...necessary to lose everything else,” by Bernadette Devlin. The interpretation of this quote is in order for a person to get what they want; they have to be willing to lose everything. Like Alex the characters in In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez are willing to risk everything through the characters of Lina, Patria and Minerva. Those characters agree with the quote because they are willing to lose everything in order to get what they want. In the Time of the Butterflies, Lina, a student, meets Trujillo, the president of Dominican Republic, at Inmaculada Concepcion. Trujillo had been watching Lina over a balcony near the school and insisted on seeing her. When they met Trujillo gave her a medal. After the meeting, he would visit her and send her gifts. Sinita asked Lina if she had fallen in love with Trujillo and Lina answered, “With all my heart,” (22). The day of Lina’s birthday Trujillo throws her a party. Then goes on a week vacation with him or so the girls at Inmaculada Concepcion thought. The girls at the school loved and adored Lina and didn’t understand why she didn’t want to come back to them since they treated her like a model to girls. Minerva, Lina’s friend, and her father were in a wagon when her father states, “Look, Minerva, one of Trujillo’s girlfriend’s lives there, your old schoolmate, Lina Lovaton,” (23). Lina gave up her life at Inmaculada Concepcion and with her family to go with Trujillo, a guy who was already married to another woman and had a bunch...
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...How often have you looked up at a butterfly soaring away on the breeze and wished you could do the same? Butterflies often symbolize change and freedom, so it comes as no surprise that the Mariposas dedicated their lives to free both their country and themselves. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez shows through the Maribales’ struggles how freedom is so precious and important, it is worth dying for. The main plot of the book revolves around the sisters and their struggle to find freedom under Trujillo’s authoritarian regime. The use of a cage symbolizes how the girls constantly feel trapped. Most prominently, Minerva describes her journey from her father’s house to going to school as “I’d just left a small cage to go into a bigger...
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...Throughout the intricate novel In the time of the Butterflies, the Mirabal sisters all strengthen themselves against the clutches of Trujillo’s reign displaying a strong sense of courage. The sisters have their own personalities each being different in their own way but something that can be seen in all of them is how they are able to fight against the norms of society without fear of being outcasts or being killed in action. Minerva mirabal strongly displays courage in her family which affected her sisters in a positive or negative way depending on one's outlook. Her bravery motivated her sisters to stand up for what they believe and to not be so easily shot down by everyone else’s view on them. Patria Mirabal derives a lot of her courage through her faith which does help her greatly throughout the Time of the Butterflies. During the revolution bearing Raulito she states “But then again, here in that little room was the same Patria Mercedes, who wouldn’t have hurt a butterfly shouting, ‘Amen to the revolution’” (164). This statement is a turning point for Patria because it indicates the moment where she decides she is not going to be stand behind the protection of her family and friends, rather she will stand up for her beliefs fight for her loved ones. When she says this, she is relating herself to the old Patria who was meek and kind but then...
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...In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez retells the story of the Mirabal sisters and their sacrifice for change. The four Mirabal sisters (Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa) work as a unit along with others to raise awareness against oppression. Although Dede is the only one to survive, the sisters are well known in Latin America for their efforts. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s speech, “The Solitude of Latin America,” his statement rings true when he explains that “In spite of [a history of violence],...
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...In “In the time of the butterflies”, Alvarez uses various literary elements such as figurative language, shifts, dialogue and point of view to portray Mate as the courageous and self assertive sister she has become. Mate’s character grows throughout the book from a young naive girl to a more alerted version of herself. She is more alert towards Trujillo’s prejudice reign and the danger between not only men but people in general. One of the literary elements Alvarez uses is figurative language with a combination of shifts. In the first paragraph Mate admits, “I felt ashamed that they had to carry me in like a sack of beans.” Through the use of this metaphor, Mate comes off as powerless and vulnerable because she is unable to carry herself....
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...what happens if a leader does break this moral code. The story that Alvarez has conjured is set in the Dominican Republic, where tyrant Rafael Trujillo established a totalitarian government. He leads his people with an iron fist, and is well known for not being brutally honest towards his followers. Spoken from the man himself, Rafael Trujillo once said, “He who does not know how to deceive does not know how to rule.” In the Time of the Butterflies shows the effects of Trujillo’s powerful reign on the people of the Dominican Republic, from the point of view of a middle class family. At the mention of Trujillo’s name, “they [the...
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...In the Time of the Butterflies In the Time of the Butterflies takes place in the 1950s while the country of the Dominican Republic is under the rule of Dictator Rafael Trujillo. The Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa rise up against the government and join a group to overthrow Trujillo. The Mirabals have many goals they want to achieve as they work to further their education. The Mirabals’ work in the Dominican Republic united the nation against the corrupt government against Trujillo. Unfortunately, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa were killed on November 25, 1960 by Trujillo in an effort to stop the uprising. The novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a fantastic book that needs to stay in the curriculum...
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...creates a ripple effect that lasts a lifetime. Throughout the novel In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez, the Mirabal sisters become radicalized from the effects of intimate confrontations with Trujillo himself. Most of the sisters are quite different when they are younger, but as they grow and become more acquainted with the world they are living in, they become more involved and more passionate about saving their country. Through the stories of Minerva, Mate and Patria, Julia Alvarez shows that experiencing personal encounters with tragedies cause people to become more radicalized. When Patria is younger, she bears the qualities of an innocent and faithful child, but once she...
