The Mirabal sisters, also known as La Mariposas, have been known throughout the Dominican Republic for participating in a major revolution against their unjust ruler, Rafael Trujillo. After years of the sisters’ hard-work, along with the others who were involved in the revolution, their work paid off when Trujillo's regime ended with his assassination. However, in order for them to have taken part in this act against Trujillo, the Mirabal sisters had to sacrifice several things from their lives, most importantly, their freedom and their relationship with their family. Many people believe that these sacrifices were not necessary because the sisters didn’t need to go to the extent where the end result would be them orphaning their children. Nonetheless, …show more content…
Because of their busy schedules, it was hard for them to spend a lot of time with their children and family, allowing them to become more distant with them, and eventually having them live with their aunt Dede’s house after they died. At first, when Minerva would have her son, Manolito, stay at her sister Patria’s house, Patria wouldn’t understand how she could leave her own child away from her for such a long time. She was going to ask why she was doing such a thing but then “[she] saw it did hurt her to make this sacrifice she was convinced she needed to make.” At first, Patria wonders why Minerva had to travel around for her activities if it meant having to distance herself from her son. She later realizes that Minerva doesn’t care, since participating in the revolution is what she believes in, and would affect the greater good.
Imagine life if the Mirabal sisters decided to back out of the revolution because they were afraid it would affect the relationship between themselves and their family. Dictatorship would prevail and no one would have their own rights. If everyone thought for themselves and their family only, and not for the greater good, revolutions would never take place since no one would care about anything but their own good. Because the Mirabal sisters decided to think of their country over their children, our country is how it is today; a democracy where everyone
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Instead of caring for their children and family, they decided to join a revolution, which in addition to sacrificing their family, also caused them their freedom. However, because the sisters sacrificed their freedom and family time to take part in the revolution, it eventually resulted in the murder of Trujillo. The hard work and dedication of the Mirabal sisters and those who also took part in the revolution helped shape the Dominican Republic to be a nation where people are
Diaz was not only passing through these struggles in the Dominican Republic, he also got to experience the affairs his father had with another women and how it affected his mother. In his book,
In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about 4 sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa. The book is about the three girls growing up and their experiences during the time of the underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The book was written in memory of Dedé’s 3 sisters who had been ambushed and murdered, which we are aware of since the beginning of the novel. The beginning chapter of the book is describing Dedé as she waits for a woman who is going to interview her about her three sisters, she then goes into a flashback she has of her family talking at the dinner table and her father mentions someone named Trujillo, which then gives a hint at who this book might be formed around. Through the book, we read stories about times in the girls’ lives when they were going to school at Inmaculada Concepcion and being at home and falling in love, as well as there run ins with Trujillo himself.
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
According to Rafael Trujillo, “He who does not know how to deceive does not know how to rule(azquotes)”. This explains the mindset of the dictator of the Dominican Republic shown in the book The Time Of The Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. In this historical fiction book it explain the story of the Mirabal sister in there fight to stop the oppression of Trujillo. It goes though there life story and gives insight to what the conditions were. Trujillo and the Dominican Republic government oppressed the citizens by arresting if you resist them, Machiavellian control and the deplorable conditions these people lived in.
By killing the Mirabal sisters, Trujillo maintains his power by showing everyone else what he is capable of doing. Killing the Mirabal sisters instills fear in others around them because everyone knows what Trujillo is capable of. Trujillo instills this fear in people so nobody else will question his
The result of Juan leaving was major, but it was not what was to be expected. Usually a person falls apart when their spouse leaves them, but Maria becomes extremely cold. When her child dies from complications of birth, Maria,”becomes stolid, refusing even to cry when her child is born and dies”(DeMouy). She still battles on and continues her daily life. When the women and girls offer their sympathies and prayers to Maria, she simplys replies, “Keep your prayers to yourself, Lupe, or offer them for others who need them.
