Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies

Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is the inspiring story about the four Mirabal sisters who grew up in the dictatorship of the Dominican Republic. The novel depicts the events that leads up to the deaths of three of the sisters: Patria, Maria Teresa, and Minerva and shows how the remaining sibling, Dedé, deals with both grief and regret. Alvarez explores the dangerous history of the Hispanic Caribbean through fiction in hopes that her readers will be able to truly grasp the impact the lives of the Mirabals had on the Dominican Republic. While many different topics are discussed in the book, the violation of human rights and political unrest is what drives the plot of the book.

As the historical fictional work of Julia Alvarez in In the Time of The Butterflies goes on, Alvarez is actually the interview woman, telling the story through the interviewer’s eyes. In the beginning, Papa predicts Dede’s future and not any of her sisters’ futures which inform readers that not only are all the sisters’ special but that Dede has her part to continue the legacy of her sisters. After living under the control of Trujillo, an evil and corrupt president, the sisters risked their own lives by starting rebellions and joining movements secretly against Trujillo. Dede, who didn’t join the rebellion, watched helplessly as her family fell apart: First, with the death of Papa, and later on the deaths of her sisters who were arrested. These sisters were nicknamed Mariposa which means butterflies to show how fearless they were to stand up for their beliefs.

Life in the Dominican during the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was as bad as one can expect a dictatorial reign to be, it sucked major ass. Junot Díaz, in his book The Brief and Wondrous life of Oscar Wao, he describes this type of life in the Dominican from the perspective of a boy named Oscar and his upbringing in the Dominican. Diaz also shares different perspectives and upbringings from Oscars family members like his sister, mother, and grandfather during Trujillo’s rule. Instead of presenting a length description of the Trujillo’s dictatorship and the events that transpired during his rule, Díaz tells a story of a family and their experiences in the Dominican to give a sense of how his rule effected people’s daily lives

In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about 4 sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa. The book is about the three girls growing up and their experiences during the time of the underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The book was written in memory of Dedé’s 3 sisters who had been ambushed and murdered, which we are aware of since the beginning of the novel. The beginning chapter of the book is describing Dedé as she waits for a woman who is going to interview her about her three sisters, she then goes into a flashback she has of her family talking at the dinner table and her father mentions someone named Trujillo, which then gives a hint at who this book might be formed around. Through the book, we read stories about times in the girls’ lives when they were going to school at Inmaculada Concepcion and being at home and falling in love, as well as there run ins with Trujillo himself.

We have to fight back" (Alvarez 84). This shows the Mirabal sisters' determination to resist the violence of Trujillo's regime, which reflects Alvarez's own belief in the importance of resisting oppression. In conclusion, Julia Alvarez's personal experiences are deeply reflected in In the Time of the Butterflies. Through her portrayal of the Mirabal sisters and the violence of Trujillo's regime, Alvarez shows her own determination to resist oppression and fight for justice.

Butterflies Reflection In The Time of the Butterflies I am exposed to many different viewpoints. An important one being Minerva Mirabal. This novel takes me through the crazy lives of the Mirabal’s. This family is in a personal war against El Jefe Trujillo.

In In The Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez utilizes the power struggle between Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic in 1994 and the Mirabal sisters, who try to overthrow the government, as a means to demonstrate the power struggle the people faced during this time period of Trujillo’s reign. Trujillo is a man who thrives on power and put spies in place to make sure that none of the people were even hinting towards a revolt. When Papa makes a snide comment about Trujillo being a female ruler, in that moment, “the dark fills with spies who are paid to hear things and report them down at Security” (Alvarez 10). This was the beginning of the end of three out of the four Mirabal sisters. Trujillo posts his face on every newspaper, book cover, and anything that people commonly use in order to promote how great he is.

In the Dominican Republic, women were expected to go by what their husbands and fathers said. Women portrayed to have less power and authority than men. In “In the Time of the Butterflies”, the Mirabal sisters showed something very differently, instead they demonstrated the equal authority they have with their husbands. Their power challenged gender limitations that were forced on them by their patriarchal Dominican culture. Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa all were sisters who became involved in political movements against President Trujillo.

It provides a role in character development shown predominantly in Patrias character. It shows the extent of Trujillo’s actions against the Dominican people by showing Patrias desperateness for her son. These examples depicted in the book show how the theme of religion has an impact on In the Time of the

In The Time Of Butterflies was written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. She wrote In the time of Butterflies in 1994. The book divided into four sections, which make the sisters to have their own sections. The story took place in Dominican Republic during President Trujillo’s dictatorship government.

The Mirabal sisters were revolutionaries who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. During the revolution, they were given the code name “Las Mariposas”, or “the butterflies”. The term “mariposa” suits each sister in a different way. Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and Mate Mirabal each have their one reason to be compared to a butterfly. The nickname “mariposa” shows who the Mirabal sisters are; they transformed from domestic, innocent mothers and wives into brave, defiant martyrs for national freedom.

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.

Imagine you and your family living under a gruesome dictator and having no freedom . Julia alvarez “ a genetics of justice “ is a novel about a young girl and her family living under a dictator with a totalitarian government in the dominican government. In this novel you learn about her journey and how she becomes to be the women she is today . “No flies fly into a closed mouth “is a quote used by her mother through the text. In the novel it also talks about the dictator and is unusual daily life .

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.