A beautiful, captivating, and revolutionary story, In the Time of the Butterflies, was written by Julia Alvarez and is a true account about struggle, courage, and love between four sisters, their families, and the people they encountered in their lives. This captivating story is so easy to relate to, as it’s written by a woman, about women, for women. What comes across clearly throughout the story is the Mirabal sisters’ passion for the revolution and how it overwhelmed their lives and the lives of anyone that was involved, or came into contact, with them. This resulted in the sisters being better revolutionaries than mothers, wives, sisters, or daughters. Their passion for the revolution is what drove them the most and what ultimately drove them to involuntarily put their families’ lives at risk. They participated, and were involved in the revolution in spite of the risk of imprisonment and torture. The Mirabal sisters fought until death for what they believe in and the benefit of their country. Over the course of the novel, the Mirabal sisters have shown a strong desire to be in the revolution and free their country from the cruel hands of Trujillo and his regime whilst putting their families in danger. Minerva is the first to give into the revolution as she leaves her children with her sisters and mother while she goes on to try and free the country. “I, who treasured my children more than my own life, couldn’t believe my sister would leave her son for anything…..”(155).Though abandoning her child must be a hard thing to do, Minerva does this, which strongly portrays her dedication to the revolution is stronger than her dedications to her children. They allow their homes to be ‘invaded’ by the revolutionaries; allow their hom... ... middle of paper ... ...Then I watched Delia draw a line through each one. Who’s left in our area?”(270) The girls keep fighting even though they secretly loose hope but not faith, and their families tell them to stop, right up until death. Their lives, not taken in vain, were lived solely for the fight and the cause. Ultimately, In the Time of the Butterflies is a book written and dedicated to the Mirabal sisters and their revolutionary lives. The passion they possessed for the cause is what drove them into putting themselves and their families at risk. They involved themselves in the movement despite the danger of imprisonment and torture. They do everything they possibly can do for the future of their country and the advancement of the revolution. Looking at the sisters lives from their own account, it is clear that they were better revolutionaries than any other role they held.
In The Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the rule of Rafael Trujillo directly affected all four Mirabal sisters, Patricia, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Mirabal.
for a wild ride through their lives from their point of view. "In the Time of the Butterflies" is about
The novel In The Times of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, consists of a frame narrative told by the only Mirabal sister to survive the reign of Trujillo, Dede Mirabal. This story takes place in the Dominican Republic all the way back in 1938, leading up to the “present” time in 1994. At this time in the Dominican Republic, the country is being ruled by a man named Trujillo, and he is making their homeland an unsafe and horrible place. The Mirabal sisters’ participation in the political movement against Trujillo led to their murder on November 25, 1960. Their action was symbolized as a threat to Trujillo dictatorship, which eventually led to their death.The conclusion that can be taken to assume that the Mirabal sisters were murdered is Minerva
In any culture women are often confined by expectations of womanhood. In both stories the female characters challenge those expectations. The main characters of In the Time of the Butterflies are all females who stand up for what they believe in and don’t give up. “’What if I can’t’ Dede’s voice shook. ‘Jaimito thinks
The Mirabals were farmers in the Dominican Republic. The mother's name is Mercedes Reyes Camilo and the father's name is Enrique Mirabal Fernandez. The whole family grew up in a middle- class environment. They didn't have many options of what way to live since they had to life in a time filled with harsh dictatorship. Minerva wanted to go to school instead of staying on the farm all the time.