As the eldest sister, Patria is introduced as a motherly figure toward her sisters. She married at a young age and was happy being a wife and mother. Her Christianity is central to her character, and although it was tested due to the death of her stillborn child, a retreat in the mountains with her church group profoundly affects both her faith and her view of the rebellion. At the retreat, Patria witnesses a young rebel, not much older than her own daughter, being shot and killed by Trujillo’s guard force.
In Bucknell University’s production of Marisol by Jose Rivera, one of the central themes is chaos and the effects of chaos. This theme of chaos is in part seen through the inconsistent timeline of the play. Chaos is also seen through the development of the main characters Marisol, June, and Lenny. Jose Rivera’s purpose in writing about chaos is to parallel the real life experiences of so many people before and even now that live the lives of his characters in Marisol. The chaos is present to give voice to the real people who lived in uncertainty, enduring the insane events of the play.
In paragraph 27 it states ,”there were still old cronies of the dictator around who would love an excuse to go after my family after my father ,after her ,” the cronies were loyal servants to the dictator even when he was dead so alvarez's mother thought they were still in danger of being captured or killed ,because of the cronies the mother would live in fear unlike alvarez who didn't fully believe they would come after them . Alvarez wrote her novels knowing they may wreak havoc on her family members who were still in the dominican republic and maybe her parents and sisters. In paragraph 29 and 30 it talks about the last novel she wrote about the island and how her mother thought about it ,”I don't care what happens to us i'm so proud of you ,” her mother says ,alvarez wrote the novel at the risk of her family but her mother and her new the story had to be told and the things the people had to go through
For them, the cost of leaving everything behind is less important than not having freedom. Under Trujillo's rule, no one in the Dominican Republic was free. Papi and some of his friends have been planning on assassinating the dictator to ensure their families a life of freedom in the future. They end up going through with the plan, and when they come back, Mami asks him if it was appropriate to celebrate. “It is true Carmen, true, true, true.
According to Patria one of the three sisters involved in the movement, states that she and her other sisters were not willing to offer their family for the revolution until Minerva did “But Minerva, your own child- I began and then I saw it did hurt her to make this sacrifice she was convinced she needed to make” (Alvarez, 155). Patria’s compelling words show the determination of Minerva to end the sadistic presidency. Minerva doesn’t not want to give up her child but she does so for what she believes in. Such determination leads to worthiness of the sister’s sacrifices. Dede, the only sister who survived insists that she would have joined her sisters
Trujillo quickly took control over everything and the nation soon was officially under a dictatorship. To instill fear he killed people such as general Cipriano Bencosme one of the followers of Horacio Vasquez and exhibited him to the public. He then went to Bencosme’s widow to give his condolences to further show his cruelty. For fear of something happening to her children, Mrs. Bencosme accepted Trujillo’s apology. One
Throughout the first three stages, both Mirabella and her sister Jeanette are compared to each other because of the differences in their ways to adapt to human culture. They are compared when getting nametags, learning to walk, and learning to ride bicycles. To begin with, in stage one when Jeanette receives her nametag she is very cooperative and lets the nuns slap the nametag on her. To prove that this happens, the narrator says, “She slapped on a nametag…” (pg 239). This shows how well Jeanette is adapting to human culture.
Over the years of fitting in, she enjoyed her independence but believed it “…didn’t have to be an exile…” (Alvarez 1304) from her native ways. In regaining her identity, she believes she must reconnect with her favorite childhood “…antojos, guavas…” (Alvarez 1300). In finding and eating the guavas, it is her way of reconnecting with her family and calling back the memories of the once Dominican
The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway tells a story of a group of seven Native women that live on Wasaychigan Reserve. The play highlights the struggles and hardships faced by those who live in these settlements. The sisters also further shed light on the internal conflict and individual struggles that each of the characters face. THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BINGO seems to hold the solution to all The Rez Sisters problems and seems to be an escape from their personal demons. Each individual regards the winning of the bingo as an inexplicable end to all of her individual problems.