Dominican Republic Essay

In the book Alvarez informs us that this takes place during Trujillo 's reign over the Dominican Republic in the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Throughout history dictators have risen and fallen all across the world. Many have been seen as evil, and sometimes good to others, but no matter what a persons view tend to be there are some who even consider them god. Due to a dictators extensive powers and complete control over every aspect of a persons life this is what comes to be. Trujillo is just the same, at first his true motives were questioned and it wasn’t apparent to all what he really was. As the Mirabel sisters grow up it becomes clear that Trujillo is in control of more of their lives than it may seemed. Trujillo leads a complete authoritarian rule over the Dominican Republic with spies everywhere, this can suggest that he trying to assume the role of a terrible god, who is always watching and ready to punish. While all

“‘The butterflies are sad today,” he noted. That made me sit up and dry my tears. The butterflies were not about to give up! We had suffered a setback but we had not been beaten.” (Alvarez 269). The reader can clearly see that Minerva Mirabal is exceptionally courageous. She did not give up, even when it got hard. When she heard that her husband may be killed in jail, she realized she had to fight to save him instead of dwelling in her sadness. Minerva kept fighting Trujillo for their independence. She did not want him to win and take her loved ones away. Minerva understood that if she gave up, she would never succeed. This is shown when she decides to return to her old, courageous self, and not let Trujillo putting her and her husband in jail, make her weak. Without courage, Minerva Mirabal would not be able to fight her battle in finding her freedom. Minerva realized that without courage she couldn’t succeed. In the end, Minerva chose to fight back, even with the consequences she endured.

who thinks poorly of Trujillo. She leads Minerva into the rebellious part of her life where she finds

The Dominican Republic’s dictator Rafael Trujillo had thousands of people killed because of their disobedience to him. From the 1930s to 1960s the country was under the control of Trujillo. He had taken control of the Dominican Republic and used his power against people who decided not to follow him and his laws. The four Mirabal sisters, Minerva, Patria, Mate, and Dede were all risking their lives because of their involvement in the underground, against their harsh dictator. In the book In the time of the Butterflies, the four Mirabal sisters perspectives are impacted by the underground movement against Trujillo because of each of their involvement with the revolution.

All during Minerva's life, some of her closest friends opposed Trujillo. The first of which was

As Tim Burton, a famous director and producer once said, ¨one person's craziness is another person's reality¨ This directly applies to the Dominican Republic during the time of Rafael Trujillo's rule. Minerva Mirabal, is a woman who risks her life rebelling against her powerful dictator and his regime. Her ultimate goal is freedom and her rights. However, Minerva has not always shown disdain and hate towards Trujillo. Minerva's views on Trujillo and the regime change throughout the book. When Minerva is a young girl, she thinks of trujillo as a god like figure. After Sinita tells her about Trujillo's secret, Minerva's views of him and his regime change tremendously. Minerva turns against Trujillo and the regime, and has joined the rebellion.

Within the unique culture of the Dominican Republic, the complex heritage of Arawak, Spanish, African, and French lore, is unique to the Dominican Republic compared to other Caribbean islands. Moreover, the country maintains close ties with the United States. Currently, the people of the Dominican Republic are striving to build a democracy against the unscrupulous and authoritarian politically privileged leadership. A large element that shapes Dominican national identity is its Spanish heritage. Currently in this country, light skin color, which is marked to reflect European ancestry, is valued, while dark skin tones indicate West African slave ancestry. The Roman Catholic cathedrals still are in existence and the majority of the population

When you hear of the Mirabal sisters, which sister comes to mind first? When thinking of a hero, Minerva comes to mind first. She was a hero to many. In In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Minerva's actions symbol courage, love, and sacrifice. Minerva was a strong individual that knew how to stand for what she believed in. She was mature and responsible. Minerva stood up to Trujillo, had a mindset to go to law school, and was favorited by her parents.

Minvera Mirabal stood as a symbol of revolution to those who wanted to see the downfall of Rafael Trujillo. Her and two of her three sisters were advocates of the revolution until the sad ending of the story in which the three sisters were killed in a car crash. But before the ending of the Mirabal sisters can be discussed, the life of Minerva and the point she developed her political principles must be addressed.

Throughout history women have always been minimized from social, sexual , and political aspects juxtaposed to men. Just like in the novel  In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the author uses the Mirabal sisters to demonstrate the inequalities set in the Dominican Republic. The dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo causes the Mirabal sisters to come together and overthrow Trujillo’s regime.Trujillo. Rafael Trujillo was despised by many yet many were forced to worship him like some type of paragon. As the novel progresses, illustrations of male dominance often appear throughout each chapter. The Mirabal sisters: Minerva, Patria, Maria Teresa and Dede each demonstrate the ability to overcome stigmas in order to obtain freedom.

Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies shows the lack of fairness in society and the importance of maintaining a strong family bond. Trujillo was not fair between men and women and granting men the rights to do whatever they want. The Mirabal sisters’ revolutionary against president Trujillo and fighting for freedom of the country and its people. In Saudi Arabia women are now granted to drive, but there some other things that men can do but women cannot. The Mirabal family has a strong maintain of a family bond. Minerva is one of the four sisters who is brave and had the courage to stand for others and started the revolution against the president.

For this map project, the country of research is the Dominican Republic located in both the northern and western hemispheres in the Caribbean. The country is located on the east section of the island of Hispaniola, with the country of Haiti on the west section. The island of the Hispaniola is the second largest island of the West Indies and it is 29,418 square miles in total. The Dominican Republic's shores are dominated by the Caribbean Sea to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, but its nation capital Santo Domingo is located on the southern portion of the island. The also has close surrounding neighbors which are Cuba and Puerto Rico. The main reason why the country is in my interest of research is because it’s my place of

Courage is an important trait that needs to be present in order to affect change. The book in the time of butterflies by Julia Alvarez demonstrates this need for courage in the story of the four Mirabal sisters who acted with courage to create change in the Dominican Republic. They do this by showing great courage in the face of oppression. Minerva was one of the bravest of the Mirabal sisters. She shows: moral, intellectual, emotional, and physical courage throughout her life. These are demonstrated in her leadership and her heroic actions of resistance. Some of her main sources of courage were her childhood friends, her family, her sense of justice, and desire for equality. She shows courage repeatedly sticking up for what is right despite of threats,

Minerva was a character that showed a lot of courage in the book. At the beginning she really didn’t know that much about Trujillo. Soon Minerva found out more about Trujillo and saw what he was like to people and after she had a lot of courage. One day when Minerva was dancing with Trujillo and she slapped him in the face and

Along with educational issues women also faced domestic violence. Minerva, Dede, Maria Theresa, and Patria ended this suffering along with gaining freedom for everybody. Although Alvarez did not include the domestic violence view in the story she did show how women were not treated the same. When Minerva when to the university to study law, upon graduate Trujillo did not award her the license to practice. (Alvarez,138) Along with her being a women doing a man’s job Trujillo allowed his personal feelings dictate that decision and it added more to her rage against his way of ruling government. “...If they kill me, I shall reach my arms out of the grave and I shall be stronger.” and stronger she was. (Mirabal, 2006)