Each famous dictator had a way of “changing” or manipulating history to benefit them. Hitler did it by clearing out his name and saying that he was a pure catholic, while in reality, his grandmother was Jewish. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini did it by become the leader he was by murdering all other candidates for his job. Trujillo is just like these famous dictators, just like Minerva compares him to them during the book In the Time Of the Butterflies. Just like those dictators, he had his method of making himself look good by manipulating history. Rafael Trujillo’s power influenced a lot of groups during the time of his rule . The groups that got most affected by Trujillo's regime where religion, education and gender roles.
One of the few things that all of the Mirabal sisters have in common are that they are all mostly very religious. Patria, one of the most religious of the sisters, loses faith after a failed marriage and giving birth to a dead baby. She later joins the Catholic church as the slowly begin to realize what kind of a monster Trujillo is. All of this helps us analyze the connection between Trujillo's regime and religion.
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One specific girl, Minerva, went to extreme lengths. In order to avoid being too pretty and getting drawn to Trujillo, she took extreme measure to make sure she was not as attractive. “...it was caused by the cotton bandages I had started tying around my chest so my breasts wouldn't grow. I wanted to be sure what had happened to Lina Lovatón would never happen to me.”(Alvarez, 107). She wanted to stop her body from developing and being possibly raped by Trujillo. Another thing that was not made possible thanks to Trujillo is preventing Minerva from using her degree in law. Being the cruel and powerful person he was, he made sure that she had no use of her hard earned law
In the early 1930’s, the Dominican Republic elected a new president by the name of Rafael Trujillo. Rafael Trujillo was a ruthless and selfish dictator even before he won the election. To win the election, he used his connections to kill supporters of the opposing candidates. Rafael Trujillo used his powers to oppress and murder masses of people (2 ”Rafael Trujillo”). Even though he was initially seen as a beneficial leader, Rafael Trujillo was proven to be an evil dictator.
Throughout the novel, all of the sisters viewed points at a different perspective. Each sister had courageous, fearful, and sacrificial moments, though some of them displayed one of them more than another. In the end, many of these moments allowed the sisters to gain power to overcome obstacles. Even though all of the sisters, except Dede, did not make it to live out their whole lives, they did the most they could to stand up for what they each believed in. It takes guts to follow your heart, but when you do, you gain courage and strength to do so. The Mirabal sisters might have not been the cliché super heroes in a book, but they showed what true humans would and would not do, which makes them a whole lot more respectful.
Belonging to the Dominican Republic, Salcedo is one of the smallest provinces in all of its country. It is also the province that has been recently dedicated to the Mirabal sisters. Four Dominican women who fought for the freedom of the Dominican republic from the Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Patia Mercedes, born on February 27, 1924, was the eldest sister. Bélgica Adela Mirabal, the second sister, was born on February 29, 1925. Minerva Argentina, the third sister, was born on March 12, 1926. And lastly, Maria Teresa, the youngest sister was born on October 15, 1936. The four sisters were daughters of Enrique Mirabal Fernández and Mercedes "Chea" Reyes Camilo. The Mirabal family lived in a part of Salcedo named “Ojo De Agua” (Eye Of Water). They were
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina is without a doubt one of the most known figures within the Dominican history. The “Era de Trujillo” (The Trujillo Era) occupied the Dominican Republic for the long period of thirty-one years. His dictatorship started in 1930 and ended with his assassination on May 30, 1961. Trujillo’s Career began with the occupation of the United States in 1916. During this time he was trained in a military school, and became part of the National Police, a military group made by the Unites States to maintain order in the Dominican Republic . Trujillo stood out during his military career and rapidly ascended within the military ranges. Under the government of Horatio Vasquez Trujillo received the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was put in charge of chiefs and assistant commanders of the National Police . This new position gave him the opportunity to be part of the overthrowing of Horatio Vasquez. Trujillo was sworn into presidency on August 16, 1930. Marking the beginning of what is known as the cruel, violent and controversial part of history in the Dominican Republic.
“A Summer in the Cage” is a documentary filmed by Ben Selkow that shows his friend Sam battling with a manic-depressive illness known as bipolar disorder. The main theme of this film is the struggles the main character Sam goes through when battling bipolar disorder. Selkow firsts meets Sam while filming a documentary about street basketball. Ever since that day, they became close friends. Sam decided to help make the documentary with Selkow. Selkow begins to realize after spending so much time with Sam that he had something off about him. At this time, Sam was having is first manic episode. When Sam was eight years old, his father committed suicide due to battling the same disorder. Throughout this documentary, Sam tries to escape that same
Author Mariano Azuela's novel of the Mexican revolution, The Underdogs, conveys a fictional representation of the revolution and the effects it had on the Mexican men and women who lived during that time. The revolutionary rebels were composed of different men grouped together to form small militias against the Federalists, in turn sending them on journeys to various towns, for long periods of time. Intense fighting claimed the lives of many, leaving women and children behind to fend for themselves. Towns were devastated forcing their entire populations to seek refuge elsewhere. The revolution destroyed families across Mexico, leaving mothers grieving for their abducted daughters, wives for their absent husbands, and soldiers for their murdered friends. The novel's accurate depiction also establishes some of the reasons why many joined the revolution, revealing that often, those who joined were escaping their lives to fight for an unknown cause.
