Liberation In Latin America

The populist governments, seen in the 1950’s and 1960’s in South America, spurred industrial growth and a sense of “consciousness” amongst the inhabitants of the Latin American countries. The industrial growth greatly benefited the middle-class and the working-class; however, the poor were driven into shantytowns and rural areas. To illustrate the great poverty of this time in Latin America, people living in “shantytowns” resided in vast settlements built of cardboard and other available materials such as metal and sheets of plastic. These “towns” frequently lacked proper sanitation. One could imagine how living in these shantytowns would degrade the human spirit and foster a sense of worthlessness. The abrupt shift in the social classes

Julia Alvarez’s book, In the Time of Butterflies, is the detailed retelling of how four sisters lived through an oppressive dictatorship. Throughout the book each sister goes through a great deal of hardships both mentally and physically. The Mirabal sisters’ throughout the book sacrifice so much, by doing this it shows their determination towards receiving their freedom, and their courageousness.

During the 1930s - 1960s in the Dominican Republic there was a dictatorship going on by Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo ran the Dominican Republic as his own personal possession. He and his friends held nearly 60 percent of the country's resources. If things didn’t go Trujillo’s way then that person who broke the law would be either prisoned or vanished. In her book, “In the Time of the Butterflies”, Julia Alvarez explores many different themes, such as Family, Courage, and Freedom. Each of the Mirabal sisters had different personalities. Patria the oldest sister was the most religious. Dedé the second eldest was the only sister who survived. Minerva the third Mirabal sister was the one who was more wrapped up in the revolution. Maria Teresa the youngest of the sisters just wanted to be like her oldest sisters.The butterfly is a symbol for the main characters, the Mirabal sisters. Butterflies are unique, they represent freedom, and they have a very short life span. The Mirabal sisters, much like the butterflies were unique, and died young. They had to sacrifice their lives in order to be free like butterflies.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a novel about breaking the chains – not just from Trujillo, but from the societal idea that men should rule in a patriarchal fashion. The idea of female subordinates rising up in a fiery fashion is an age-old notion, and I believe that the true voice in Alvarez’ novel comes in this form. The subplot screams through like a banshee, especially when The Butterflies are brutally murdered without ever laying a finger on Trujillo as one may expect. So then what was the purpose of experiencing the live of The Butterflies day in and out? The answer is clear: to support a case for women everywhere to have the courage to stand up to their oppressors and gain equal footing in society. To gain insight in to this philosophy it’s critical to examine crucial plot details such as the relationship of each woman and her husband, the evolution of The Butterflies’ mentality through the course of the story, and a brief look at the history of the Dominican Republic to learn their societal norms and how Alvarez chooses to integrate these facts in to her fictional work.

Nearing the eighteenth century, Spain and Portugal held colonies in the Americas and island and lands surrounding them. Napoleon’s invasion of Portugal and Spain sparked Latin America’s fight for independence. The revolutionary movement in Spanish South America placed overwhelming political authority in the hands of Simon Bolivar who later became the preeminent leader of the independence movement in Spanish South America. Mexico was Spain’s wealthiest colony and on September 16th, 1810, Father Hidalgo rang the church bells and delivered a speech that would lead to the Mexicans to fight against the Spanish for their freedom. In 1820, the military uprisings in Spain provoked a liberal revolt in Portugal

The Courage of the Mariposas Everyone thirsts to be fearless. In the American novel, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the people of the Dominican Republic, afraid and suffering under the dictatorship of Trujillo, look to the Mirabal sisters as fearless. In truth, they were not, yet that makes their story all the more inspiring: they were human and afraid, though they stood up against the tyranny and their hardships regardless. They were able to do this because their courage came from love.

The novel In the time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvares is an incredible story about four sisters , known as the Mirabel sisters from the dominican republic. They want to over throw the Evil dictator rafael Trujillo. As a result of the deaths of the three sisters Dede is left to tell the story of her sisters and continues to keep the story alive. The author tells the story in a way where you can see how each sister shows courage and purpose. One of the purposes used in this novel was to show how important it is to help and care for others just like the Marible sisters cared for each other.

