From February of 1930 through May of 1961, the Dominican Republic fell subject to the tyranny of General Rafael Trujillo. Throughout his dictatorship, Trujillo relentlessly abused his power of authority and exploited the rights of his citizens. Meanwhile, underground resistance movements began to form, all with the intentions of expelling Trujillo from power. Though these resistance movements were mostly comprised of men, it is the Mirabal sisters who are likely the most notorious of these revolutionaries. In her novel In the Time of the Butterflies, Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez tells the story of Minerva, María Teresa, and Patria Mirabal, known then by their codename, Las Mariposas, or The Butterflies. Though the novel is …show more content…
As children, the Mirabal sisters are unaware of corruption within the political system. In fact, in the early pages of María Teresa’s diary she lauds Trujillo, writing that she “feel[s] so lucky that [she and her family] have [Trujillo] for a president” (Alvarez 37). Because she is so young, María Teresa is oblivious to the corruption within the Dominican Republic. However, as the plot develops, Alvarez details María Teresa’s coming of age story, emphasizing instances in which she and her sisters are exposed to the truth about Trujillo and his dictatorship. Eventually María Teresa realizes the true horrors Trujillo has caused. When she discovers Minerva is involved with “a national underground [that] is forming… [she tells] Minerva right out, [she] want[s] to join” (Alvarez 142). Her diary, once a collection of schoolgirl gossip, is now used to detail the missions and meetings of the resistance. No longer is María Teresa conforming to the societal expectations of women. She has now grown enough to recognize Trujillo is not the deity she once thought him to be, and her partaking in the rebellion against him allows her to challenge the traditional role of women in the Dominican Republic. In her article “Talking Back to El Jefe”, English Professor Charlotte Rich at Eastern Kentucky University addresses the connection between coming of age and the Mirabal sisters joining the …show more content…
In fact, it is the love for her family that eventually provokes Patria to challenge the traditional role of women by joining her sisters in their fight against Trujillo. While on a religious retreat in the mountains, Patria and her companions are caught in the midst of a shelling where they witness a young revolutionary die at the hands of Trujillo’s followers. This young revolutionary reminds Patria of a child she had lost many years ago, for he is about the age her unnamed child would have been had he not died at birth. As she watches the young revolutionary die, Patria feels as if she has failed him, referring to him as her “stillborn of thirteen years ago” and her “murdered son of a few hours ago” (Alvarez 162). Patria sees this young revolutionary as the child she never knew, and watching him die feels as if she is once again losing her unnamed son. Though tragic, the death of this young revolutionary inspires Patria to join her sisters in the fight against Trujillo. She prays over the body of the young revolutionary, vowing that she will never again “sit back and watch [her] babies die” (Alvarez 162). Patria, having just witnessed the destruction of innocence, fears that her children will be next to die if Trujillo remains in power. His forces have now murdered an innocent child- a child whom Patria sees as her own- and Patria’s love for her real children provokes her
The resulting work is historical fiction, a recreation of the lives of three Dominican sisters—Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal— who were murdered for their attempts to overthrow Trujillo the same year Alvarez's family fled to the United States. The Maribal sisters are heroic women known by their revolutionary name Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). The core of the book is made up of chronological reminiscences by the murdered sisters from childhood to the time of their brutal demise. “The Mirabals are a traditional provincial Dominican family, portrayed in clichéd fashion—a middle¬class rural clan anchored by the inevitably philandering but supportive patriarch and the warm, caring and wise mother”
In Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, a young, naïve girl transforms into a prominent figure in the revolution against Leonidas Trujillo as we read page after page of her most private thoughts. This character is Maria Teresa (Mate), the youngest of the Mirabal sisters. Alvarez weaves Maria Teresa’s story as a coming of age story under a dictatorship, and slowly, but thoroughly, shows us how it corrupts childhood innocence and forms revolutionaries. Mate’s chapters in the novel are solely journal entries. In Julia Alvarez’s words, “Techniques are just tools on the wall to help you get at what best reflects the stories in your heart to tell.
