Time of the Butterflies Essay

sisters: Minerva, María Teresa (Mate), and Patria. In the story, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Dedé tells the story of how she and her sisters became heroes and significant figures in the Dominican Republic during the rule of dictator Rafael Trujillo. In the beginning of the novel, Minerva Mirabal talks her parents into sending her to Inmaculada Concepcion, a religious school, with her sister Patria. During this time, she makes a friend named Sinita, whose brother, along with all the

famous dead sisters: Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa. In the story, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Dedé recounts the story of how her sisters became national heroes and significant figures in the Dominican Republic during the rule of dictator Rafael Trujillo. In the beginning of the novel, Minerva Mirabal talks her parents into sending her to boarding school along with her older sister Patria. During this time, she makes a friend named Sinita, whose brother, along with all the other

The “Revered” Dictator “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

In the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies education played a primary role in helping the women gain freedom from the chains of patriarchy they were bound in and helped men and women alike to gain the knowledge of the crimes that Trujillo’s regime was committing. Despite the important role that education played in the novel, becoming educated was not the only way that characters in the novel become politicized. The characters that became involved in the revolution through other means were stronger

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

Julia Alvarez’s novel In The Time of the Butterflies tells the story of the Mirabel sisters, yet not just the story but more importantly, the curated story of the three heroines by their surviving sister, Dedé. Through the use of historical fiction, Alvarez highlights the notion of instability in both history and memory. Making the reader question how history is formed and how reliable or accurate that history to be. Dedé’s story and her last chapter in particular express such notions. Dedé, still

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,

Las Mariposas Mártires (The Martyred Butterflies) If one thinks of the word “dictator,” the first pictures that come to mind are of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, or even Fidel Castro. Not many people think of Rafael Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic for over thirty years. Julia Alvarez tells the story of Trujillo and his deadly regime in her novel In the Time of the Butterflies through the eyes of four Dominican sisters. In this novel, Alvarez combines her personal experiences from

. I have noticed several influences in In the Time of the Butterflies, primarily gender inequalities and political tensions. Alvarez also does a great job incorporating the Dominican Republic’s traditions and religion. Unfortunately, this article did not have much relating to the politics in this novel’s time period, but did mention quite a few examples of gender inequality. The first sign of gender inequality I saw in this novel was rather subtle, “a car slowed, and the boys inside called out compliments

In the Time of the Butterflies: A Feminist Anthem In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a novel about breaking the chains – not just from Trujillo, but from the societal idea that men should rule in a patriarchal fashion. The idea of female subordinates rising up in a fiery fashion is an age-old notion, and I believe that the true voice in Alvarez’ novel comes in this form. The subplot screams through like a banshee, especially when The Butterflies are brutally murdered without ever