In The Time Of The Butterflies By Maria Teresta Analysis

Frail woman rebuilt to become indestructible: The prominent transformation of Maria Teresa

The novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, retells the story of 4 sisters who fought in a revolution against the dreaded regime of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The Mirabal sisters, Maria Teresa, Dedé, Minerva and Patria all have different insights and perspectives on what they think freedom actually is. The novel is written in first and third person and Maria Teresa’s contributions to the novel are written in the first person; entries taken from her diary. Maria Teresa’s first chapter in the novel depicts her as naive and materialistic. Maria Teresa finds comfort in expressing herself, however, she doesn’t have the confidence to do it out in
Alvarez displays this liberating and empowering transformation through the use of diction, first-person point of view and the selection of detail.

Maria Teresa is very empathetic; she puts others before herself and always pursues what she think will be more beneficial for those she cares about. When Maria Teresa was being tortured in order to get her husband to do a job for Trujillo, she told the men who were torturing her that she “would never ask [her husband] to go against what his conscience told him was right”(Page 255). This not only proves that Maria Teresa loves her husband, but that she takes into consideration his opinions very seriously. She wants him to go along with what his “conscience” tells him, she doesn’t want her personal thoughts to get in the way and go “against” him. Maria Teresa
Maria Teresa didn’t fully allow herself to feel and express her emotions. She would bottle them up until she could let it out in her diary. An example would be when Maria Teresa didn’t like the school her other sisters were attending but she didn’t say anything about it because as she said: “you are here with me too, my dear Little Book”(Page 32). Regardless of whatever hardship she went through as a young girl, Maria Teresa could always count on her “Little Book” to be there for her and listen to what she had to say. But as Maria Teresa develops and matures as a woman, she starts standing up for herself. The novel progresses and the audience is rooting for such empowerment, it is especially visible after Maria Teresa has been tortured. Maria Teresa tells her audience that she “wouldn’t let him help [her]. [She] dressed [herself] and walked out to the wagon on [her] own two feet”(Page 256). Younger Maria Teresa wouldn’t have been able to do this considering the fact that she relied on her “Little Book” much too often and she wouldn’t have been able to depend on it at this point in her life. The first person point of view gives more empowerment to the fact that Maria Teresa picked herself up and walked away from harm’s way. Maria Teresa also becomes aware that her actions have consequences,