Summary OfThe Moths By Helena Maria Viramonetes

“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.” Stated by French poet, Victor Hugo. He is stating that people should have the right to rebel against a dictatorship. When a country is under a dictator, people should speak out and fight for their independence. Some will accept the fate of the dictator and become weakened by it, but some will choose to stand up against it. Speaking out for your independence is demonstrated in the person Minerva Mirabal, from the novel In the Time of the Butterflies. In In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Minerva Mirabal is shown as a strong woman who is able to stand up to the dictator, Trujillo. Minerva Mirabal is living in the Dominican Republic at

A trickiest aspect regarding growing up is considering death. It's something individuals truly don't like to think about, but thinking about mortality is pretty much an inevitable part of coming of age. Everybody does it at some point—you know because we're all going to die someday, as are our loved ones. You know the drill: Our grandma show us, cherish, then they get super old and die, and after that we slither into the bathtub with their corpses. It's just the circle of life. What's that? You've never taken a bath with a dead person? Well then you might be a little surprised by how things unfurl in Helena Maria Viramontes' 1985 short story "The Moths," a story about a youthful Latina girl who feels at odds with pretty much everybody in her family except her cherished Abuelita.

Equally important in the story is the use of characterization to show the reader exactly who the protagonist in the story is and what kind of life she is living, we first read of her sisters and how they act in contrast to the protagonist: “I [the narrator] wasn't even pretty or nice like my older sisters and I just couldn't do the girl things they could

Annie Dillard’s piece “The Death of the Moth”, is about Dillard being reminded of the death of a moth she observes and how it relates to herself, this piece is a great depiction of the impact of life and death. Dillard describes her surroundings living in a rural area and within her bathroom is a spider which Dillard reminds of a moth that she killed in her past when she sees the web that the spider has spun and how it has caught many bugs including two moths. She is intrigued by the dead moth’s bodies and givings a vivid description of the bodies While describing the moth’s dead torn body she relates it to a personal experience from her past where she watched a moth die with candle two years ago. Dillard described the burning moth in vivid

In the book, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the four Mirabal sisters were forced to live under the political oppression of the Dominican dictator Trujillo. Despite, the thematic changes that occurred in the book, there are other information about Dominican Republic that one can further understand. The recurring topics in the book were political oppression and traditional religious practice/ beliefs. There is evidence that shows the life of people who are living under the fear of the dictator and how the religious beliefs and traditional views on women scoped the society during that time period.

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

“The Moths” by Helena Maria Viramontes is a fictional short story about the narrator’s personal hardship of watching her grandmother die slowly because of natural causes. Although, the name of this story is “The Moths” don’t let this fool you. In this story, references to moths are only used twice. Using the moths, the author is able to convey a theme, help create the tone, and resolve the central conflict. I believe that the moths are actually being used in this story to symbolize some sort of healing and relief. In the following paragraphs, I would like to defend my claim and also show you examples of how Mrs. Viramontes utilizes the moths for many different elements in this story.

Do you remember the last time you took a bath? A bath filled with bubbles, perhaps with a younger sibling? What about the last time you stood in a bath, holding your dead grandmother, naked as moths came out of her mouth? In the short story “The Moths”, by Helena Maria Viramontes, a young Latina misfit granddaughter matures the moment her grandmother dies. Compared to her relationship with her parents and her siblings, the bond she carried with her Abuelita was special. She found comfort with her after receiving several whippings, broken her arm, puberty and even her first lie. (1) She would gladly help her out with her gardening or cooking, although they hardly spoke, or hardly looked at each other as they worked. Although she was rebellious and callous, human experience is conveyed through magical realism, exemplifying the narrator’s vulnerability towards her grandmother.

Someone’s sacrifices can say a lot about their character. Minerva Mirabal is no exception. In Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies, Minerva, the protagonist, sacrifices her family, her freedom and her life for the revolution against the antagonist and dictator, Rafael Trujillo (a.k.a El Jefe) along with her sisters, Patria, Dede, and Mate. In the novel, the four sisters, better known as “Las Mariposas” (“The Butterflies”), explain their journey towards joining the revolution before their influential deaths. The sacrifices that they all make, especially Minerva, are the reasons why their rebellion is so effective.

In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, three of four Mirabal sisters are murdered because of their opposition to the government. The surviving sister lives to tell their story. The first four chapters come from the perspective of each sister years before they joined the revolution against Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. I picked this book to read because I have always been interested in the story of these sisters and what they have contributed to Dominican history. I have only read the first four chapters, but I am already enjoying the book. What impressed me the most is how Alvarez describes how different in personality each of the sisters are. The oldest sister is Patria, who is very religious. She almost

I forgot to include two-steps of instruction which would enhance the writer in writing a Moth story. The step one I should include the beginning, middle, and end because all stories should have those parts. The beginning is how the tune of the story sets up and the plot what is talking about. The middle of the story is the climax or the meat what is going to happen to the characters. The ending is how the story ends or how the character resolve. Another step I can add which is pinpoint your turn lifetime or key time. Sometimes we when writing we do not know what direction to start so using the key time of your life will help get you the hump. Maybe your key time can be starting school or even finding your first job.

In the book “ In the Time of the Butterflies,” the author describes the lives of four revolutionary sisters in the Dominican Republic. These sisters were Dede, Patria, Maria Teresa, and Minerva Mirabal. Minerva was the one who stood out the most to me. The passion she had and showed made her sound like a sacrificial leader. Minerva was the type to stand up for what she believed in. Rafael Trujillo was the leader of the Dominican Republic, whatever he say or want to be changed it changes. He was a brutal dictator. Minerva showed him that she is brave and strong. In the book she stated “ I was the one always standing up to him”. When she needed his help she buttered him up into making a deal with her. The Mirabal sisters will always be a

In the short story, The Moths Helena Maria Viramontes uses characterization and symbols to shine light on gender roles and maturity especially for women in the Hispanic culture. This short story was published in 1985 and during this time gender roles were changing. The number of women obtaining a higher education increased, it became more common for women to resist the stay at home and watch the children lifestyle. Hispanics in the US during this time felt like they were losing self-identity due to harsh laws passed by the United States. Knowing this information while I read this story was meaningful because it gave me a better understanding on what the narrator and her family were going through.

In Helena Viramontes’ short story “The Moths,” she explores the thematic ideas of negativity and growth in the context of familial expectations.

‘The process by which different kinds of living organisms are believed to have developed from earlier forms during the history of Earth ,biological evolution is the change in the charactistics of living organisms over generations (Evolution,2016). Illustrations of evolution is the well-known Peppered Moth, this moth had two different kinds of species the recognised moth was a light white colour (Biston betularia), the second had a darker shade of wings, before the Industrial revolution, the uniformly dark variant of peppered moth made up 2% of the moth population. After the soot and pollution the dark moth was able to blend in with the leaves, and the light moth lost their advantage to camouflage with the leaves and came close