Defiance in the name of freedom against the political clutch of a powerful dictator can bring about the consequence of inhumane punishment and loss, however, by preserving and telling the story of a great loss, one honors the memory of sacrifice and can find closure, making the cause worth the fight. The legitimacy of this statement is evidently valid when paired up behind the sacrifice of the three Mirabal sisters in the book by Julia Alvarez: In The Time of The Butterflies. Is any life worth living trapped in fear of harm or even death? How much misery and suffering can one tolerate from a higher power, before they seize opportunity to rise against the greater force. What triggers, and to what severity, drive one to the last resort of risking …show more content…
Afterward, she sums it up: "The complete list of losses. There they are. And it helps, I've found, if I can count them off, so to speak”. That same night, when Dede falls asleep, things are different; she does not hear the spirits of her sisters running through the house. Her telling the of the story of a great loss over to herself, honors the memory of sacrifice and she can find the sense of closure with the heroic tragedy of her dear brave sisters. She ponders the importance of what her sister were fighting for, and in the end, whether or not their relentless efforts were made in …show more content…
Death of course by assassination planned by El Jeffe’s forces that was skillfully carried out to make it look like a tragic accident. Of course it was no coincidence to anyone, it was meant by Trujillo to intimidate potential followers of the ever rising rebellion. Their fight to the end showed how they were proud and willing to fight for the better life and brake the chains of living in oppression. They proved they would not tolerate living miserably under an unjust government and this was truly inspiring. This is a genuine and desirable trait that they held strongly, and it gained them due respect and honor. They’ve set a shining example of how the will to make a difference can have drastic and incredible results effective or not to the immediate situation at hand, it encourages the surrounding people to question the value of their freedom. After the dictatorship fell, the trial of the murderers was on T.V. for a month, and they admitted to killing the Mirabal sisters and Rufino by strangulation. Although they died however, their sacrifice had not gone unnoticed. The memory of their sacrifice is honored today, by a national holiday and monuments, and through these closure is found, but their story is not lost. “Las Mariposas” leave an important legacy that enforces the ever existing
Two weeks is all it takes for a caterpillar to completely transition into a butterfly. Compared to our span of life, this seems like a rushed transition; however, there are certain ways that humans can change just as quickly as a caterpillar. Although these are not physical changes like the caterpillars, they still remain significant. In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez the characters experience changes in values, personal opinions, and political views. The character Patria fits the image of a butterfly as she rapidly changes in result of certain situations . Over the course of the book Patria quickly undergoes several momentous changes as she alters her political stance and values.
Ultimately, In the Time of the Butterflies is a book written and dedicated to the Mirabal sisters and their revolutionary lives. The passion they possessed for the cause is what drove them into putting themselves and their families at risk. They involved themselves in the movement despite the danger of imprisonment and torture. They do everything they possibly can do for the future of their country and the advancement of the revolution. Looking at the sisters lives from their own account, it is clear that they were better revolutionaries than any other role they held.
The play M Butterfly is a tale of love and betrayal. But unlike other love stories this tale also shows how Chinese people were perceived by western people in the early 60’s and maybe to this day, M butterfly shows us through gender, capitalism ethnicity and sexuality how three of the main characters all reflect those ideals and how they all relate to each other through those ideals.
Through the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez paints a picture of life in the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, also known as El Jefe. His rise to power started with National Guard and eventually by 1928, led to the role of Commander in Chief in the new National Armed Forces. By thirty-seven, through the “Secret of Trujillo” – or intimidation tactics, manipulation of his military control, and fraud - he secured the position of president and control of the residents (Alvarez 17). Life under the dictator was very restrained as he had banned anyone or anything that could express dissent, took control of trade and property, and established a secret police to do his bidding. In the
In the Western world, Butterfly represents a stereotype of the Oriental woman. The stereotype of an obedient, submissive, and domestic Asian woman appeals to Westerners through other media beside the opera; for example, the “mail-order bride trade” catalogues and TV spots. The story of the white devil Pinkerton and a sub-missive Asian girl Cio-Cio-San has become a cultural myth in Western world. In M. Butterfly, David Henry Hwang parodies and deconstructs this myth. In his play, a French diplomat Rene Gallimard fantasizes that he is Pinkerton and his Chinese lover Song is his Butterfly. However, as Hwang says in the “Afterword” of the play, Gallimard “realizes that it is he who has been But...
Throughout centuries man has witnessed some of this worlds greatest tragedies; the destruction caused by the bubonic plague, the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the Rwandan Genocide. However, none of these can compare to the devastation caused by world dictators. The lives taken at the hands of these tyrannical rulers is unbelievably distressing, and ex-Dominican president, Rafael Trujillo is no exception. Throughout his thirty year reign over the Dominican Republic he is thought to be responsible for the lives of over 50,000 innocent people, none of these devastating losses, however, compare to the tragedy of the Mirabal sisters; three honourable women who did nothing but have a voice. The level of political misconduct and unjustified action was unbelievable and lead the sisters to drastic measures, Patria saying "We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime, we have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, including my life if necessary.". In their efforts to try and overthrow the totalitarian they found themselves trapped in a situation where the lives of them and their families were constantly at risk, and in the end it was through their tragical ...
