What Does In The Time Of The Butterflies Represent

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” Aristotle, a great Philosopher once proclaimed. This quote exemplified “In the Time of the Butterflies” main character Minerva Mirabal, because of how outwardly brave she was. Everyone isn’t born with courage and bravery, but there are some destined individuals who are. Throughout this thrilling novel, Minerva demonstrates audacity and true grit by being woman, a brave leader and an advocate for freedom and equality.

“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 novel In the Time of the Butterflies, the protagonist role is split between four characters, Minerva, Dede, Maria Teresa, and Patria. The four sisters are constantly facing diversity, but Minerva always chooses to be hopeful

Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship lasted for nearly 30 years. His reign brought destruction and death to many people living in the Dominican Republic as well as its neighbor Haiti. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez depicts the story of the mirabal sisters who were living during the time of Trujillo’s regime. The Mirabal sisters were women who tried to fight against Trujillo’s evil ways and ended up being murdered because of his thirst for power. Trujillo’s reign began in the 1930’s and ended in the early 1960’s. The story’s setting takes place in the Dominican Republic during the 1950’s and follows the transition of the Mirabal sisters from young girls to powerful females. Symbolism is found in every chapter of the novel Alvarez

In the fabricated novel In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, the author illuminates details of a revolution and the family of the Mirabal sisters. Alvarez’s fictionalized account of the Dominican Republic’s revolution and the Mirabal’s personal lives paints us a vivid image of the events during Trujillo’s dictatorship. We get personally touched by each of the characters in the novel, but Minerva Mirabal, the third sister, stands out with a true heart and spirit of the resistance. Minerva Mirabal has the strongest mind set apart from her sisters and gets greatly invested in the revolution. Her association with the rebel cause highlights the list of the events the sisters endure during their lives. Minerva’s personality is

In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, three of four Mirabal sisters are murdered because of their opposition to the government. The surviving sister lives to tell their story. The first four chapters come from the perspective of each sister years before they joined the revolution against Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. I picked this book to read because I have always been interested in the story of these sisters and what they have contributed to Dominican history. I have only read the first four chapters, but I am already enjoying the book. What impressed me the most is how Alvarez describes how different in personality each of the sisters are. The oldest sister is Patria, who is very religious. She almost

As we watch the movie at the time of the butterflies, makes me recall my childhood and most importantly, how the scarf is the Dominican Republic by the events that took place during this time.Trujillo was a huge factor in molding into what Dominicans are recognized today . One of these events was the killing off of the butterflies . And what lead to the killing of these 3 brave woman who has their whole life ahead of them. Everything started because of Minerva Mirabal, who decided to study law at a time when women only belonged in the kitchen .

Throughout the novel, Patria’s faith is emotionally challenged by God, the government, and her family. Foremost, God tests Patria when her baby is stillborn. Her recovery and gain of courage is evident when after burying her baby, Patria says: “I began slowly coming back from the dead” (53). Patria’s coming to terms with her loss is exemplified by this. Slowly she begins to gain control over her emotions, which is one of the many transformative properties of courage. Subsequently, the SIM imprisons Maria Teresa and Minerva taking a psychological toll on Patria’s health, but with her spiritual bravery, she is able to stand tall despite the pain. Ultimately, Patria’s son, Nelson, and her husband, Pedrito, are fighting with the resistance against Trujillo in the mountains; she fears they will not return alive, however her courageousness keeps her hopeful. This newfound courage will help Patria stay strong during the moments leading up to her and her sisters death. In addition to Patria’s possession of emotional courage, there are other types possessed by her

Based on a true story, ‘In the Time of the Butterflies’ is a captivating, moving, and superb story written by Julia Alvarez. It takes its readers through the challenges and acceptances of a growing family and the life changing moments for the Mirabal sisters. These sisters will forever be remembered in Dominican Republic because of their honorary fight for their country. As women, their story is inspirational. However, two sisters that stand out the most to me are Patria and Minerva Mirabal, these sisters are perhaps the most conspicuous because they are complete polar opposites. Yet, no matter their differences they will always be remembered as the Butterflies. (not really satisfied with this intro)

Most stories that are told from the point of view of a single narrator portray a clear antagonist that may dislike, conflict with, or pose a threat to the person who is narrating the story. In In The Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, the most apparent antagonist in the story is the ruthless dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo. However, Trujillo was only seen as a threat to society by the people that wanted to get rid of him, the people that he was making suffer for his own benefit. If one was to look at this issue from the government’s perspective, Rafael Trujillo would be the evident protagonist of the story, even despite his atrocious ruling expertise.

Children learn lessons from many different aspects of their lives, but quite often they learn these lessons from books they read. Julia Alvarez enjoys teaching children and young adults important life lessons through her books about her life. In the Time of the Butterflies includes multiple examples about topics like criticism and rebellion which are issues many young adults are faced with. Since Julia Alvarez teaches such lessons, many are intrigued by her books. Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, demonstrates the harsh realities of life in different countries and what it is really like to fight for something desired.

“In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, I feel as if all characters in this novel are all real human. Author Julia Alvarez pointed out saying, “It was to understand that question that I began this story. But as happens with any story, the characters took over, beyond polemics and facts. They became real to my imagination. I began to invent them” (Alvarez 323). From class discussion the author was worried that the sisters from the novel did not feel real to many people. But, since the author was also from Dominican and she also understands the connection towards family and siblings together, she wrote very organized novel that points religion, feminism, political activity, and devotion to Trujillo. Young sisters struggle all the themes above, and they all fight over to become politically involved. From reading the above sentence that the author wrote, I assume that the characters took over facts and arguments in every chapter and the characters slowly became real to my imagination. I just want to point out few themes from the novel and paragraphs where I felt very strong that the characters are like real human and as if they are real person on the reading the journeys. Struggles

Instead of caring for every single person who is under this tyrannical government, Patria has a smaller group of people she cares about, her family. The most extreme instance where her care for family is shown is when she is on the religious pilgrimage near where some rebels are stationed, and the rebel camp is attacked. “I looked in his face. He was a boy no older than Noris. Maybe that's why I cried out, ‘Get down, son!

As Julia Alvarez was writing the proscript for In the Time of the Butterflies, she discussed the purpose in her writing this story. Dede, the youngest, was the only one who followed Trujillo and his commands as a dictator. This book is the true representation of the Dominican republic in the 1940 's because of Julia’s historical reference to the beginning of World War 2, corruption of the government and politics and also the death of Trujillo and the three Mirabal sisters.

The great Tom Brady once said “We all have experiences in our lives that changes us”. In the book In The Time of the Butterflies change happened on every single page. It could have been the weather that day, the dresses the Mirabal’s sister was wearing or Trujillo's attitude, But the best alter of them all was Patria’s development from a young catholic girl to a woman with doubts. As children people all have dreams beyond their imagination but somehow those dreams always change. Patria showed the readers that as the world modify their minds the authenticity of their beliefs can fade. Patrias faith was all she had to begin with, but was barely there in the end.