People who have a position in the government can start off doing good things for the people and country, but will become power hungry and want to be in control of every little thing. This hunger for power can be seen in the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, which demonstrates how the daily lives of the citizens in the Dominican Republic are affected under the rule of their oppressive ruler, Trujillo. Alvarez focuses on 4 sisters, the Mirabal family, who strive for equality and democratic rights. The 4 sisters have all been been oppressed by Trujillo´s ridiculous laws. Enforcing unnecessary laws on society makes sure that Trujillo stays in complete control, which compels the people to strive for more freedom and rights,
This book is a story about 4 sisters who tell their stories about living on an island in the Dominican Republic , and then moving to New York . What is different about this book is the fact that you have different narrators telling you the story , jumping back and forth from past to present . This is effective because it gives you different view point’s from each of the sisters . It may also detract from the narrative because of the fact that it’s confusing to the reader . This is a style of writing that has been recognized and analyzed by critics . Julia Alvarez is a well- known writer and in a way , mirrors events that happened in her own life , in her book . Looking into her life , it show’s that she went through an experience somewhat like the sisters . I interviewed an immigrant , not from the same ethnic back ground as the sisters , but a Japanese immigrant . This was a very
The Dominican Republic under the Trujillo regime was considered one of the most violent eras ever in the Americas. In The Time of The Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, commemorates the lives of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal. These women were known as “Las Mariposas” because of their direct involvement in an underground revolution against Trujillo. In the story, the Mirabel sisters are women with childhoods, hopes, and dreams, who fight for the liberation of their country. After their assassination, they became symbols of freedom and revolution for persecuted peoples all over the world. The Mirabal sisters not only fought against the Trujillo regime, but also opposed the unfair gender roles of that time. In the Dominican Republic,
“Life is what you make out of it: one can go through it and let things pass them by, or a person can actually go out and get what he or she wants in that life.” These are common words repeatedly embedded into my head by my father, as maybe the same from one of your parent’s. In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about sisters that fight to take their god-given right of freedom in the Dominican Republic. To win this freedom, the Mirabal sisters had to give up their safety, give up their childhoods, and give up their lives. Julia Alvarez, the author of the book, takes the readers through these sisters journey’s of fighting against their dictator Trujillo, and the many hardships while under this political oppression. It is evident in the book that some sisters had to be the leaders of the group and some had to be the followers. The Mirabel sister that is believed to be the leader and the strong one is Minerva. Minerva, although strong-willed, is still not as strong of an individual as she would like to believe she is.
Dede not only has she done tons of interviews but there is a museum where she works that is full of detail event from the Mirabal sisters’ tragedy. She gives tours shares pictures and tell stories in memories of her sisters. Dede took the choice of reliving memories from the past. “In The Time of the Butterflies” when the reporter asked Dede “how does she do it? “how do you keep such tragedy from taking you under?” Dede was so optimistic with her answer stating “I start over, playing the happy moments in my head”. Although many may look at Dede with pity, in her eyes she knows she was gifted. To have shared memories with these brave women, not only was she gifted for being their friend but to know that she is a part of
This is evident in two key moments in the story, both of which involve Minerva’s sisters. In the first, the manifestation of her inspiring Maria Teresa comes when Maria Teresa stands up to her. Behind the virgin mary, maria teresa is infuriated that Minerva won't tell her what they’re talking about so she confronts her about their conversation. This is very similar to the attitude that Minerva would have had in this situation, further illustrating Minerva’s inspiration of Maria Teresa. A second demonstration of Minerva’s inspiring courage in others, once again, comes through Maria Teresa joining of the revolution. While some will say that Maria Teresa’s real reason for joining the revolution came in the form of the man delivering guns, it’s clearly evident that without her sister's involvement in the rebellion, she would not have joined. This shows Minerva true inspirational impact. Even without being the principal reason for her sister’s decision to join the rebellion, the fact that she was a major part of the rebellion, a leader of the rebellion even, was enough for Maria
However, it is more important to remember that had the sisters not made the sacrifice, their movement would not have gotten the publicity and support it got after the acts by Minerva and the sisters’ brave move of going to visit their husbands even though they knew it was dangerous. Therefore, it is clear that the sacrifices that the Mirabal sisters made were very much worth it and instrumental in achieving social
Maria Teresa’s cautiousness and sensitivity remain consistent during the revolution, while her consideration for others changes. Maria Teresa is exceedingly careful throughout her life starting with her relationships with men, and carrying her into her revolutionary skills. Her emotional fragileness is responsible for her many breakdowns, both major and minor, during her life. When Maria Teresa becomes imprisoned, she loses sight of her consideration and focuses on getting herself home. Although her life was cut short due to a tyrannical leader, Maria Teresa Mirabal made her mark on history as a strong, beautiful butterfly.
... did not take part in the revolution, her own strength was tested when her sisters were killed by Trujillo, leaving her as the only sister remaining alive. In the Time of the Butterflies allows readers to experience the courage of ordinary people fighting against extraordinary circumstances. The sisters advocated for a change in the Dominican Republic, and without being exceptionally special or extraordinary, they affected the entire county for the better. Today, readers can still learn from this story due to Julia Alvarez’s detailed portrayal of the Mirabal sisters and their story.
The Butterflies were not part of a violent group; they shared information with people about Trujillo’s victims of his torture, assassination, and corruption . As a result, Minerva and Maria and all the sisters’ husbands, except Jaimito, were arrested multiple times. Even after being imprisoned, they never gave up the fight to put an end to Rafael Trujillo’s leadership. They refused to give up on their mission to restore democracy and civil liberties to their