November 25th is observed as International Day Against Violence Toward Women in many Latin American countries. That was the day in 1960 when three young sisters who had been fighting to overthrow a brutal dictatorship in the Dominican Republic were assassinated. Known as the butterflies (originally their underground code name), the Mirabal sisters became beloved national heroines. They and their era are the subject of Julia Alvarez's devastating, inspiring book. Good novels with political themes are a rare treat.
One of the girls, Abigail Williams, is the cause of all wrong accusations and innocent deaths in Salem, thus making her the antagonist of the play. First, Abigail conducts in a brief affair with John proctor; then, she seeks vengeance
This work recounts the lives of the Mirabel sisters—Patria, Minerva, and Maria Terese (Mate)—who were assassinated after visiting their imprisoned husbands during the last days under the Trujillo government in the Dominican Republic. Each sister in turn relates her own part of the narrative, beginning with her childhood and gradually revealing how she came to be involved in the movement against the government. Their story is completed by that of the surviving sister, Dedé, who adds her own tale of suffering to the memory of her sisters. In the Time of Butterflies received a favorable reaction from reviewers, some of whom admired Alvarez's ability to express the wide range of feelings brought on by the revolution. The novel was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award in
An Inconvenient Truth Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale tells a story of mystery, passion, and lies. The novel is about a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead named Offred (“Of Fred”). The Republic is the totalitarian remains of the United States after the president and members of Congress were assassinated by the architects of Gilead to ultimately gain complete control. Offred and the other handmaids were once regular women leading regular lives, that is, until Gilead. In the time of Gilead, the women were taken from their homes where they were brainwashed by speeches from their “Aunts” who argued that “such a social order ultimately offers the women more respect and safety then the old, pre-Gilead society offered them” (Sparknotes).
All of Alvarez’s book are situation based surrounding horrifying experiences of girls during there lives in the tyranny of the Dominican Republic, under Trujillo’s bloody rule, and their assimilation into American culture. In the case of Anita, the main character of Before We Were Free, her home life in the Dominican is endangered by her parent’s involvement in attempting to over throw the dictator. This is the perspective from those who stayed, when the rest of the family fled the dangers of righteous entanglements fall upon those who stayed. In the Garcia Girl’s their uncle is the one wrapped up in dangerous behaviors and so they’re immediate family flees. This story is from the perspective of these who got away, safely.
Sources say she was on her way to the studio when she was murdered. Before her death Selena and Chris were planning to renew their vows on their 5th anniversary since she never had a real
Meanwhile, Alanna and Roger have a vicious encounter where they renew their old hatred, and Alanna suspects that Lady Delia and others, including her old rival Alex of Tirragen, are plotting to overthrow Jonathan and put Roger in his place. On the eve of the Coronation, Alanna meets the Great Mother Goddess, who warns her that the Coronation will be a "crossroad in time." Sure enough, during the ceremony, insurgents wearing Tirragen and Eldorne colors storm the palace and Alanna and her friends fight to protect Jonathan. Thom dies, drained of his life-force energy by Roger's dark spell, and Alanna's magical cat Faithful is also killed. In a sheer rage, Alanna kills Alex when he tries to detain her from reaching Roger, and she confronts her archenemy, who uses her magical mystical sword - part Lightning, part the Bazhir shaman's sword - to bring her to him.
Marie and her son were moved in the Conciergerie, where she suffered from internal bleeding and a dramatic loss of weight. Her trial was held on October 14 and she was charged incest, and treason to the State. Even the charges were ridiculous, she never said a word, and was convicted with the verdict of guilty. Her execution date was October 16, 1793, where she was given a piece of paper to write to her sister and to her loved ones. Not only was her arms tied and hair cut, she was also paraded around town around Paris where she was openly discriminated along her way to be executed via the guillotine.
First claiming to be sick and pregnant, Celia eventually full on rebelled and killed her aging master, Robert Newsom. Through numerous interrogations and court hearings, Celia was eventually found guilty of homicide despite her continual sexual demands from Newsom. Celia’s case and slavery in general resulted in domestic battles between proslavery and antislavery settlers in the western states. Eventually the morality of slavery and its counterparts escaladed these national disputes which eventually transformed into the Civil war, resulting in the death of nearly 620,000 American citizens (Faust
Soon after John and Abigail meet again and he threatens her, later Abby is found with a needle and claims that John’s wife’s, “familiar spirit pushed it in” (74). Abby was afflicted by a threat made by John, and this accusation, causes Goody Proctor to be arrested after Abigail was stabbed with a needle. Deeply affected by their family and friends being in jail John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Francis Nurse go to Deputy Governor Danforth to speak out, and Parris claims that they have “come to overthrow this court, your honor!” (92). According to Parris, John and his friends are going against the court, due to madness caused by Abigail and her friends; people are now looking at the court and the hanging judge and questioning what is really going on. After an insane hysteria caused by John Proctor admitting the affair he had with Abigail, he is sentenced to hang.