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...

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…