“Jaimito think its suicide. He told me that he will leave me if I get mixed up in those things”. Here is where Dede confesses the truth about her participation with the Mariposas. Although later on she claims to be leaving Jaimito. Dede knew that she needed to join her sisters this was the only way she was going to show her loyalty to the “Mariposas”. Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa husbands were all involved with the “Mariposas” movement. Could this be the reason why they were so committed and involved with the “Mariposas” movement? The support that all their husbands gave them through the journey guided them to influent the change, and to them it was very important. We all ask ourselves could this be another reason why Dede felt so strong about getting people to hear he story, to find the interest in it. Dede made her family home into a museum, this way people can see how they lived when it all began. There is also a monument that tourist or native Dominican that would like to know the story of the Mirabal Sisters. Why is this so important? Its known that a lot of Dominican or people all around the world do not know the story of the Mirabal sisters and what they died for; the truth behind the lies and the unrealistic story telling. Dede’s accomplishment was to let everyone now what happened to her sisters to her father and how Trujillo dictated
The novel ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’, by Junot Diaz gives a very entertaining insight towards many social dynamics that are relevant to Dominican culture, and it fits very well within the scope of the course; and, although it is a work of fiction, this novel is set in New Jersey, and deals specifically with the Dominican Republic experience under the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. From what I’ve learned after reading the first half of this book, there is certainly a lot that can be discussed. Thankfully the book’s versatile portrayal of vivid topics that are seldom discussed shine light upon these many issues that face such an overlooked culture, especially for the American audience.
Minerva Mirabal was the most heroic of the Mirabal sisters. Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for 30 years; he was oppressive, creepy, and a little insane. The Mirabal sisters were killed because they tried to rebel against him. Minerva is heroic. Because she was the first of her sisters to join the rebellion, she went to law school, and she slapped the dictator with a slap.
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.
It is influential to have strong people who want to fight for their rights. It is often easy to focus on oppression than it is to change it. It takes courage to be able to go against the rules of law. In both “In The Time Of The Butterflies” and “The Censors” , Juan and the Mariposas not only reveal their courage, but also develop significant symbols to the roles of each one of them during their time overcoming oppression. The Mirabal’s behavior towards their determination to fight for freedom, symbolizes the hope for freedom. The Dominicans were blessed to have four courageous women who went against the law in order to better their country for all. In the other hand, Juan role to overcome oppression resulted in his death and death to many innocent people. His behavior symbolize distrust, one cannot trust anyone, not even yourself. He was so caught up with his job, doing what he believed was right, he ended up censoring
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, or “El Chivo”, controlled the people of the Dominican Republic in a manner that set him apart from the other leaders of that time. By controlling every aspect of the country’s economy, he controlled the people, by controlling each individual’s income and their jobs, he controlled their lives. (Sagas, 173) It is true that from the outside it may appear that the economy was getting better in the Dominican Republic, but the problem was that all of the enterprises and businesses were directly or indirectly owned and controlled by Trujillo himself, not the government. Building bridges, making better roads, and establishing monuments were Trujillo’s ideas as to how to make the Dominican Republic a better place. (de Besault, N/A) True that these things made the Republic more appealing and made transportation better, but the inhumane methods Trujillo employed to maintain his complete and utter control of the people completely overshadowed any positive things that he may have done.
Minerva influenced Patria by helping her understand why she hated Trujillo. While Patria was gazing at the picture of the Good Shepherd in comparison, Minerva said “They're a pair, aren't they?” (53). It then hit Patria, “That moment, I understood her hatred. My family had not been personally hurt by Trujillo, just as before, losing my baby, Jesus had not taken anything away from me. But others had been suffering great losses” (53). By comparing Trujillo to the Good Shepherd Minerva was able to get through to Patria. Though her constant tangents and speeches about the bad in Trujillo didn't seem to budge Patria, Minerva was able to connect the way Trujillo was depicted, to something that meant much more to Patria, her religion. This marked a turning point for Patria because she now truly believed and saw that Trujillo was bad. The Church gave Patria the opportunity to fight. “I couldn’t believe this was the same Padre de Jesús talking who several months back hadn’t known his faith from his fear! But then again, here in that little room was the same Patria Mercedes, who wouldn’t have hurt a butterfly, shouting, 'Amen to the revolution.' And so we were born in the spirit of the vengeful Lord, no longer His lambs” (163, 164). The church, being the thing that meant the most to Patria, was ready to fight. So Patria suddenly became ready to. Having
As far as religion goes the Lunas are far more religious than the Marez family. Religion plays a very important part in the life of the Lunas. They believe highly in God and everything else that is involved in the Roman Catholic religion. Maria Lunas is shown to be praying to the Virgin Mary on many different occasions in the book. The Lunas family has been encouraging Antonio to become a priest throughout his life, to the point that he believes he is obligated too. This is clearly shown in the book where Antonio states, “My mother was a devout Catholic, and so she saw the salvation of the soul rooted in the Holy Mother Church, and she said the world would be saved if the people turned to the earth.” On the other hand the Marez family is not very religious at all. They don’t believe that God plays a very important part in their lives.
Diaz describes Trujillo by writing, “You might roll your eyes at the comparison, but, friends: it would be hard to exaggerate the shadow of fear he cast over the Dominican people and the shadow of fear he cast throughout the region” (224). Trujillo put so much fear into the people of the Dominican Republic that Beli did not know it would ever affect her. In a world where no one gives her such feelings, the Gangster makes Beli feel beautiful. But, the Gangster is a pimp and exploits women, which shows the degradation of women such as Beli.