The following is my Analysis of Julia Alvarez's use of imagery in In the Time of the Butterflies.

In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez uses her vivid imagery to blend with the stark reality that Trujillo's regime imposed on the Dominican Republic from the 1930's to the 1960's. Ghastly, realistic images accentuate the gloomy moments throughout the novel. Alvarez humanizes the landscape and opens doors into the souls of the Mirabal sisters. Unforgiving reality slowly creeps into the reader's mind through dark descriptions of Trujillo's merciless rule. Julia Alvarez uses descriptions …

…wrench our hearts from our chests and painfully stake the essence of the Mirabal's tortured souls into ours. The images Alvarez uses as she brings the characters and events into a new life are spellbinding. Alvarez weaves the hard facts with beautifully crafted fiction presenting the reader with a moving and sorrowful remembrance of the Mirabals that will live on from generation to generation. Julia, Alvarez. In the Time of the Butterflies. New York: Penguin, 1994