Trujillo: The Murder Of The Butterflies

In the book Alvarez informs us that this takes place during Trujillo 's reign over the Dominican Republic in the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Throughout history dictators have risen and fallen all across the world. Many have been seen as evil, and sometimes good to others, but no matter what a persons view tend to be there are some who even consider them god. Due to a dictators extensive powers and complete control over every aspect of a persons life this is what comes to be. Trujillo is just the same, at first his true motives were questioned and it wasn’t apparent to all what he really was. As the Mirabel sisters grow up it becomes clear that Trujillo is in control of more of their lives than it may seemed. Trujillo leads a complete authoritarian rule over the Dominican Republic with spies everywhere, this can suggest that he trying to assume the role of a terrible god, who is always watching and ready to punish. While all

who thinks poorly of Trujillo. She leads Minerva into the rebellious part of her life where she finds

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 Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alvarez, creates a fiction story about the true events of the Mirabal sisters and taking over the Dominican Republic’s government. In the Time of the Butterflies contains the classic war between passion and responsibility. Personal causes, love, a desire for revenge, determination to redress a wrong, or other emotions or drives conflict with moral duty. In In the Time of the Butterflies, many characters confront the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. Patria, the oldest Mirabal sister, struggles with her faith, and deciding whether to join the revolution with her sisters, or to follow her faith. Patria’s religion was an important aspect of her life since she was very young and throughout the course of the story, she attains and loses her faith in God.

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

Although the sisters joined the revolt to stop Trujillo, they also joined to make the Dominican Republic a better place. During their involvement with the rebels, the sisters became known as The Butterflies, because they were a sign of hope and change. The sisters had a unique characteristic that they sparked a change in people. Rufino, their driver, said, “A Dio’ Dona Dedé, you think I’ll let anything happen to the butterflies? They’ll have to kill me first” (269). Rufino said he would give his life so save the sisters during their prison break of the men captured by Trujillo. Rufino was willing to put his life on the line for the Butterflies, because he knew they were a symbol for their movement due to their dedication towards a better future.

In The Time of the Butterflies is a book based on the lives of the Mirabal sisters who took enormous amounts of courage to challenge the corrupt government of the Dominican Republic during the mid-1900’s. Trujillo is the tyrannical dictator, who with the help of his ruthless secret police, rules the country with an iron grip. Not only did he terrorize and kill thousands of innocents, he also personally brutalized and attacked young women against their will. Despite the horrors that Trujillo put these people through, an underground rebellion was formed with the Mirabal sisters playing a crucial role. A role that would require immense courage, but where would this courage come from?

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.

Mens in the Time Of The Butterflies were kind and sweet they would help the mirabals sisters, some mens were a little rude because they respect trujillo and if they saw something wrong they would said it and out of the sudden they disappear. about minerva and patria these two were in a secret group against trujillo and they were many mens supporting her and her husband manolo and they call her and her sister the butterflies, some people weren’t supporting them until the two sisters got out of the prison. while the were in prison 2 minutes before a man lifting up a flag with a butterfly on it. When the sisters were in the church some people including mens were whispering to her and her sister patris “the butterflies are alive” which means they

Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies, fictionalizes the real-life story of the four Mirabal sisters: Patria, Maria Teresa, Minerva, and Dedé. Dominican dictator, Trujillo, has Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa killed for their participation in the revolution. Though not all of the sisters gave their life, each of them sacrificed a great deal. Throughout the novel, all four sisters heard the call to motherhood. This call to motherhood is not the only call heard by the Mirabal sisters, however, along with this call to motherhood, each sister is also called to sacrifice. For each sister, this call to sacrifice is answered in a different way.

I convict that the bravest and most dedicated of the Mirabal sisters is Minerva. I felt as if Minerva had a good heart and fought for what she believed in. she was not afraid of anything. But her other sisters, Maria Teresa, Dede, and Patria were not as brave as Minerva. But all four sisters contributed to help get rid of Trujillo, and for this reason they are very famous in history. They were given the name “Las Mariposas” (the butterflies), and a lot of times, people would whisper to them “viva las Mariposas” (long live the butterflies). People would say this to the sisters because they were some of the few citizens willing to stop Trujillo.

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.

Minerva is visibly shaken, her hands will not stop shaking as she turns to the other side of the bed. Sin is there her devious eyes starring at her as she lays upon the bed peacefully. Sin looks upon Minerva with a concerned look " are you alright?" Minerva " now I am, i just...I had a bad dream." she holds her self for a moment as Sin sits up and hugs her "its alright your here now" ... "I could see into your dream you know, partially you should not blame yourself your not responsible. You made sacrifices to save the continued existence of others, you stopped countless rebellions, unified groups that were previously sworn enemies, you did not just take empires you united them, that is not something a selfish person would do." "As for my children,...you have your reasons I know to subject them to the mundane of existence with half of your corruption, but Malaki, our firstborn is proof enough, that they can become something more then what they started out" "So...are you ready for the

The film In the Time of the Butterflies and the article“Bourgeois Women in early 20th cent. Dominican National Discourse” by Teresita Martinez Vergne analyzed in class, share a conflicting theme of freedom and confinement. In the Dominican Republic, women for a prolonged period of time were set aside from the world’s governmental affairs and mostly just praised for their main purpose which was producing and raising the new generation of citizens. The film stresses the Mirabal sisters fight to denounce the dictator General Rafael Trujillo, who responsible for the