Julia Alvarez in the Time of the Butter Flies

Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butter Flies

Julia Alvarez -- in the time of Butterflies

The passage presents the perspective of a resolute, yet scared, person. The narrator appears to sympathize with the central characters and this makes it possible for readers to get a more complex understanding of what these characters go through.

The passage creates a feeling of helplessness in readers as it emphasizes a series of wrongdoings and as it provides readers with the feeling that they have to sit back and 'watch' as oppressors are successful in persecuting ordinary people.

I first noticed the Spanish words because it is obvious that the writer wanted these words to contribute to the feeling of authenticity the text is meant to put across. Both Spanish words and English ones come together in providing readers with a vivid image of events happening in this passage. Important words are connected through the intense sentiments they are meant to trigger and they succeed in putting across the writer's message. There are several metaphors through the text and the writer uses expressions like "a chill goes through her" with the intention of highlighting particular feelings (in this case, she is referring to the fear the character experiences).

Question 3.

The image of society supporting stereotypes in spite of the fact that they are obviously wrong dominates this text and most of the book. Individuals in general and numerous women in particular were previously accustomed to thinking that it was only natural for them to be discriminated. This passage can, actually, symbolize the entire book. However, it is not necessarily meant to glorify the central characters or to make it seem that they need to be respected on account of their efforts. The fact that it brings on the idea of women being discriminated while the social order makes very little efforts to remedy the situation enables readers to comprehend that society has been (and probably still is, in many aspects) sick for hundreds of years as individuals who had the power to act were reluctant to do so and can thus be held responsible for allowing catastrophes to happen. The passage can very well work as a microcosm, taking into account that readers are presented with Dede's character and with the fact that she is going to be the only one left to tell the story in the end.

The sentence rhythm in the text is long and flowing as readers are gradually presented with events happening in the lives of the book's central characters.

Question 4.

This passage influences readers to adopt a sympathetic attitude with regard to Dede. Similarly, readers are encouraged to get actively involved in joining the main characters and the rest of the world (or, at least, the moral part of it) as they embark on a journey to hate Trujilo. There are numerous reasons why readers might hate such a character, but the fact that they are presented with feelings as experienced by the central characters and that these respective characters emphasize the suffering they experienced as a consequence of this person play an essential role in getting most readers to support individuals like Dede.

The physical description of individuals being murdered and subjected to horrible torture consequent to this moment is breath-taking and builds up the tension in order for readers to be able to acknowledge the gravity of the situation. These were very courageous individuals who had the guts to stand up for their rights and ended up failing miserably in their endeavor. The author most probably presented readers with this scene in order to amplify their feelings and in order for the idea of a dictatorship to appear in all of its horrifying glory.