In The Time Of The Butterflies : A Feminist Anthem

In the book, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the four Mirabal sisters were forced to live under the political oppression of the Dominican dictator Trujillo. Despite, the thematic changes that occurred in the book, there are other information about Dominican Republic that one can further understand. The recurring topics in the book were political oppression and traditional religious practice/ beliefs. There is evidence that shows the life of people who are living under the fear of the dictator and how the religious beliefs and traditional views on women scoped the society during that time period.

In the Time of Butterflies Commonplace Book Chapter 1 – The opening chapter of, In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez introduces, us, the readers to the last surviving of the four Mirabal sisters, Dedé, and shares with the readers a bit of Dedé's internal life since her sister’s death. The reader also learns more background on the beloved the sisters, if you didn’t know who they were or that they even existed before reading this novel (like me), how they lived in the Dominican Republic and how there is now a museum in their honor that holds letters and diaries; a day dedicated to celebrating the sisters, and a story that has turned into its own legend beyond what Dedé remembers. “She walks the woman quickly through the house, Mama’s bedroom,

In the book “ In the Time of the Butterflies,” the author describes the lives of four revolutionary sisters in the Dominican Republic. These sisters were Dede, Patria, Maria Teresa, and Minerva Mirabal. Minerva was the one who stood out the most to me. The passion she had and showed made her sound like a sacrificial leader. Minerva was the type to stand up for what she believed in. Rafael Trujillo was the leader of the Dominican Republic, whatever he say or want to be changed it changes. He was a brutal dictator. Minerva showed him that she is brave and strong. In the book she stated “ I was the one always standing up to him”. When she needed his help she buttered him up into making a deal with her. The Mirabal sisters will always be a

Maria Teresa is very emotional and sensitive. They other sister Petria was the very religious one. Patria had a son and when her son died she struggled with faith. The Mirabal family problem started when Minerva slapped trujillo at the party. Dede did not join in the movement against trujillo because of her husband.

Out from the kitchen and into the world, women are making a better name for themselves. Although humankind tends to be male dominated, men are not the only species that inhabit the world that they live on. In Julia Alvarez's novel In the Time of the Butterflies, the women of the Dominican Republic are expected to grow up to be housewives and lacking a formal education. Women may be cherished like national treasures, but they are not expected to fulfill their truest potentials as human beings.

Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies tells the true story of the Mirabal sisters and their journey to overthrow Trujillo. After their deaths, the Mirabal sisters became a symbol of women struggle for the Dominican Republic. Throughout the book, it becomes apparent that women have fewer rights than men. For example, the novel depicts Minerva's struggle to get a law degree ( ) and Dedé struggle to join the rebellion due to gender roles. This only made me think and question gender roles in the Dominican Republic during Trujillo's dictatorship. Traditionally, the Dominican Republic has been a society where males are the head of the household and there is a long history of machismo (male pride). This ideology during Trujillo's dictatorship

The trait that Patria Mirabel greatly acquired is amazing faith. Patria would go to huge measures to do what she knew was right. She and her sisters showed acts of bravery in the fight against the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. These acts are what caused them to be seen as modern heroes. In Julia Alvarez’ novel In the Time of the Butterflies Patria Mirabel and her sisters were just four ordinary girls from the Dominican Republic that saw a need in their country and wanted to do something about it.

Death is a word associated with loss, grief and sadness, but in the novel In the Time of the Butterflies we see death in a whole new perspective; martyrdom. Strong, independent, caring, honest, and having firm beliefs are all characteristics we see in a martyr especially in Patria. In the novel we explore the wonders of Julia Alvarez’s writing and get to witness Patria as a martyr and an individual who fought for the right of women against a dictator: Trujillo.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” (Andre Gide) In the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, four sisters are led through a risk infested journey in which they must overcome hindrances with hollow consequences. This historical fiction novel takes us through a rollercoaster of events, incorporating everything from the partialities towards women, to life below the oppressive administration of the Dominican Republic’s dictator, Rafael Trujillo. The events painted by the four sisters give us some insight as to the positives and negatives of life in the Dominican Republic. As the novel progresses, we see the diversity in relation to the

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” The words of Martin Luther King perfectly illustrates the difficulties of fighting for social injustice. Similarly, the two works of literature Antigone and In the Time of the Butterflies can also teach us about the sacrifices and rewards from taking direct action against injustice. Antigone is about a girl sentenced to death by the king for burying her traitor brother. In the Time of the Butterflies is the story about three sisters who fight for freedom against the Dominican Republic’s dictator,