The historical fiction novel In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, has an interesting story about four sisters who rebel against Trujillo, their cruel dictator. The book starts years after the event, focusing on the surviving sister, Dedé, as she recounts the time when her father predicts what he thinks will become of his girls in the future. In the next chapter, narrated by Minerva, the three girls, excluding Dedé, go to religious school. There, Minerva learns the cruelty of Trujillo towards Sinita’s family. Soon after, Trujillo visits the school interested in Lina. But one day, Lina never returns; she has become pregnant and is sent to Miami for safety. In a new wing of the school, a recitation contest is being hosted, and Minerva and her three friends decide to enter together.
It was difficult to find out who was the main narrator of In the Time of the Butterflies was, the author kept switching between different viewpoints in order to effectively tell the story of the Mirabel sisters. The Mirabel sisters spoke in firsthand accounts of what happened to them. It seemed
Madame Butterfly (1898), a story written by John Luther Long, is perhaps one of the highly acclaimed works that has also been performed worldwide as an opera by Giacomo Puccini. It would later become the framework of David Henry Hwang’s 1988 play, M. Butterfly, which explores and reinterprets the stereotypes of Orientalism that are shown in Long’s original work. Both plays reflect the social ideologies of gender and race that have been constructed behind historical contexts of culture and politics. Despite its similarity in the ideologies, Long’s Madame Butterfly propagates the Western stereotypes of Orientalism in its interracial love story, while Hwang’s M. Butterfly skillfully challenges those stereotypes.
The Butterfly is a cinematic exploration with a political edge that fuses the tender relationship between a teacher and a student during the year 1936. Spain was intertwined in the struggle between the Mussolini inspired Nationalist Party and the Republicans. The main character Monchos life is constantly interrupted by the problems brought by the Civil War going on in the country.
Julia Alvarez explains that Dedé’s courage is what mainly inspired In the Time of the Butterflies and that is why the novel is dedicated to Dedé (Michniewicz 3). The tone of Margaret Michniewicz’s article suggests that she enjoyed the novel, and she adds details to her article about how significant the Mirabals’ struggle was. Michniewicz seems to be as dedicated to telling the story as Alvarez is. Another critic, Ruth Behar, concludes her article with, “I am in debt to Julia Alvarez for her creative ambition, which she largely fulfils: for showing that although revolutions turn sour, they matter. And for showing that when they turn sour for women, they must be remembered even more adamantly” (7). Behar sees the pertinence of the issue at hand and applauds Julia Alvarez for her portrayal of the Mirabal sisters. Additionally, Darren Felty says in his
In the novel Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver, we come across many topics we can derive from the book. As we read the novel one of the main topics we came across was Monarch Butterflies. We learned numerous things about these Butterflies throughout our reading. One of the numerous things was how to tell the difference between male Butterflies to female ones. In our paper, we will be giving great detail on the difference between the male and female butterflies based on the research that we have done.
To learn, lead and serve: this is the mission of Magnificat High School. It only makes sense that the students attending this school read books that magnify this message. Many of the books read inspire the girls to be strong and stand up for what they believe in. One book that especially encapsulates these important themes is, In the Time of the Butterflies. This book promotes strong female characters leading their community to fight for their rights by educating those around them about the corruption of their dictator. In In the Time of the Butterflies, the strong female roles whom promote education, are strongly rooted in their faith, and standing up for what is right perfectly emphasizes the mission of Magnificat school and so it must stay on the student reading list for years to come.
Helena Maria Veramontes writes her short story “The Moths” from the first person point of view, placing her fourteen year old protagonist female character as a guide through the process of spiritual re-birth. The girl begins the story with a description of the debt she owes her Abuelita—the only adult who has treated her with kindness and respect. She describes her Apa (Father) and Ama (Mother), along with two sisters as if they live in the same household, yet are born from two different worlds. Her father is abusive, her mother chooses to stay in the background and her sisters evoke a kind of femininity that she does not possess. The girl is angry at her masculine differences and strikes out at her sisters physically. Apa tries to make his daughter conform to his strict religious beliefs, which she refuses to do and her defiance evokes abuse. The girl’s Abuelita is dying and she immerses herself in caring for her, partly to repay a debt and partly out of the deep love she has for her. As her grandmother lay dying, she begins the process of letting go. The moth helps to portray a sense of spirituality, re-birth and becomes, finally, an incarnation of the grandmother. The theme of the story is spiritual growth is born from human suffering.
At the end of the play M. Butterfly, a jailed French diplomat turned spy named Gallimard says, "There is a vision of the Orient that I have" (Hwang 3.3.7). In that moment he is implying that there are still beautiful women, as he thought his "Butterfly" was. This is suggestive of the colonial appeal. Colonization is made possible by one society characterizing another in a way that makes it seem like a good idea. The characterization of these cultures, such as the Orient or Africa, is carried out through literature, works of art, and drama. Certainly, plays, poems, books, and stories are only a few of the ways used to convince the masses of a modern nation of the justification to colonize. If one wants to rebel against colonization, one would need to place corruption upon the colonizer so to support the liberation. This approach looks to be accepted in drama, where there are two excellent illustrations of postcolonial literature, M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, and A Tempest by Aime Cesaire. Both plays are re-worked versions of and Puccini's opera, Madame Butterfly and Shakespeare's The Tempest, and retain similar characters and basic plots. Shakespeare's and Puccini's works created symbols of other cultures. Caliban is the black devil, and Cio-Cio San is the timid and beautiful "Butterfly." These symbols have become stereotypes in Western culture, and formed, the justification for colonization.