During the African colonization period, Western beliefs greatly impacted the African mindset and belief system. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the impact of Western beliefs is very evident. The novel focuses on pre- and post- colonial life in Nigeria. It was among the first novels to be recognized globally by an African author, and it is widely read in modern African literature. The story is about the fall of the main character Okonkwo as well as the Igbo culture. European beliefs clashed with the traditions that are rooted deep into the society of this Nigerian community. The Igbo, especially Okonkwo, at first try to fight the influence of the evangelists; nevertheless the arrival of Christianity largely affects the Igbo religion,

In the fabricated novel In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, the author illuminates details of a revolution and the family of the Mirabal sisters. Alvarez’s fictionalized account of the Dominican Republic’s revolution and the Mirabal’s personal lives paints us a vivid image of the events during Trujillo’s dictatorship. We get personally touched by each of the characters in the novel, but Minerva Mirabal, the third sister, stands out with a true heart and spirit of the resistance. Minerva Mirabal has the strongest mind set apart from her sisters and gets greatly invested in the revolution. Her association with the rebel cause highlights the list of the events the sisters endure during their lives. Minerva’s personality is

Rafael Trujillo, a Dominican dictator, developed a harsh reputation as being one of the most violent and domineering leaders of South America in his thirty-one years of power. In The Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez provides insight into the effects of Trujillo’s infamy by sharing the stories of three Dominican sisters and their struggles to gain independence and speak their truth. The Dominican-American author dramatizes the lives of the Mirabal sisters, three historical women who were assassinated in 1961, for their involvement in the anti-Trujillo movement. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, a Cuban critic of Latin American literature, provides a bias insight with regards to the novel.

When the Europeans first arrived in Latin America, they didn’t realize the immensity of their actions. As history has proven, the Europeans have imposed many things on the Latin American territory have had a long, devastating effect on the indigenous people. In the centuries after 1492, Europeans would control much of South America and impose a foreign culture upon the already established civilizations that existed before their arrival. These imposed ideas left the continent weak and resulted in the loss of culture, the dependence on European countries, and a long standing ethnic tension between natives and settlers which is evident even to this day. The indigenous people of South America, which

Of Imperialism, English writer and composer Anthony Burgess once said, “Colonialism. The enforced spread of the rule of reason. But who is going to spread it among the colonizers?”. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe chronicles the life of underdog turned successful clansman Okonkwo, as well as the complexity of the Ibo culture in pre-colonial Africa. With the arrival of British missionaries, Okonkwo’s world crumbles as their cultures clash, and more African people begin to join the church. The Ibo people at first greatly underestimate the power of the colonizers, yet they make a deep and lasting impact on their culture. These missionaries completely change the lives of the Ibo people. Achebe’s main message is to communicate this clash of

In fact, by attempting to glamourize suffering by portraying it superficially, writers may lose the connection with us that appreciates literature. Instead, what we are left with is an over extended attempt to glorify suffering, or hide it within a guise of reality that is too savage to be true. Instead of the appreciative feeling that reality imbues within me as a reader, I am left with a sense of disgust, confusion and dissatisfaction. This feeling almost overwhelmed me while reading Adiga’s “The White Tiger” and it tainted my experience with the book. Adiga had written the novel without any firsthand experience in the rural areas of India to which his main character referred to as the darkness. Instead, being of a higher class, his accounts were based on second or third hand experiences which do not adequately depict the lower class’ realities. I found the following depiction of India’s ghettos both farcically unrealistic and eventually

“In response to Conrad's stereotypical depiction of Africans, Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart through the point of view of the natives to show Africans, not as primitives, but as members of a thriving society. Things Fall Apart follows Okonkwo's life as he strives for prestige in his community. When European missionaries come to Umuofia, Okonkwo's clan, Okonkwo tries to protect the culture that the missionaries would destroy in the name of "civilizing" the natives. However his rigid mentality and violent behavior has the opposite of its intended effect, perpetuating the stereotype of the wild African in the eyes of the

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was wrote in 1958 as a response to European Literature viewing Africans as savages who were then enlightened and found peace and safety by the Europeans. Chinua describes the Igbo people and showed the culture and showing the way of life of the Igbo people. This book shows this powerful and eye opening look into the complex society of these tribes and villages and how law and order is run. The major theme that is I will focus is that traditional development of the Igbo tribe alone and with the influence of the Europeans.