Male+Characters

What about the men... The Mirabal sisters are motivated by "a social awareness that impels to action." They also from strong, supportive affiliations with males.

__El Jefe__

//Traits and Values:// //Claims:// //Connections://
 * El Jefe is a corrupt dictator who takes over the lives of people living in the Dominican Republic. Most people follow him out of fear because disagreeing with or going against him will threaten their lives.
 * "Secretary of state... Everyone knows his real job is rounding up pretty girls for El Jefe to try out" (94).
 * "We've heard the stories. Young women drugged, then raped by El Jefe." (95)
 * El Jefe misuses his government officials for his own pleasures. Therefore the jobs of the officials do not get done properly which creates an inefficient governing system.
 * Alvarez uses El Jefe's medals to show his intentions of intimidating the Dominicans and creating a fear of his power over them.
 * Alvarez uses the relationship between El Jefe and Lena to convey his disrespect towards women.
 * In his efforts to seduce young women El Jefe enhances his appearance with cosmetics and accessories. He wears "his elevator shoes, his skin whiteners and creams, his satin sashes..." (96)
 * Alvarez suggests that because of El Jefe’s persuasive traits, he is able to manipulate people for his own desires and misuse his power to create a corrupt society.
 * Through El Jefe's relationship with Minerva, Alvarez suggests that he is a sexual predator with a tortured mind.
 * "El Jefe's gaze is with drawing further and further into some back room of his mind where he tortures meaning out of the words he hears" (99).
 * Alvarez uses the character of El Jefe to show a corrupt leader who uses his power to benefit himself while neglecting the welfare of his country.
 * Alvarez uses the unfulfilled promises that El Jefe makes to convey his unreliable traits."Here we all thought El Jefe relented against our family and let Minerva enroll in law school. But really what he was planning all along was to let her study for five whole years only to render that degree . . " (138) He promises that Minerva will be able to go to law school but once she earns her degree, she is unable to practice law under the rule of El Jefe. "Trujillo is the law" (99)
 * The character of Trujillo and Macbeth are similar in that they are both power hungry. Both leaders go through enormous efforts to increase their power over their people. Macbeth continuously interrogates different people in order to gather information about his prophecy while Trujillo goes through efforts to interrogate the Dominican people in order to gather information about them. Both use their power towards gathering information about their surroundings and the people around them to bring them a sense of power over those being questioned by them.

//**Claims**// //**Connections**//
 * Lío:**
 * //Traits and Values//**
 * He is a revolutionary and a rebel
 * He has good judgment
 * Believes in the progression of his country.
 * Sees the corruption of el Jefe and decides to act.
 * He is influential and inspirational towards the Mirabal sisters' choice to join the revolution.
 * Represents the saviors of the country - those who want to free the country from El Jefe's oppression.
 * Lío values...
 * Freedom of the Dominican Republic.
 * Independence
 * Structure - taking steps to accomplish his goals
 * He represents different ways in which the revolution is viewed.
 * Trujillo- sees Lio as a threat to his reign.
 * Minerva- as an inspiration for revolutionary action.
 * Papa- a threat to his daughter's safety.
 * Alvarez uses Lío's character to open the mind of Minerva.
 * Page 86- "When I met Lio, it was as if I woke up"
 * Page 87- "My life would have been nobler if I had followed Lio"
 * Alvarez uses Lio's values to trigger the revolutionary ideas in the Mirabal sisters.
 * Page 66- "But the truth is that Minerva was already courting trouble two or three years before that. We had this friend that quite a radical young man, you might have heard of Virgilio Morales"
 * Alvarez uses Lio to represents emerging revolutionary movements.
 * Small secret meetings are held.
 * Lío is similar to the white men in //Things Fall Apart//
 * They both bring new ideas that attempt to bring societal progress.
 * Both have clever and organized process to bring about a new change.
 * Both have supporters and enemies.
 * They both refuse to conform to the societal expectations of others
 * White men - will not follow the Ibo traditions
 * Lio - will not follow the laws of El Jefe

Papá:

- Protective - Cheats on his wife - Has double standards/contradictions - Papa is described as weak à his daughters have lost all respect for Papa
 * o “I hid them to protect you” (89)
 * § Papá tells Minerva he hid his other family in order to protect them
 * o Tells his daughters that they cannot have boyfriends but he cheats on his wife
 * o Doesn’t allow his daughters to become lawyers
 * o Get angry when his daughters break the rules à he breaks the rules – commits adultery
 * o After he slaps Minerva, Minerva calls him weak and shows him no respect
 * o Papa slaps Minerva because he doesn't know how to show that he is in control à but Minerva knows that he is weaker than her since he lacks the respect that he wants from her
 * § Page 89
 * “You’ve lost my respect”
 * “I was much stronger than Papá, Mamá was much stronger”
 * “He was the weakest one of all”
 * § Page 135
 * “Looking at her, I almost felt sorry. I wondered if she knew how bad her father is or if she still thought, like I once did about Papá, that her father is God.”
 * o Thought her father was amazing than realized he did all of bad to her mother à Trujillo’s daughter sees her dad as “God” à wants Trujillo’s daughter to know that her father isn’t a good guy
 * o Papá wants to follow the rules and respects El Jefe but his daughters want to stand up to El Jefe
 * o The more money he makes the more he drinks à more power
 * § Ironically, the more power he gets, the weaker he becomes
 * Page 91
 * o “It was sad how the richer he got, the more his health deteriorated. He was drinking too much, even I could see that”
 * § Connection to Oedipus and Okonkwo
 * Power brings noble character to his ruin


 * o In the end, both Papa and Trujillo will have to live with the poor life choices they have made
 * § Their violence and “power” does not make them powerful

- Emotional, hidden
 * o He excludes himself from his family à with another family
 * § Secret life

Claims - Alvarez uses Papa's contradictions to symbolize the double standards in the Dominican culture. - Alvarez uses Papá's fear of breaking the rules to show the theme of strength and bravery in women, especially his daughters. - Alvarez uses Papá's double life to show his emotional instability. - Alvarez uses Papá’s “power” and increase in money to show his weakness.