Altruistic Obsessions: Tragic Flaws in 'The Boy in the Suitcase' and 'In the Time of the Butterflies' Mykyta Solonko 10th Grade

The critical nature of modern society causes the people being judged to feel isolated, ashamed, and worthless. Due to this, contemporary individuals believe that they have to be perfect, in appearance and character traits, in order to conform with others. As a result, people spend tremendous amounts of time developing certain traits to make themselves more likeable. Unfortunately, they are missing vital information regarding the danger of possessing positive personality traits. Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, authors of The Boy in the Suitcase, and Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies, investigate the transformation of positive character traits into tragic flaws through their main characters. In their novels, the authors demonstrate that excessive devotion to noble personality traits leads to the characters’ undoing.

The main characters from both novels, the Mirabal sisters from In the Time of the Butterflies and Nina Borg from The Boy in the Suitcase, possessed noble intentions when carrying out their work. In addition, they were further encouraged to continue contributing to their causes by the support of other people. Maria Theresa, one of the Mirabal sisters, wrote in her diary about her feelings...