Overview: The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor allows people to take books that they normally wouldn’t think to analyze in a certain way and opens a whole new spectrum on literature. In the TIme of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez connects with the idea and principles of Foster’s book if you take a deep look in the book you are reading. Like Foster says in chapter seven or the bible, In the Time of the Butterflies is a literary work able to connect with this chapter, having a bible reference to extend or emphasize the story thematically.

“‘The butterflies are sad today,” he noted. That made me sit up and dry my tears. The butterflies were not about to give up! We had suffered a setback but we had not been beaten.” (Alvarez 269). The reader can clearly see that Minerva Mirabal is exceptionally courageous. She did not give up, even when it got hard. When she heard that her husband may be killed in jail, she realized she had to fight to save him instead of dwelling in her sadness. Minerva kept fighting Trujillo for their independence. She did not want him to win and take her loved ones away. Minerva understood that if she gave up, she would never succeed. This is shown when she decides to return to her old, courageous self, and not let Trujillo putting her and her husband in jail, make her weak. Without courage, Minerva Mirabal would not be able to fight her battle in finding her freedom. Minerva realized that without courage she couldn’t succeed. In the end, Minerva chose to fight back, even with the consequences she endured.

In the Time of the Butterflies, a novel by Julia Alvarez, takes place in the Dominican Republic during the time of the Trujillo regime. The main characters are four sisters, Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and Dedé, who fight against Trujillo’s oppression. All of them except for Dedé get killed in the end by Trujillo. A great amount of violence occurs over the course of the novel.

All during Minerva's life, some of her closest friends opposed Trujillo. The first of which was

Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies (1994) centers around the lives of the four Mirabal Sisters who courageously brought acknowledgement to the inhumane and brutal actions of Dictator Rafael Trujillo and the treatment of women in a society where they were seen as property. In the 2001 film adaptation directed by Mariano Barroso, the film mainly centers on Minerva Mirabal, the outspoken and rebellious sister. Despite bearing some minor similarities, there are more differences between Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies and Mariano Barroso’s film – both author/director start the story of the sisters in different ways, in the novel the reader is able to see all of the perspective of the sisters instead of only Minerva’s,

In the Time of the Butterflies during the 1940s, in the Dominican Republic, the ruler or dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo punished people if they didn’t do as he told them and plenty of other cruel things. He ruled for about 30 years, so the people were tortured for quite a long time. He became the dictator by eliminating everyone who had power above him. He even married his wives just to use them to get the the top and control everyone. It was just an unfair way to handle things and an unfair country overall. In her book, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Julia Alvarez incorporates the history of the famous Mirabal sisters by telling the history of their life and how it was back then for their Dominican Republic country. Julia Alvarez

In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, one of the main characters, Minerva, shows many different types of courage throughout the whole story. The novel is about the true story of how a family is dominated by their countries dictator and the daughters attempt to free themselves and their family.

Within the novel, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Mate, Minerva, Dede, and Patria had to create decisions to overcome obstacles that would transform each of their lives. Throughout the book, all of the sisters changed somehow. They all grew up, matured, and saw things how they never viewed before. While looking at these things at a different perception, they learned to make decisions that were sometimes brave and sometimes cowardly. Each of the Mirabal sisters had to choose whether or not to be fearful and give up, or be courageous and stand her ground, or make sacrifices to show her strength throughout the novel.

Minerva with her revolutionary fever and contagious spirit seems unstoppable for a time in her fight against Trujillo’s regime. Despite warnings to watch out for her safety and well being, Minerva continued to push boundaries and dared to go where all other Dominicans feared to go. Patria was the religious, faithful sister, who showed her hidden boldness starting a Christian revolutionary group and joined with Minerva. Maria Theresa was the happiest, the most upbeat, Mirabal sister. In the beginning, she was only along for the ride, but as she continued to work towards the change for her country, she became more and more inspired and touched by her own goals. Lastly, Dede was always the most cautious and careful sister. She was one who remained uninvolved with her sisters’ revolution. Dede had warned the others that were danger and that should not go up to the secluded prison. She and although her sisters tried more than once to include her in their cause, she refused. –From Smith In The Time Of The Butterflies (http://www.blogger.com)

In The Time of The Butterflies there were three sisters that would gain courage to fight for their rights and to get rid of Trujillo. They knew what they what they were up against and what some of the consequences could be but they had enough courage to fight for their rights. The three sisters from the story were Mate, Minerva, and Dede. Dede did not have as much courage as her sisters but throughout the book she builds some.

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

Rafael Trujillo, a Dominican dictator, developed a harsh reputation as being one of the most violent and domineering leaders of South America in his thirty-one years of power. In The Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez provides insight into the effects of Trujillo’s infamy by sharing the stories of three Dominican sisters and their struggles to gain independence and speak their truth. The Dominican-American author dramatizes the lives of the Mirabal sisters, three historical women who were assassinated in 1961, for their involvement in the anti-Trujillo movement. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, a Cuban critic of Latin American literature, provides a bias insight with regards to the novel.

In this excerpt from In the Time of the Butterflies, author Julia Alvarez conveys Minerva Mirabel’s change in attitude and her complicated feelings towards her father’s second family through her use of diction, character voice, sentence structure, and literary devices, such as personification and imagery. In spite of her annoyance with the father, Minerva’s empathy and desire to promote womyn compel her to provide the daughters of his family with a proper education. An example of Minerva’s dedication is apparent during her endeavor to deliver the money; she turns “here and there, feeling desperate” (ln 2). Through Alvarez’s use of blunt, concise syntax, the readers appreciate Minerva’s struggle and anxiety. Aware of this clandestine family’s

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.