How Does Julia Alvarez Use Imagery In The Time Of The Butterflies

In the book Alvarez informs us that this takes place during Trujillo 's reign over the Dominican Republic in the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Throughout history dictators have risen and fallen all across the world. Many have been seen as evil, and sometimes good to others, but no matter what a persons view tend to be there are some who even consider them god. Due to a dictators extensive powers and complete control over every aspect of a persons life this is what comes to be. Trujillo is just the same, at first his true motives were questioned and it wasn’t apparent to all what he really was. As the Mirabel sisters grow up it becomes clear that Trujillo is in control of more of their lives than it may seemed. Trujillo leads a complete authoritarian rule over the Dominican Republic with spies everywhere, this can suggest that he trying to assume the role of a terrible god, who is always watching and ready to punish. While all

Minerva is the most involved with the revolution. She makes rebellious friends and she wants

Out from the kitchen and into the world, women are making a better name for themselves. Although humankind tends to be male dominated, men are not the only species that inhabit the world that they live on. In Julia Alvarez's novel In the Time of the Butterflies, the women of the Dominican Republic are expected to grow up to be housewives and lacking a formal education. Women may be cherished like national treasures, but they are not expected to fulfill their truest potentials as human beings.

In “Mericans” Sandra Cisneros uses imagery to develop the text’s theme. Imagery is when an author uses visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work. In “Mericans” Sandra Cisneros uses imagery multiple times to describe and develop the scene around the narrator. The first example of imagery is “Some with fat rags tied around their legs and others with pillows, one to kneel on, and one to flop ahead”. Additionally imagery is used again, as it states, “After all that dust and dark, the light from the plaza makes me squinch my eyes like if I just came out of the movies.” The use of imagery creates an visualization of the area around the narrator and how she is reacting to that area.

All during Minerva's life, some of her closest friends opposed Trujillo. The first of which was

Authors get across their ideas in a multitude of ways. In the story “The Handsomest Drowned man in the World”, the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses imagery to develop the messages that “People can be inspired by the simplest of things.” and that “Hope can be found in the strangest places.” In the story, the washed up dead man inspired the people to become better versions of themselves, and to live life to the fullest. At the beginning of the story, the people were melancholy, and their world was dreary. The people are only doing what they must do, in order to survive. However, by the end of the story, the people are jubilant, hopeful, and exhilarated. They are alive, and they are changed. The island itself is colorful with flowers, and buzzing

Minerva shows the most bravery out of all her sisters. She was basically forced to

All four sisters reject their stereotypical role as women in the society by standing up for their beliefs and the revolution. When Minerva said,” It’s about time we women had a voice in running our country,”(Alvarez ?Chapter 1?) shows how outspoken she is about her country. The way Minerva demands equality shows the influence that men have over women in the Dominican culture. During the 1960s, the men expected women to be housewives, and to just cook and clean. In the book when Jaimito says,” The Mirabal sisters like to run their men, that was the problem. In his house, we was the one to wear the pants.”(Alvarez, 176-177) That shows that men expect women to be below them.

It would take a lot of nerve to even think about creating a revolution. Even after Minerva got out of jail, she said “The butterflies were not about to give up, we had suffered a set back but we had not been beaten,” this quote showed that Minerva would do whatever it takes to get the men out of prison, even if it is risking her life. Though it was not just the men she wanted to get, she wanted to get everyone’s right to have freedom. Minerva was tired of Trujillo making all the rules without anyone else’s opinion. She was at her limit of doing anything it would take. At this point she became fearless.

There are several events that lead the Mirabal sisters to oppose the “Trujillo regime”. The first event is at their high school play when Sanita almost shot Trujillo with the arch. After that day Minerva never saw Sanita again. Also, Trujillo’s party play a big role in the events that lead the Mirabal sisters to oppose to his regime. Trujillo invite the Mirabal family to his party, where he asked Minerva to dance with him. Trujillo was inappropriate with Minerva, and Minerva act with an instinct response (with a slap). That respond was really scandalous because everyone sees Trujillo as the God of the Dominican Republic. That lead Trujillo taking Minerva’s father into jail, where after his release die because he was tortured by the military.

Minerva had suspicions about her father after seeing his car parked at another person’s house, which is when she found out her father had another family. She went home and into her father’s room to take a nap,then started going through his jacket. She found her letters from Lio, a more than deserving friend of hers, and immediately felt anger towards her father. She reacted by crashing both their cars outside of his other family’s house, which she paid for with a slap. Her mother found out about a party they had been invited to, that insisted that Minerva would go. At the party Trujillo danced with Minerva, Trujillo acted sexual towards her, so she slapped him. They left the party early, resulting in their father getting arrested. Minerva had started fighting for women’s rights(Against Trujillo) in the Dominican Republic. She had a daughter and a husband, who also helped in her revolution. Soon after her father was released, he died, and Minerva finally got to go to law school, as a promise from Trujillo. After she graduated, she never got her license to actually be involved in law. She was arrested for threats against the

In the final chapter of the novel, Minerva shows and immense amount of courage. She vows to do all she can to protect the Mirabal sisters. She will do all she can to keep them alive... "... (do) you think I'll let anything happen to the butterflies? They'll have to kill me first. (Alvarez 269). Her heroism and willingness to protect her sisters, over protecting just herself, comes out in this chapter. And though she cannot save her sisters, she stayed with them, protecting them to the very end. The last we hear of them, "..we started up the first mountain... (Alvarez 297)" she is with her sisters. At the end of the story, we are not fully sure what happened. We do know that Minerva said "they have to kill (her) first," and they did, but she protected them all the way to the end, showing tremendous bravery.

Imagery means visually descriptive or figurative language used in literary work that addresses the senses. Anne Bradstreet uses this literary device to show the image of a baby being born and to present the author’s book as a reflection of what she thinks of herself. The

American literature is filled with classic stories that give the public not only a form of art but also ways to dissect the story and gain a better understanding of the author 's intent. Literary themes allow us to explore meanings deeper than the surface level. Imagery is the author 's use of wording that allows the reader to experience everything mentally as they read. This is not limited to sight, but all five of the senses.

Imagery is a wonderful tools authors use in order to get an idea across to the audience. Rather that idea is made blatantly clear, or if that idea is up to debate, all depends on what the author wants. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses imagery to foreshadow, explain, and even to force the reader to decipher what it is he truly means.