters
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Mirabal Sisters Argumentative Essay
598 Words | 3 Pages
From the moment that the Dominican republic was free from Trujillo’s dictatorship, contrasting viewpoints have come up regarding the sacrifices of the Mirabal sisters. While some argue that the Mirabal sisters sacrifices were not beneficial and worthwhile to the revolution because it resulted in the orphaning of their children and three young lives were lost. Others argue that the Mirabal sisters sacrifices were effective for the revolution since it changed the future of their country. I deem the sisters sacrifices are justifiable because their sacrifices had an important purpose. Isn’t it true that Trujillo's was absolutely in power for 31 years however, because of the three young sisters his cruel regime ended.
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Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez