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In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

1564 Words7 Pages

Butterflies are exceedingly beautiful. They gracefully fly as the sun beams on them endlessly. Their delicate wings allow them to be “free”. In Julia Alvarez’s novel “In The Time of The Butterflies”, four sisters (The Mirabals) from the Dominican Republic, encounter many obstacles. The novel takes place during Rafael Trujillo’s rule. In 1960, three sisters Minerva, Patria, and María Teresa are members of a secret movement against Trujillo-- all except for Dedé, the surviving sister. Throughout the novel, all of these sisters develop in many areas. One of these important areas include the struggle of being a “good Catholic girl”. María Teresa (Mate), the youngest of the Mirabal sisters, goes through many struggles that gradually develops her …show more content…

The OAS come and interview all of the political prisoners and question them. Minerva advises María to give them the letter of her personal account but she doesn’t listen and decides not to give it to them because she doesn’t want to put Santiclo in danger-- this shows another action of Mate being brave. Before her turn with the OAS, Minerva tells María, “Revolution is not always pretty, Mate. Look at what they did to Leandro, to Manolo, what they did to Florentino, to Papilin, to you, for God’s sake”(251). María has always been known as the weak and fragile one but God has equipped her into a brave young woman. María is literally doing this for God’s sake. The expectation is to fully believe that God does everything for a reason whether it’s good or bad. María deals with this expectation by “flying” and looking through eyes of a new perspective-- that life is like a diary itself because everybody is the author of their own stories that mold who they are. Butterflies can’t fly when it’s cold but through God nothing is impossible. María Teresa kept pushing and pushing with her wings because she knew that God’s sake was there. Whether it’s a revolution against the evil works of Trujillo or the spiritual revolution in her heart, her wings will be the things that will set her

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