Who Is The Storm In Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies

While he is being exposed to a storm on the outside, Gregory Orr is “hunkered down… in the cave of self… praying for sparks / in that dark” (1-5). In this passage from “Trauma”, Orr is employing a well defined symbol of the storm as the external conflict that he is struggling with at the time. The storm is crushing him, and he unsuccessfully searches for an answer within himself. Orr is fragile in this poem, vulnerable to the harsh storm that is bearing upon him. Problems like these are not uncommon throughout writing pieces, and it can be identified within a countless number of works. Similarly, Julia Alvarez uses the symbol of a storm in her novel In the Time of the Butterflies. In Alvarez’s case, the storm is not as much of an external problem,

but concerning more to the internal thoughts of the Mirabal sisters, specifically Dede and Minerva. In the novel, Alvarez uses the recurring downpour to symbolize the discouraged spirits of Dede and Minerva.
Downpours are a common occurrence when Minerva and Dede experience discouragement about the revolution or their lives in general. As the family leaves the patio to go inside after a nightly talk, “drops of rain had started falling- though the night is as clear as the sound of a bell” (Alvarez 10). Dede has one of her first negative thoughts about the oppressive government that she was living in right before the rain started coming down, signalling her worry. Also, as Minerva and her family drive home from the Discovery Day Dance, “rain is falling and night is falling in Moca as we pass, the palm roofs sagging, the soil soggy with drowned seeds, the drenched jacarandas losing their creamy blossoms” (116). Minerva made the unconscious decision to slap Trujillo during their dance, and the entire family, but Minerva especially, is anticipating the worse for their futures. Likewise, when all the sisters besides Dede are being driven to Puerto Planta, “the downpour was upon [them]”, the noise drowning out their own voices (286). Ignoring the requests to wait and make the trip in a later time, the sisters decide to keep going, bringing tension and uncertainty to all the girls during the scene.
The rain is a symbol of Dede’s worried attitude towards her family and the government. When he father says “You and Trujillo” (10) should rule the country, she feels nervousness that there could be spies at that given moment, and the entire family could be put under major scrutiny. Since she lives in such a privacy-breaching society, she feels the need to look over her shoulder before she speaks, and makes sure it cannot be taken in any way that would be against the government. Additionally, her fear is strengthened when she thinks of what the spies would say in response to this remark, “Don Enrique claims Trujillo needs help in running this country” (10). She knows that her father did not mean that Trujillo is not doing a good job in office (which he isn’t), but she fears that the government will analyze it and discipline the entire family in the only way they know how, through fear and violence. Dede feels as if one remark could get the entire family in dire trouble, feeling that, “by the time is over, it will be the past, and she doesn’t want to be the only one left to tell the story” (10). She knows how much the dictatorship can do to people at their will, and her fear of getting in trouble characterizes her early as the quieter, much more conservative sister. The rain is a very effective symbol of showing Dede’s discouragement of her and her entire family’s future in their society.
At the same time, Minerva feels fear and uncertainty after she has committed many acts against the government, especially when rain is present.

When she committed the act of slapping Trujillo during their dance, Minerva is scared and fears that the guards will “take her away to La Fortaleza” (100). Although she somehow gained the courage to actually slap the dictator, she is intimidated by the fear that the guards and Trujillo instill into all of the citizens. She feels good about sticking up and making a name for herself, but she feels scared of the consequences that may face her. Afterwards, she hides in her home, staying in her bed, “not wanting to get up and face the dreary day” (102). She is very uncertain of what may follow, whether the government will simply allow it to happen, or respond with brutal and unforgiving force. The idea of the possibility of her having a successful future is very weak now because she knows the power the government has. While she looks out the window with her mom for their impending fate, “every time it thunders [they] jump as if guards had opened fire on the house” (102). She fears the worst, that she has now brought in her family, which means so much to her. To see her own mother have so much fear is paralyzing, and to say she is discouraged at this point would be an understatement. The last thing she wants is to hurt her own family member, but she fears that she has done that through her slapping of Trujillo. Minerva feels a lot of discouragement and fear after she decides to publicly show her revolutionary

support.
Seemingly polar opposites, Minerva and Dede share related and common problems, shown through the storms that both witness. When Dede experiences her first real evidence of the terrible state the people of the Dominican Republic live in, “Something keeps her turning and turning these moments in her mind, something. She is no longer sure she wants to find out what” (73) She knows that there is something terribly wrong with the government, and this is the moment where she changes her viewpoint of Trujillo from godlike to traitor. But, she still does not know what to think, and is very uncertain, like in other parts of the novel. Likewise, when Minerva is told of the destructive rule that Trujillo is running, she has, “aching in [her] belly [that] was like wash being wrung so tightly, there wasn’t a drop of water left in the clothes” (19). She is scared of the harsh reality that will face her in the future, and she, like Dede doesn’t know what to think or how to react to these things, (for now). Both Dede and Minerva experienced uncertainty on how exactly they can react to the situation they are given. Also, even though Dede and Minerva cannot be more different, Dede tells Minerva “I don’t want to live without you” (266). She knows that her sisters are an incredibly important part of her life, and she doesn’t want to lose them to the fight against Trujillo. Dede shows that they have both grown closer together as sisters because of the common problem that they continually face, and the storms allow them to share a unique and concealed bond. The discouragement that they both face through the Revolution brings them closer together, even though it points out differing traits.
Alvarez, like Orr, uses the symbol of a storm in their respective writing pieces; however, Alvarez focuses on the internal despair of the characters, while Orr decides to portray an external conflict. Alvarez’ novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, uses the symbol of downpours to show the discouragement of both Dede and Minerva. Dede feels the pressure of protecting and caring for her family, while Minerva feels the constant stress of being an anti-government revolutionary. Without this pressure, however, the sisters would not be able to become the women that they did, and it is unlikely that the revolution would be as effective.