In a metaphorical sense, Stanley Kunitz depicts human experiences through the piece “The Layers” as all unfolding along the same constraints while in a constant struggle against mankind’s free will. That being said, the layers discussed in the verse above could be seen as the passage of time, each era building upon those that came before it. This linear motion of time continues infinitely, yet is paralleled by the rise and fall of empires, nations, and peoples across the globe. Both the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, and Empress Orchid by Anchee Min each highlight their own eras, each its own layer. Although centuries apart, these two works coincide in the perspectives taken on their respective time period through the …show more content…
In both novels each woman had a set way of perceiving the world, regardless of the fact they had not yet encountered hardships based upon the gender norms of her society, either imperial China or dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Both Patria and Nuharoo were women, who after being exposed to the gender bias of both their cultures, took on roles that fit within those parameters in hopes of leading fulfilling lives as mothers and wives. Patria was “coming out, hands first, as if reaching up for something…[her] mind, [her] heart, [her] soul in the clouds. It took some doing and undoing to bring [her] down to earth” (Alvarez 44). In this sense Patria turned to religion and her faith to guide her in her journey towards a good life and in turn following the traditional roles laid out for her. She was willing to be as selfless as possible in order to ensure a place in heaven and a good connotation to her name. This same saint-like trait corresponds to that of Nuharoo who “removed her necklace and bracelets and took down her hairpins” (Min 135). She was willing to give up some of her most prized possessions in order to help pay for the growing damage caused by mass famine. This action perfectly correspond with the notion that women must do
She ultimately chooses to live a normal life, marry, and have children. Though she lost her faith for a short time after the loss of her stillborn child, Patria maintained in her faith, lived her life, and made her decisions for the glory of God. Patria strongly believed religion and revolution did not mix. For example, Patria uses Matthew 7:25 to show how she built her life and family, “Build your house upon a rock, He said, do my will. And though the rainfall and the floods come and the winds blow, the good wife's house will stand” (148). She continues to use the analogy to show that Maria Teresa and Minerva led a life of danger and uncertainty, “My sisters were so different! They built their homes on sand and called the slip and slide adventure” (149). She even confesses “people like me who didn't want anything to do with politics were thinking about it all the time” (149). Patria knows faith and family are her top priorities and truly believes they have no place in
Throughout Julia Alvarez's novel "In the Time of the Butterflies," the character of Patria Mirabal is developed through the use of literary techniques such as narrative structure and characterization. Alvarez paints a compelling portrait of Patria as a devout and compassionate woman who evolves from a contented wife and mother into a revolutionary who is willing to put her life on the line to fight against the oppressive regime in the Dominican Republic. To begin with, Alvarez uses narrative structure to present Patria's character development. The novel is divided into four sections, each of which represents a different stage in Patria's life. This division enables readers to see Patria's growth and transformation in detail.
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.
As the great Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” The book In the Time of the Butterflies is about a family of four girls who are living in the Dominican Republic under a very dangerous dictator. They rebel against him and the government to join a revolution along with many other people from the Dominican. In In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez uses the characterization of Patria to demonstrate the danger of passive religious belief.
In literature, the concepts of foreshadowing, symbolism, personification, and similes convey specific meaning within a novel . Foreshadowing is an important aspect in literary concepts because the passage that accentuates this term indicates or affects what is to come in the future context of the novel. Symbolism has a significant role as well because it is an applied use of iconic representations and allows content interpretation. Furthermore, personification and similes are forms of poetic styles that expresses life of inanimate objects and adds descriptive details. As such, in the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez combines a variety of rich details and significance in the passage, “ [...]
The Flowers By Alice Walker Written in the 1970's The Flowers is set in the deep south of America and is about Myop, a small 10-year old African American girl who explores the grounds in which she lives. Walker explores how Myop reacts in different situations. She writes from a third person perspective of Myop's exploration. In the first two paragraph Walker clearly emphasises Myop's purity and young innocence.
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.
“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
“In the Time of the Butterflies” takes place in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. The author, Julia Alvarez is a native of the country, but moved to the US at a young age. She first heard about the sisters roughly around 1986 and instantly felt the need to share their story with the world. In the book, Alvarez tells the story of the Mirabal sisters and their fight for freedom against the Dominican dictator Trujillo. Rafael Trujillo reigned for about 30 years until his assassination in May of 1961. Trujillo’s reign of terror began in 1930 and the violence soon followed. The self centered dictator changed the names of cities and murdered roughly about 20,000 Haitians from the neighboring country. The book not only tells the sisters’
They both portray the dictatorial nature of the new government; the government that could not be opposed by the Haitians; the government that could not be questioned or condemned. However, on the other side of the story, reader can recognize that these women are protecting and caring for the society in Haiti, as Danticat acknowledges to Adisa “Women are middle pillars of society. I think that’s true of all societies. I agree to the often quoted maxim that we hold up half the sky.” Finally, another common feature in the above women is that they portray the weakness of the men in the society during this period. Danticat also discusses, “For a lot of poor families, the men are abroad or the society has crushed them and they’re absent for one reason or another” (348). Men were not always available to die and support women through their time of difficulty.
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
The authors of both stories wrote their stories, either accidentally or on purpose, with the undertones of feminism, hoping to expose the unequal treatment and expectations of females to males. Both stories challenged the stereotypical roles of females, and in both, the females ended up being the one in power of their own destinies and overcame the rule of their dominant male counterpart.
Within the novel, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Mate, Minerva, Dede, and Patria had to create decisions to overcome obstacles that would transform each of their lives. Throughout the book, all of the sisters changed somehow. They all grew up, matured, and saw things how they never viewed before. While looking at these things at a different perception, they learned to make decisions that were sometimes brave and sometimes cowardly. Each of the Mirabal sisters had to choose whether or not to be fearful and give up, or be courageous and stand her ground, or make sacrifices to show her strength throughout the novel.
In the Time of the Butterflies during the 1940s, in the Dominican Republic, the ruler or dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo punished people if they didn’t do as he told them and plenty of other cruel things. He ruled for about 30 years, so the people were tortured for quite a long time. He became the dictator by eliminating everyone who had power above him. He even married his wives just to use them to get the the top and control everyone. It was just an unfair way to handle things and an unfair country overall. In her book, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Julia Alvarez incorporates the history of the famous Mirabal sisters by telling the history of their life and how it was back then for their Dominican Republic country. Julia Alvarez
In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the way women have been represented and characterized gives us an idea of how the female gender are treated differently from the male gender as well as children in Latin America during the 1950s. The husbands were given all the authority, also known as machismo, whereas women weren’t allowed to take charge of anything, and were portrayed as weak and impotent.