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...there are many things in history that should never be repeated or experienced by any human being. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is used to give the reader a taste of what the people of the Dominican Republic went through under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. She gives the reader this experience by looking at the world through the eyes of the four Mirabel sisters: Dedé, Minerva, Patria, and María Teresa. The wrath of Trujillo was shown through the use of friends and family of these sisters and what that endured during these years. Rafael Trujillo came to power in 1930 after the United States occupied the island. In 1924, the United States left Trujillo in charge...
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...The Death of a Butterfly “Las Mariposas”, The Butterflies, is the codename given to the Mirabal sisters upon their emergence into the Dominican Revolution. While the name grew from Minerva’s underground name, it also took on a symbol of hope, change, and transformation behind the suppression of the Dominican people. Throughout the novel each sister represents a different stage of the butterfly life cycle: Dede as an Egg, Patria as a caterpillar, Maria as a Pupa, and Minerva as an adult; each respective stage symbolizes the different levels of courage and sacrifice devoted to their country’s freedom from tyrant Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez uses symbolism in “The Time of the Butterflies” to suggest that the price of freedom paid by the Mirabal Sisters was not worth the cost when butterflies have such short lives. Butterflies have grown to symbolize a variety of different meanings throughout history and culture. Their metamorphosis is typically construed as a representation of change, purity, and rebirth, while some cultures view butterflies as a depiction of the soul or a transition between lives. Dede takes on the “Egg” stage of the butterfly life cycle as her character faces many obstacles despite being the least involved sister. Like the egg, Dede remains planted firmly where she was laid. “A chill goes through her, for she feels it in her bones, the future is now beginning. By the time it is over, it will be the past, and she doesn’t want to be the only one left to tell their...
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...“In The Time of The Butterflies,” by Julia Alvarez, tells a story about four courageous sisters who went against the injustice of Trujillo’s dictatorship. Dedé is the second-oldest sister and the one who survived to tell their story. Throughout most of the story, Dedé is always rejecting the idea of joining her sisters fight against Trujillo. The pivotal moment in the story in which Dedés character was psychologically and morally developed was when she and Jaimito were driving through a town with the bodies of her sisters, all the while she was shouting out towards the SIM police, “Assassins, Assassins!” Jaimito tries calming her down in order of not risking being shot or arrested. Dedé at that time wished she were shot so she could be with...
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...In Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of Butterflies, the bond of sisterhood displayed by the Mirabal sisters proves that even in the toughest of times a sister provides and shows strength to one another out of love and loyalty no matter the circumstances. For example, when Minerva first tells Maria Teresa about her secret meetings, MaTe overwhelmed with knowledge, fears not what knowing the truth about her country means “but that [Minerva] might let go” of her hand in that moment. (39) Although frightened, MaTe dreads losing her sister, who represents a lifeline of sanity to MaTe, more than Trujillo’s wrath. Minerva gives MaTe the strength to comprehend and accept the actuality of their plight in the Dominican Republic, and courageously jump...
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...The four Mirabal sisters are still honored and recognized as heroines in the Dominican Republic and some parts of the world. The four sisters always stuck together through everything. They really paved the way for female in the Dominican Republic. They stood up politically against their dictator Trujillo. They were imprisoned a few times, and they always found ways to beat the but they eventually ended up dead. Nobody officially knows how though… It was said they ran off of a cliff, but some believe that they were set up by Trujillo. There is much evidence that points to the second option. On the other hand, six months after the death of the sister’s death Trujillo was assassinated. He was set up by the CIA on May 30, 1961. The CIA...
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...In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a work of historical fiction about the Mirabals sisters fighting the dictator regime of Rafael Trujillo in the 20th century Dominican Republic. The Mirabals, Dede, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria, all grow up under his reign. As Minerva becomes a radical figure against Trujillo, each sister has their own reaction and develops their own identity. The sisters each become a symbol of national hope for taking part in an underground revolutionary movement, being called “Las Mariposas”, or The Butterflies, by radicals across the country. Minerva, in particular, is a huge symbol for the nation even while she battles her own identity problems with her father and her own self. In In the Time of Butterflies Minerva’s identity changes dramatically as she becomes a public figure of resistance, moving away from the innocence of childhood to change into a strong woman. Minerva Mirabal is best known as a leader and this begins in her teenage years. During her childhood, she gets a reputation for being feisty, not going with the crowd. This becomes prominent when she and a group of...
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...difficult road. For that reason, books create role models that inspired us. By looking at individuals who rise up against injustice or refuses to follow society, we learn to be brave and courageous. Julia Alvarez’s In the time of the Butterflies, portrays a beautiful story about four young women who are not stereotypical wives and mothers. They do what many men did not have the courage to do which is to stand up to Trujillo, and make a difference. Through their stories, we see individuals who in spite of danger are able to continue to preserve through their hardships in order to stand up for what they believe in. Not only are headstrong individuals presented in Alvarez’s novel, but also in Isabel...
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