In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies (1994) centers around the lives of the four Mirabal Sisters who courageously brought acknowledgement to the inhumane and brutal actions of Dictator Rafael Trujillo and the treatment of women in a society where they were seen as property. In the 2001 film adaptation directed by Mariano Barroso, the film mainly centers on Minerva Mirabal, the outspoken and rebellious sister. Despite bearing some minor similarities, there are more differences between Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies and Mariano Barroso’s film – both author/director start the story of the sisters in different ways, in the novel the reader is able to see all of the perspective of the sisters instead of only Minerva’s,

who thinks poorly of Trujillo. She leads Minerva into the rebellious part of her life where she finds

I convict that the bravest and most dedicated of the Mirabal sisters is Minerva. I felt as if Minerva had a good heart and fought for what she believed in. she was not afraid of anything. But her other sisters, Maria Teresa, Dede, and Patria were not as brave as Minerva. But all four sisters contributed to help get rid of Trujillo, and for this reason they are very famous in history. They were given the name “Las Mariposas” (the butterflies), and a lot of times, people would whisper to them “viva las Mariposas” (long live the butterflies). People would say this to the sisters because they were some of the few citizens willing to stop Trujillo.

Rafael Trujillo, a dictator of Dominican republic said “ He who doesn’t know how to deceive does not know how to rule”. So that was Trujillo’s plan, while the whole country was celebrating the freedom of their country Dominican republic, he was planning to be the fear of people, and use women however and whenever he wanted. That’s what he did, became a dictator, made people start and end their day with him and used women like a piece of kleenex used it and threw it away. This dictatorship caused a lot of people wanting to overthrow like the butterflies and if women wanted to fight for their freedom, the husband didn’t let them because of the anxiety that of getting killed. In the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, opposing action done by the government/Trujillo influenced Minerva and Patria’s perspective of their rights leading them to want to overthrow the government, in contrast, Dede’s perception on moving forward as women changed because the negative

The Mirabal sisters were instrumental in the toppling of Rafael Trujillo’s regime in the Dominican Republic. Julia Alvarez uses Las Mariposas to exhibit different ways in which people can become politicized in times of revolution. She uses these women for several reasons: they are well known, and while they all had the same up bringing they all hold different values. The Mirabal sisters became politicized in different ways and for different reasons. Minerva became a revolutionary when she saw that her country was unjust. Mate became a revolutionary when she see’s that love is not alienated in the rebellion and that her help is needed. Patria became a revolutionary when her faith was rekindled and her faith becomes apart of the revolution.

Although Patria and the other Mirabel sisters were just a few ordinary girls from the Dominican Republic, by the end of the novel they were so much more. The courage changed the lives of many people and even changed history. The Mirabel sisters will be seen as heroes through time. Their memories and dedication will be remembered

This section of chapters was exciting because I sympathized with Patria not knowing whether she wants to be a nun or if she wants to marry her boyfriend. For me, the book starts to gain momentum because while in the first three chapters, Minerva comes to the realization of their dictatorial government; in these chapters she becomes more involved with a man who is leading part of the revolution to end President Trujillo’s regime, so it’s showing more commitment from her. These chapters display Minerva’s strength as a woman, from her slapping the president after he made advances on her and her standing up to her father after finding his other family. It’s empowering to see a woman in the 1950’s to not be oppressed by a man. The romance and the

In this extraordinary novel , you are taken on the journey of the Mirabal sisters during Trujillo's reign. First you are introduced to Dede the only surviving sister. She is having flashbacks to when her sisters lived, while doing an interview. The interview starts off telling about the girls early years. When Minerva convinces her Papa to send them away for school she meets Sinita. Minerva shares her beliefs and knowledge of Trujillo and how she is sure he was responsible for the death of her family. When Minerva and and her friends are asked to perform a play for Trujillo himself they quickly accept. When performing Sinita pulls a fatal stunt, she tries to attack Trujillo with a bow and arrow. Minerva had to quickly pull the play back

“In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, I feel as if all characters in this novel are all real human. Author Julia Alvarez pointed out saying, “It was to understand that question that I began this story. But as happens with any story, the characters took over, beyond polemics and facts. They became real to my imagination. I began to invent them” (Alvarez 323). From class discussion the author was worried that the sisters from the novel did not feel real to many people. But, since the author was also from Dominican and she also understands the connection towards family and siblings together, she wrote very organized novel that points religion, feminism, political activity, and devotion to Trujillo. Young sisters struggle all the themes above, and they all fight over to become politically involved. From reading the above sentence that the author wrote, I assume that the characters took over facts and arguments in every chapter and the characters slowly became real to my imagination. I just want to point out few themes from the novel and paragraphs where I felt very strong that the characters are like real human and as if they are real person on the reading the journeys. Struggles

Minerva’s dreams are right in front of her but she chooses to be with her family instead. Minerva’s dreams are so close to her and she wants to become someone better for herself and for her family. However she feels that she needs to stay closer and develop into someone who can protect her family. The restrictions placed on her are based on her families’ judgement and the society, however, she chooses to find a path that will give her the ability to grow either way.

People are not allowed the freedom of speech under Trujillo’s rule, and if they speak out against him, they will all be murdered by the SIM. After hearing Sinita’s story, Minerva realizes the injustice of Trujillo’s regime. She decides to join the underground revolutionary movement even if she has to sacrifice her life. The loss of personal freedoms is often the results of abuse of power.

Recently, there have been astonishing changes to our nation, the Dominican Republic, after the assassination of Rafael Trujillo, our former president that murdered anyone who resisted his regime and was once viewed upon as a fatherly figure. We are no longer living in fear of the Servicio de Inteligencia Militar forces since their disbandment and do not hold a portrait of El Jefe within our houses, simply having more freedom than we did before. Isn’t it true that this is a blessing to us all? Without a doubt, I give my thanks to the Mirabal sisters, the butterflies whom set our wings unbounded from Trujillo’s oppressive rule through their justified extreme sacrifices to fight for social change, including orphaning their children and Mate giving

Cultural Continuance Theory can be applied to the Minerva in the way she realizes Trujillo is

Discovering one’s identity has invariably been a struggle for mankind. From obstacles testing moral values to uncertainty regarding a role in life, the road to finding one’s character is not always successful. However, throughout life, different factors can have ranging impacts on the guidance of one’s identity and the shaping of who they are as a person. Whether it is family or a major life event that changes their outlook, the struggle to find one’s character can be addressed through numerous components. This idea is especially ubiquitous in the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies; the Mirabal sisters begin to discover themselves over the course of the story in a variety of ways. In her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez utilizes myriad literary techniques to establish the prevalent theme of finding one’s identity through growth, faith, and freedom.

Within the novel, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Mate, Minerva, Dede, and Patria had to create decisions to overcome obstacles that would transform each of their lives. Throughout the book, all of the sisters changed somehow. They all grew up, matured, and saw things how they never viewed before. While looking at these things at a different perception, they learned to make decisions that were sometimes brave and sometimes cowardly. Each of the Mirabal sisters had to choose whether or not to be fearful and give up, or be courageous and stand her ground, or make sacrifices to show her strength throughout the novel.