Mirabal Sisters In Trujillo's Extreme Sacrifice

Even though their lives were cut short by the cowardly actions of Trujillo, they still made a huge difference even though they weren’t around to see it. Many Christians were and are executed for their refusal to give up their faith,

In his work “The Underdogs”, Mariano Azuela is able to master the spirit of villismo regarding both its theoretic, underlying principles as well as the movement’s subsequent physical manifestations. Though significant characters conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the humble agrarian spirit central to villismo’s origin, characters in this text also exhibit the disruptive, callous behavior that is more characteristic of the federalist forces and dictatorships they aimed to unseat. Moreover, Demetrio’s degenerating understanding of the reason he’s fighting, coupled with his few instances of immorality, symbolizes the collapse of villismo morality into its culminating bandit-ridden reality. Cowboys, farmers, and other agrarian people suffering from land and labor oppression united together as the diverse “pieces of a great social movement [to] exalt their motherland” . Demetrio and Solis embody this original character of villismo revolution, as they maintain a moral, humanitarian compass throughout the novel.

Alvarez unfolds how Trujillo impacted her mother in a chronological order in a revealing way. Alvarez explains at first that her mother adores Trujillo. It was the way of life for the Dominican Republic people. She was raised to be this way in a life of her eyes revolving around this dictator who showed to be really good, but was not good at all. An example of a false representation of the dictator is Stalin or Hitler.

Along the way, the sisters married revolutionaries who were against their wishes but soon gave in and joined the movements with them. The sisters uncovered many secrets which they grew stronger from

Soon after, she has a miscarriage and her son is buried. Patria has trouble recovering from her loss, connecting

Dede has been threw a lot. After the death of her sisters Dede has to take on not only her sister's children but live up to the legacy they left behind. Therefore Dede has to sacrifice her own way of living to tell the true and unadulterated story of her sisters. Patria was a religious person so I believe she believed that Dede surviving was the divine will of the most high.

As a reader just being introduced to the character Patria with this quote you can clearly tell Julia Alvarez’s intent on how we look at Patria. The author intends to show and describe the character as a

Focusing on Patria, after listening to advice about joining the revolution she has made her final conclusions about what she wanted to do about the situation. Julia Alvarez uses Patria's faith in God as an illustration of courage. Patria is a very religious person. She used her faith in God to help her get through difficult situations demonstrating moral, physical, and emotional courage in time of danger.

As the eldest sister, Patria is introduced as a motherly figure toward her sisters. She married at a young age and was happy being a wife and mother. Her Christianity is central to her character, and although it was tested due to the death of her stillborn child, a retreat in the mountains with her church group profoundly affects both her faith and her view of the rebellion. At the retreat, Patria witnesses a young rebel, not much older than her own daughter, being shot and killed by Trujillo’s guard force.

Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.

Trujillo gets worried when he learns about the 14th of June Movement because he knows that the goal of the movement is to overthrow or kill him. One by one, he starts jailing members of the movement, as well as ransacking or destroying their homes. At Patria’s house, Trujillo has the SIM tear “...the house apart, hauling away the doors, windows, the priceless mahogany beams of Pedrito’s old family rancho” (Alvarez 192). The way that he messes with those involved in the movement is cruel. After having their homes ransacked, Trujillo jails only the Mirabal husbands, which makes the sisters think they are safe.

In the novel Before We Were Free, Julia Alvarez explores the theme of freedom, in more depth, how freedom comes at a cost. The main character, Anita, and her family are forced to leave their country to escape their dictator, Rafael Trujillo, of the Dominican Republic in order to be free. Although, nothing this serious would be executed without a cost. Lucinda, Anita’s older sister, is forced to choose between accepting Turillo’s proposal to be his lover or go to the states and hope for her family to meet her there. Mami says that she doesn’t want her daughter to work as a maid in America, but then Papi cuts her off to say, “Would you prefer she be Mr. Smith’s little querida?(pg.69 p.6)”.

Patria has been a leader all her life and she is also caring and respectful. She got married at a very young age to Pedrito and has 2 children and one stillborn child. Patria is a wonderful mom and is very protective and caring towards her 2 kids, Nelson and Norris. Patria was the last but most revolutionary for many reasons. In Julia Alvarez’s novel

From the moment that the Dominican republic was free from Trujillo’s dictatorship, contrasting viewpoints have come up regarding the sacrifices of the Mirabal sisters. While some argue that the Mirabal sisters sacrifices were not beneficial and worthwhile to the revolution because it resulted in the orphaning of their children and three young lives were lost. Others argue that the Mirabal sisters sacrifices were effective for the revolution since it changed the future of their country. I deem the sisters sacrifices are justifiable because their sacrifices had an important purpose. Isn’t it true that Trujillo's was absolutely in power for 31 years however, because of the three young sisters his cruel regime ended.

This essay looks to answer the question as to whether her untimely death was inevitable. Whether, like Marquez’s Santiago Nasar, no one saw the signs or simply ignored them, and thereby condemning her. Or whether they saw the signs and chose to do nothing