In The Time Of The Butterflies Chapter Summary

Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor allows people to take books that they normally wouldn’t think to analyze in a certain way and opens a whole new spectrum on literature. In the TIme of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez connects with the idea and principles of Foster’s book if you take a deep look in the book you are reading. Like Foster says in chapter seven or the bible, In the Time of the Butterflies is a literary work able to connect with this chapter, having a bible reference to extend or emphasize the story thematically.

“‘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.

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.

The monarch butterfly, as known as Danaus plexippus, is often called the milkweed butterfly because its larvae eat the milkweed plant. They are also sometimes called "royalty butterflies" because their family name comes from the daughter of Danaus, ruler of Argos. There are many other interesting facts about this butterfly including its anatomy and life cycle, where the butterfly lies on the food chain, the migration from Canada to Mexico, why the butterfly is being threatened, and lastly, what is being done to help the butterfly.

Glenn Irwin’s “Two Butterflies” demonstrates a movement in age and development of experience through the images of two distinct butterflies. The ideas Irwin articulates about age and experience with this imagery also serve to show the disconnect between nature and civilization over time. The poem is divided into two stanzas: morning and evening. Likewise, there are two butterflies: morning and evening. The morning butterfly has only just completed his transition stage. He is faced with the beginning of life and the task to make a connection to civilization. The evening butterfly is well into her final life stage. She has gone through the experiences the morning butterfly has not; her connection with civilization has been previously established.

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.

In the Time of the Butterflies revolves around the Mirabal sisters, women living in a very patriarchal, “macho” society. Their personal struggles are part of the power of their story, as they stand not only as symbols of rebellion against Trujillo, but at the same time as loving, independent women with husbands and children. Alvarez shows how the resistance against women in politics can even be propagated by the women themselves, as both Mamá and Patria initially express sentiments that women are inferior to men, or else are somehow “purer” and so shouldn’t dirty themselves with politics. In talking to the interview woman in the present day, Dedé says that women “followed their husbands,” but she knows that this is an excuse, as she is the

Life is a constant struggle against the ever present chill of death. Fear, betrayal, and cowardice all stems from life’s distaste of death. Human beings naturally rebuke the unknown, so it is only logical that people fight the inevitability of death. However, most people are ignorant of the reality of one day dying, prompting writer Virginia Woolf to write the essay, “The Death of the Moth”, in order to convey the frailty of life whilst also showing the awesome might of death. In the essay, her main purpose is to show that the moth embodies the human race, and that death is an inevitable fact of life no matter how much the human race struggles to stay alive. Woolf is able to get her purpose across by

Death is a word associated with loss, grief and sadness, but in the novel In the Time of the Butterflies we see death in a whole new perspective; martyrdom. Strong, independent, caring, honest, and having firm beliefs are all characteristics we see in a martyr especially in Patria. In the novel we explore the wonders of Julia Alvarez’s writing and get to witness Patria as a martyr and an individual who fought for the right of women against a dictator: Trujillo.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” (Andre Gide) In the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, four sisters are led through a risk infested journey in which they must overcome hindrances with hollow consequences. This historical fiction novel takes us through a rollercoaster of events, incorporating everything from the partialities towards women, to life below the oppressive administration of the Dominican Republic’s dictator, Rafael Trujillo. The events painted by the four sisters give us some insight as to the positives and negatives of life in the Dominican Republic. As the novel progresses, we see the diversity in relation to the

The setting in the two novels plays important roles in both of the plots. In The Butterfly Revolution, the setting shifts in the very beginning of the story. In the journal Winston Weyn receives for his birthday from his uncle, he describes his home. Winston also shares with us that from his parents he half-heartedly accepted a trip to High Pines for the summer. Winston was not like most boys, and instead of playing baseball and doing things that most boys do, he read books. This bothered his brother Howard, which just encouraged Winston to read more and more. His father and mother, both concerned, had multiple talks with Winston but none of these talks resulted in anything. “And here I am, sitting on a thin and kind of smelly narrow mattress on my bunk in a cabin at High Pines” (22). He went from the comfort of his own bed to the smelly mattress of High Pines. The central conflict of the story begins at the camp. This shift of setting allows the real story to begin. Later in the novel, the setting shifts again. Some of the boys begin to venture off into the girls camp, or Low Pines. After the revolution has begun, they take over the girl camp, also. If the girls’ camp was not involved, two out of the three deaths would have been prevented. John Mason would not have died under the

This critique written by Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria of In the Time of the Butterflies focuses mainly on the political facts that are not apparent in the novel. He states that Alvarez makes her novel appear blurry, not making it a “serious historical fiction.” However, the critical commentary that Echevarria made would not necessarily apply to the film due to the fact that Alvarez’s intentions are to initially expose readers to life in the Dominican Republic under the control of Trujillo, rather than have it be a serious historical fictional novel with facts and real life events. In fact, the film focused more on the historical aspect of this time period unlike Alvarez’s novel. It provided slow motion slide shows of Trujillo’s

M butterfly a play by David Henry Hwang has captivated audiences for many years! I love story with many twist and turns M butterfly describes an affair between a Chinese “women” and a French diplomat that caries on for 20 years only to discover that the Women was actually a man. A spy for the communist party sent to get information on the Vietnam war, but Gillard was to stubborn to see it until Liling the Chinese opera singer is sent to France where she is found to be a man in court. Through this we can see the relationship between Gender, capitalism and ethnicity/ nationality and sexuality.

Jack awoke, fully aware of his intentions. He was definitely in the right spot. He checked the time: 10:42pm.