Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic during the oppressive regime of Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva and Maria Teresa pass through different versions of themselves to stop the reign of this tyrannical dictator. The theme of the courage to stand up to tyranny is most exemplified through Minerva because she discovers herself and becomes consistent with her beliefs throughout the resistence of the regime.…
In, In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez shows that ordinary lives can lead to heroic action. This fascinating story that shows the true story about the love between four sisters, and their families. Julia tells all in her heroic story through one of the Mirabal sisters, Maria. Maria Teresa Mirabal the youngest of the sisters was very passionate about what she believed in. Maria always looked up to her older sister Minerva and decided to join her sisters in their political activities.…
Julia Alvarez was born in the U.S., but raised in the Dominican Republic. She was raised in a patriarchal family, meaning the men worked while the women stayed home and cooked, cleaned, and took care of the children. She lived in the Dominican Republic until age ten when she was forced to flee to the U.S. for safety from the shrewd Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez created characters and conflicts in her books, such as In the Time of the Butterflies, based on her family and her cultural experiences.…
Historical fiction novel: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is about four sisters living through the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. In my opinion Alvarez’s work of historical fiction is more beneficial rather than detrimental towards helping the reader understand the Mirabal sisters history and what actually took place. For instance, it allows the reader to re-experience how much Trujillo’s regime really impacted the sisters lives, accordingly, by Alvarez making the characters alive it gives the reader a sense of empathy too.…
“To infinity, and beyond”, a common phrase used by a well known hero called Buzz Lightyear. A hero can be described in many different ways. Many people consider a hero as someone who is handy, brave, trustworthy, strong, faithful, or even powerful.…
Although it is a novel of fiction, the historical facts that are mentioned in the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez, come alive through the lens of four courageous sisters pushing reformations for all. Living as a prosperous farming family in the city of Ojo de Agua in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1960, the Mirabal family was privileged enough to have four strong-headed daughters named Maria Theresa, Minerva, Patria, and Dede. The sisters were lucky enough to be given an excellent education from attending the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion, or the school…
From a young age, many children decide to write in diaries, which follows with the widespread phrase, “Dear Diary”. In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez, one of the main characters, Maria Teresa expresses her point of view in the form of diary entries, similar to that of a small child. At the start of chapter four, which is told in Maria Teresa’s perspective, she writes, “Minerva says keeping a diary is also a way to reflect and reflection deepens one’s soul. It sounds so serious. I suppose now that I’ve got one I’m responsible for, I have to expect some changes” (30).…
In Julia Alvarez’s “In The Time of the Butterflies”, the four Mirabal sisters, Minerva, Maria Teresa, Patria, and Dedé, struggle with accepting principles such as courage, freedom, andfear. As the sisters began to become symbols for freedom during a revolution, each must discover what these concepts mean to them and how to apply them in their fight against a dictatorship. When Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic, sends three of the Mirabal sisters to prison in an attempt to silence their rebellion, Maria Teresa begins to develop a deeper understanding of her role alongside her sisters in the battle against Trujillo, as well as concepts of courage and bravery. In prison, Maria Teresa feels inspired and understands the true feeling of…
1. Significance of the title: In In The Time Of The Butterflies, the Mirabal sisters referred to themselves as las mariposas, which translates to the butterflies in spanish. This book was written about the true story of the Mirabal sisters before their pass. For that reason, Alvarez wrote how it was in the time of the sisters’ leadership.…
My Essay is a time capsule that was designed to show what Dede finds important in In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. It specifically focuses on how she can move past her fears, doubts, and feelings of responsibility to find courage. With this newfound power, she is able to fight for something that is important to her. Even in Dedes’ childhood, she was always a very sensible person who thought through what she does, relying on reason rather than using some courage to make important decisions. We watch her family talk about each sister saying that “‘[Dede will] bury us all’, her father adds, laughing ‘in silk and pearls’ ”…
1. All the sisters lose their innocence pretty early into the novel. Minerva was the first to learn about the real world around her. While at boarding school with Patria and Maria Teresa, she meets a girl named Sinita who tells her the truth about Trujillo. Minerva realizes that her country isn’t as she thought it was. Patria realizes the same thing while out on a retreat in the mountains. She witnesses a young man about the age of Noris, get gunned down. That’s when she realizes how bad the Dominican Republic is getting because of Trujillo. Maria Teresa was very immature throughout the novel but once the girls were taken to prison, she had really become aware of the trouble she had gotten herself into. Dede loses her innocence the same way Maria Teresa does. When the girls were arrested, she was forced to take care of the children and be strong for the rest of her family.…
By believing in the revolution, Minerva is impacted by having rules of what won't get her in trouble by the overly powerful government, and because of this she does many things to speak against Trujillo and the others. In “In the Time of the Butterflies”, the entire Mirabal family, and especially Minerva, realize how corrupt their government, and especially the leader of their government, Trujillo is. Once they realize this, they speak out about these injustices, and even start their own group to help the revolution. In this portion of the book, the Mirabal family is at a dinner party hosted by Trujillo. He insisted that Minerva attend.…
A beautiful, captivating, and revolutionary story, In the Time of the Butterflies, was written by Julia Alvarez and is a true account about struggle, courage, and love between four sisters, their families, and the people they encountered in their lives. I believe the central theme is to push back for what is right, even if it's hard or you stand only, in this case they stand as a family. The family has to deal with entrapment in the Dictatorship in the Dominican Republic throughout the entire story, this family helps change the entire nation's feelings, from entrapment to open minded. This captivating story is so easy to relate to, as it’s presented things every person has to go through in life, problems. What comes…
In the Dominican Republic, Trujillo is a living god to the children and the adults as well. In the Time of the Butterflies, Patria, as a child, accepts Trujillo, but sees God as the only god present. Yet as the novel progresses, similarities between the two are shown, especially with the use of their power. Even though this confuses Patria, a new faith in motherhood forms controlling both of Patria’s faiths. Julia Alvarez shows that despite how Patria treats God and Trujillo in the different manner to protect her children, Patria views them as having the same power.…
The Overall meaning of the poem, Dead Butterfly, is to let go of the past because life keeps going on and don’t hold onto things that are making life miserable. The speaker on this poem seems to be the mother of a girl that the poem refers to as her “Daughter”. The daughter of the speaker carries a dead monarch butterfly in mason jar which symbolizes her happy life or her past that have died. The girl seems to be tormented by her past and she seems that she can’t let go of it. Meanwhile the mother is being hurt by her daughter being depressed and she can’t find a way to help her let go off her past.…