She is buried under the debt she feels upon her shoulder. The debt that must be paid. Debt of being alive and privileged. Debt that forces her to sleep at 10 and wake up at 6 in the morning. Debt she pays night and day, by burying herself in books as the misfortune children play. She no longer feels the freedom to run in the rain, to get her hands in the mud. She is born wit expectations. To be successful. To live a purposeful life. So she must become a doctor and not a dancer. But she has forgotten herself as she pays the debt. She no longer wishes for thunder storms. Stars no longer guide her path. Butterflies have become just another insect to her. She has put all her yearbooks far away. she is haunted by the nightmares of her beautiful
However, she obviously can’t change her physical appearance to be that ideal beautiful image that she portrays so often in her dreams. Every morning, she awakens to find herself back in her bedroom in her own body, “…my tight curls still clinging to my head, skinny arms and legs and flat chest
She feels she has lost the ability to determine her future and her life. Moreover, she refuses to make friends with others, and “say[s] no to birthday parties, to roller-skating, to swimming at rec center, to
Even though she was those things she didn’t let anything stop her. Ballet brought her out of her shell. She was the good kind of different after she started dancing. She was happy.
She realized that there was always more work to do. One of her instructors told her that she hadn't properly learned the basics, and she had to completely start over. This did help her realize that no matter how well she danced, she good always do better. “One instructor said that despite her talent, she hadn’t properly learned the basics. ‘He insisted we go back to the beginning,’” she explained.
The audience’s thoughts towards her at first may have been sorrowful, but she does not want any of it. Instead, she wants people to see her for her strengths rather than her weaknesses. On the outside she may look like someone who has given up of
Leaving her parents started her success because with that came her living a comfortable life supporting herself. Moreover, when her dad tries to teach her how to swim, his method is to throw her in the middle of the water so she is forced to swim. She writes, “Dad kept telling me that he loved me…that one lesson every
Her complete personality change also brings about a new feeling of job security and security in herself as a person, knowing that she now was one of
Minerva Mirabal was the leader and the voice of the butterflies before their murders on November 25, 1960. Minerva was the leader of the group because of her extroverted attitude and her disgustion of oppression. Minerva consistently portrayed the image of the butterfly to the public despite the struggles she had going on in her personal life. From a young age, Minerva’s identity is rooted in her struggle against oppression. Throughout her life, she transforms her identity into a national symbol.
Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.
When she was young, she could not process the way her father raised and treated her, so she believed everything he said. When she is able to understand, her tone changes and becomes clinical and critical remembering the way he constantly let her
She felt “light and good in the warm sun” (L8). To her young and inexperienced mind, “nothing existed for her but her song,” (L8) which just goes to show how oblivious and careless she is to her surroundings and worlds greater than her own. On the contrary, as she made her way a “mile or more from home,” (L23) she began to hit a turning point. The comfortable world at which she knew is now cracked open and unguarded.
Anaca Griffin Ms. Rudolph Honors English 10 January 9, 2023 In the Time of the Butterflies Character Analysis “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” Anthony Brandt. Brandt is stating that no matter how much one changes throughout one’s life, they are born with family and die with family. People have highs and lows throughout their lifetimes, but they have family to make it through.
Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction which is about four sisters who fight the oppressive leader, Rafael Trujillo, in the Dominican Republic. Dede, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria Mirabal are the four sisters who go against Trujillo, that are the epitome of a person’s courage, faith, compassion, and growth. These sisters come together and use these exemplary characteristics to fight an oppressive regime. The theme of the courage and strength to stand up to tyranny in In the Time of the Butterflies is best exemplified through the character of Minerva Mirabel, through her courage to stand up to Rafael Trujillo.
While reading the story, you can tell in the narrators’ tone that she feels rejected and excluded. She is not happy and I’m sure, just like her family, she wonders “why her?” She is rejected and never accepted for who she really is. She is different. She’s not like anyone else
This also correlates with her major struggle in leaving her horrid past behind, as she wants to stay young and beautiful. “She moves out of the yellow streak of