Importance of the title

In this essay I will discuss the importance of a good title and what it implies. I will particularly discuss the titles of The Pearl and In the times of the butterflies. The title of a novel is something essential reason why an author should be careful when choosing one. The title of a novel is important because it represents the essence of the book. The title needs to be attractive in order to catch reader’s attention.

I have considered that it is important to discuss these two novels because they are representative. The Pearl is a story which has been passed from generation to generation. This is among indigenous people from the same tribe. I think it is like a fable, and the message sent to the readers is very important. In the time of the Butterflies is also a novel which has an important message, it tells you the importance of women power, and that one person can make the difference.

The pearl is a novel full of symbolism, but I am going to focus particular on the title. The pearl symbolizes many things and I think it is the main character of the story. The story turns around when the pearl is found. “Kino had found the pearl of the world” For Kino the pearl represents a better way of life and safeness. He imagines that with that money he will be able to buy a rifle, cloth and send his son Coyotito to school. He imagines Coyotito becoming a great person.

He also imagines that the town will respect him because he will have money and therefore he would have power. But unfortunately all of this he imagines is nothing close to reality. The pearl only brings death, hatred, corruption, envy and violence.”Every man suddenly became related to Kino’s pearl, and Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers,of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was kino, so he become curiosly everyman’s enemy” Because of the pearl Kino hits his wife, killed a man, and had his canoe broken. to him the pearl represented prosperity and a change in his life. He does all of these things in order to keep his pearl.

The title is very accurate to the story because it foreshadows a part of the story. After analyzing the novel I think it would be difficult to find another title for the story. A pearl is something that has a great value and therefore the person who owns it has money.pearl is defined as a smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel ” then to the lovely gray surface of the pearl came the little things Kino wanted: a rifle but why not, since he was so rich.”

The other aspect that made the author chose this name is because it is not easy to find a pearl. The pearl divers have a hard task finding the pearls; they risk their lives going under sea. Let’s have in mind that this story takes place in La Paz, in a small town and that Kino is indigenous, so we can assume that this is his way of making a living.

In the time of the butterflies also symbolizes something important in the novel. I think that author choose this title because of what the sisters lived through. I think a butterfly represents freedom, freedom because it can spread its wings and fly. The something as Minerva she was not tied up, even though she was married and had children she was not afraid to leave them and fight for what she believed in.

In the story the butterflies were their secret names and this is something that represents them, because a butterfly has to go through a process from caterpillar to butterfly. And the four sisters had to go through this process.

First her family had changed, they were now rich and had access to many luxuries like a jeep and what was most important is that they had the opportunity to send their daughters to school. the sister were sent to a catholic school and then to the university. The family had passed a great transformation because before their farm had succeeded they were poor and did not have many opportunities nor were invited to parties. After the family was wealthy they were invited to one of Trujillo’s party in his mansion.

Patria, she wanted to become a nun but as time passed she changed her mind and got married. This was her first transformation from innocent girl to woman. Patria was the opposite as Minerva, she did not want to fight against the government because it was something illegal but everything changes when she sees how Trujillo’s men attacked the church and killed people that were hiding, a little boy died in front of patria, this event totally shocked her. In this period of her life came her second transformation she left behind all taboo’s and was now free. She took the decision to fight against Trujillo’s government. She did not want a corrupted Dominican Republic for her children.

Dede is the most conservative sister; she is not willing to take any chances in life. When she was a young girl she did not like to experiment new things and follows the rules society had established. For example she did not play tennis because she was afraid of making a fool out of herself. She was in love with Virgilio but she could not go out with him because he was a rebel and it was not well seen she had a relation with him. When she is married she chooses her family instead of her ideals. She did not want to lose her marriage and her husband had told her not get involved in political movements. She was the only sister that though in consequence and what Trujillo was capable of doing in order to eliminate his opponents

Maria Teresa, she is the youngest but she is the one that suffered a big transformation. When she was young she was free had no worries in life. She thought everything was good and that nothing could harm her because she had her father. But as she grows up she becomes conscious of the reality of life, she realizes that her father is not perfect and will not always protect her. That there are more things in life than just worrying about what shoes matches her dress. This change came when she started studying the university and started living with Minerva. The time she spent with Minerva helped her mature. She became interested in the underground movements, first because she had a crush on the guy that went to her house to bring in things for the movement. But then she matured and realized that the movement was something important. When Maria Teresa was in jail she proved that she was mature and no longer the child she used to be. Her time and jail also helped her open her eyes and see that a lot of injustices were being made by Trujillo.

Minerva, she had no interior transformation because she was also been wild. She has never feared repercussions. Her transformations were physical. It is hard to imagine at the beginning of the book that Minerva would end up being a house wife. That she would not be the important lawyer she wanted to be.

Just like the pearl the title of this novel foreshadows what the book will be about. The name of the book is essential; this process is similar to choosing a name for a baby. First it is a hard decision because a name marks you forever, and many people think it defines your personality. Also it has to be something that matches the characteristics of the baby or in this case the content of the book.

The title of these books basically summarized the novel, for example with out knowing or reading the book you can imagine what the essence of the book this is because of the schemes we have in our minds, we associate things automatically. For instance pear: money, value, sea, oyster, these were the words that came into mind and they do have relation with the book.

The titles of both books include the main characters of each novel. They both predict the actions, In the time of the Butterflies, indicates that they will take about the time in which the butterflies are fried, their actions and process of life. They will also include main events