“In the Time of the Butterflies” takes place in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. The author, Julia Alvarez is a native of the country, but moved to the US at a young age. She first heard about the sisters roughly around 1986 and instantly felt the need to share their story with the world. In the book, Alvarez tells the story of the Mirabal sisters and their fight for freedom against the Dominican dictator Trujillo. Rafael Trujillo reigned for about 30 years until his assassination in May of 1961. Trujillo’s reign of terror began in 1930 and the violence soon followed. The self centered dictator changed the names of cities and murdered roughly about 20,000 Haitians from the neighboring country. The book not only tells the sisters’

In the past, women had less power than men for thousands of years. In other words, men played an essential gender role and controlled people all around the world. Obviously, most leaders were males, and there were more male bosses than female`s in companies. This unequal social injustice has existed all around the world, especially in the Dominican Republic. In this country, men always thought the only responsibility of women was staying at home and taking care of the whole family. In addition, men did not care what women really wanted, and the only way was to force women to do what men asked. In the movie In the Time of the Butterflies, which happened in the Dominican Republic, people struggle under the brutal dictatorship of Trujillo between the 1930`s and 1960`s. In this movie, men play the important gender role that women have no right to apply for university, and they have to be obedient to men. However, women work hard to defeat their oppressed unequal fate and seek feminism, especially for the three Mirabal sisters. The Mirabal sisters are normal women who live in a farm with their parents. Unfortunately, their father is killed by Trujillo, so they become revolutionaries. They lead people to dare to start the revolution against feminist resistance. Although the Mirabal sisters understand they will sacrifice their lives, they never abandon due to their respectable ambition to gain equal rights as men.

In Malinche to In The Time of the Butterflies, all written by Latin American women and Maria, Full of Grace directed Joshua Marston, the women struggle with survival in various circumstances of abuse.Violence is created within patriarchal societies that sponsor inactiveness and reliance. Customary religious sophistication, where the Virgin Mary mentors, is unsure and slanted, discouraging sex and depreciatingwomen who boycott the recognized standards. Patriarchal pugnaciousness has grave psychological results for women. Nerve-wrecking conditions of women’s existence indicate drug abuse that fosters introduction to police and organizational pugnaciousness. Refining one’s standard of living and reducing violence for Latin American females should contain the thought of community sophistication, partisan and financial irregularities. Violence against Latin American women is allowed, aggression of Latin American women ought to stop because of psychological mistrust within societal boundaries.

Julia Alvarez is a Dominican Republican novelist, poet and essayist. She spent the first ten years of her childhood in the Dominican Republic until her family had to flee the country due to her father’s involvement in a political rebellion. Many of Alvarez’s works are influenced by her experiences as a Dominican in the United States and much of her writing takes a political and personal tone. She is known for works that explore cultural expectations of women in both the Dominican Republic and the United States and for meticulous investigations of cultural stereotypes. In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical novel by Julia Alvarez. It follows the lives of the four Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic during the time of the Trujillo dictatorship. These four sisters: Dedé, Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, were Las Mariposas, “The Butterflies” and were symbols of defiant hope in a country shadowed by dictatorship and despair. They sacrificed their safe, cozy lives in the name of freedom and in this novel, they speak across the centuries to tell their own stories. Las Mariposas describe the everyday horrors of life under the Dominican dictator Trujillo, from tales of secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture. Julia Alvarez states that, “A novel is not, after all, a historical document, but a way to travel through the human heart” (Alvarez 324). In the Time of the Butterflies is a perfect example of this statement because it tells the story of true events in

Reading through the intrepid journeys of this novel, we come to learn about each of the four Mirabal sisters, along with their attitude and actions towards their merciless leader. In Julia Alvarez’s In The Time of the Butterflies, readers are introduced to four sisters living under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, the head of the Dominican Republic. All sisters harbor an intense hatred for the state, but among them, two sisters in particular bear stronger differences than the others—Minerva and Dede. Minerva is an adamant character whom delves deeper into the secrets of Trujillo and the coming revolution, whereas Dede’s character shies away and lingers in the back. While Minerva and Dede both long to see the corrupt regime overthrown, it is only Minerva who jumps into action to oppose the state.