And, that is in fact, exactly what Trujillo did to the people of the Dominican Republic. He took almost every single one away. “You still don’t get it? Minerva, don’t you see? Trujillo is having everyone killed” (Alvarez 19).
Assimilating into a new society is difficult and full of plight, but when you are leaving a dangerous country into an unfamiliar one, then that is when all hell breaks loose. “The Daughters of Invention” illustrates the family struggles of Julia Alvarez and her family back in the 1960s. Alvarez’s family left Trujillo’s harsh dictatorship after Alvarez’s father attempted plot to overthrow Trujillo was revealed. Rafael Trujillo was a dictator that turned Dominican Republic into a horror environment. People feared their lives and futures.
The novel tells the various experiences of the women that existed in oscar’s life. There is a consistence of maltreatment of women starting from the beginning of the Cabral history and their fuku. The dominican republic is where the idea is patriarchy and the abuse of women stem from in the novel. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, president of the Dominican Republic, felt as ruler he could do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted. This was true about the dictator, he was most noted for his desire for beautiful young women.
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
Courage Courage is strength in the face of pain. Julia Alvarez portrays different types of courage in her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies. The novel is set during the time of Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. As a result, some of the Mirabal sisters; Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria, to take a step in joining a revolution against him.
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.
The setting allows the reader to understand how people without honour are seen as outcasts of the society and the existence of a woman’s virginity is seen as a measure of her honour, as well as a precious commodity, which can purchase the family’s social advancement, through a marriage of convenience. Ángela states that Santiago deflowered her, but since “…she looked for it in the shadows…”, even though “She only took the time necessary to say the name.” we question this piece of information and its reliability, due to it being precise but also vague at the same time. Due to their sister stating this, Pablo and Pedro Vicario are ordered to reinstate their “…sister’s lost honour…”, ironically by their mother, to meet the expectations of the community and it is up to them to spiritually retrieve their sister’s virginity by killing Santiago. This means the brothers cannot back down from “…the horrible duty that’s fallen on them…” as “…there’s no way out of this…”.
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.
Lola takes advantage of her deteriorating mother whose illness represents the declining hold of the norms over Lola. Since her mom “will have trouble lifting her arms over her head for the rest of her life,” Lola is no longer afraid of the “hitting” and grabbing “by the throat” (415,419). As a child of a “Old World Dominican Mother” Lola must be surrounded by traditional values and beliefs that she does not want to claim, so “as soon as she became sick” Lola says, “I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance and I eventually took it” (416). When taking the opportunity to distinguish herself from the typical “Dominican daughter” or ‘Dominican slave,” she takes a cultural norm like long hair and decides to impulsively change it (416). Lola enjoyed the “feeling in [her] blood, the rattle” that she got when she told Karen to “cut my hair” (418).
In paragraph 27 it states ,”there were still old cronies of the dictator around who would love an excuse to go after my family after my father ,after her ,” the cronies were loyal servants to the dictator even when he was dead so alvarez's mother thought they were still in danger of being captured or killed ,because of the cronies the mother would live in fear unlike alvarez who didn't fully believe they would come after them . Alvarez wrote her novels knowing they may wreak havoc on her family members who were still in the dominican republic and maybe her parents and sisters. In paragraph 29 and 30 it talks about the last novel she wrote about the island and how her mother thought about it ,”I don't care what happens to us i'm so proud of you ,” her mother says ,alvarez wrote the novel at the risk of her family but her mother and her new the story had to be told and the things the people had to go through
Mariposa, oh, what a beautiful word. Mariposa is the Mirabal sisters code name, Mariposa the Spanish word for butterfly. Julia Alvarez’s fascinating novel on the Mirabal sisters is a captivating book about the courageous Mirabal sisters. Patria is the oldest of the Mirabal sisters. Patria has always been religious, and she wanted to become a nun to devote her life to religion.
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.