Rafael Nadal

immigrating and assimilating into American society in her novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. The novel is about the Garcia family’s life in America before and after they fled from the Dominican Republic to escape the tyrannical dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez depicts the persistent struggles of racism, inability to find work, cultural identity, and rebellion of which all immigrant families faced while living in America. These struggles as a result can influence one’s perception of the

Julia Alvarez is a contemporary Dominican writer, whose work ranges from poetry, short stories, essays, and novels. Alvarez’s work touches upon issues of migration, history, stereotypes, empowerment of Latin women, and the differing ideology of American and Dominican culture. She provides a strong voice and perspective for Latin women, and teaches other ethnicities in America about Latin culture. She uses a variety of words and phrases in her native language Spanish, as well as Spanglish and English

to oppression, and superstitious beliefs. To begin with, oppression in various forms is depicted as a principle theme of the book. It is apparent in relationships in between the characters, and also between the foremost antagonist, Rafael Trujillo and the Dominican people. However, if Trujillo is presented as a primary antagonist, it is only fair to wonder whom the protagonist is, and in this essay, it is none other than

Introduction 1. Fuku means “a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World” (Diaz, 1). The significance fuku had in the Dominican history and beliefs were that the name was placed on the people that did harm to the Dominican Republic. For example, “The Admiral’s very name has become synonymous with both kinds of fuku, little and large; to say his name aloud or even to hear it is to invite calamity on the heads of you and yours” (Diaz, 1). Also, the dictator Trujillo

Dominican Republic was formally known as the island of “Hispaniola” named by Christopher Columbus. The mountainous country currently shares itself with Haiti. On February 27th, 1844, Dominican Republic gained independence from war against Haiti. Although the country has faced many hardships from the incoming decades, the country has survived. The country is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, and east of Haiti. The

“In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez fictionalizes the harrowing lives of the Mirabal sisters, who came to represent an underground resistance against the dictator of their native Dominican Republic, Trujillo. Though the Mirabal sisters were indeed real and parts of Alvarez’s novel reflect true events, this is a fictionalized account of what these sisters faced throughout their lives. Readers know from the beginning that three of the four sisters will not survive the regime, but they

The struggle for equality has existed for thousands of years. The first decree of human rights was drafted by King Cyrus in 539 BCE and is still an evolving issue today (Finkel). The book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a historical fiction novel written to tell the tale of the Mirabal sisters and their struggle against a dictator in the Dominican Republic. As women, the sisters were objects of discrimination by the dictator’s regime. Their struggle against obstacles forced consequences

The Mirabal family hero A hero is someone who displays courage and the will for self sacrifice in the face of danger and adversity. In the time of the butterflies out of all of the sisters, Minerva was the sister that showed the most heroism. Minerva died a hero and she still remains a hero. She stood for what she thought was right and she never backed down, not to anyone. Minerva is an extraordinary hero for many reasons, one she stood up to Trujillo when he got as close as he could to her, two

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. Minerva was active in the rebellion against Trujillo. "It sounded like treasure hunt clues or something. The Indian from

who is an over weight nerd trying to find the love of his life, but due to a family “fuku” or curse Oscar is having a lot of trouble doing so. Instead, the story actually portrays the dark history of the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Upon reading the stories of Oscar’s relatives the reader feels a powerful message of fear and oppression due to the actions of the Trujillo regime. Even after the demise of