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A Brief Summary Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

1344 Words6 Pages

The Mirabal sisters, known as “Las Mariposas” or “The Butterflies” wanted to try to overthrow the leader of the country, Trujillo, because they believed he was oppressive and cruel. Because of this, their lives became very dangerous as the government wanted to stop them from achieving their goal. They faced many hardships along the way, from spending time in jail to having government officials drive them around the city. Through the use of perspective, imagery, and point of view, Julia Alvarez proves that individuals may need to give everything they have in order to make a change they believe in. Because this is a novel, Julia Alvarez is able to alternate each chapter from the perspective of one of the sisters, which betters the reader’s understanding of each girl’s …show more content…

While she was on a retreat in the mountains with the church, there was an invasion. Many people were shot and the final death toll was 49 men and boys. However, one of the deaths happened right in front of Patria. She “saw the wonder on his young face as the life drained out of him” (Alvarez 162) and because the boy was young, Patria felt connected to him, as he was about the same age as her oldest son. Alvarez’s imagery is very vivid, so the reader can thoroughly understand what Patria saw and one of the reasons why Las Mariposas wanted to make a change. The government was not protecting their people, and it resulted in ruthless deaths like the one Patria witnessed, and because of this, Patria decided she was not going to sit back and watch people die. Due to this event that Patria saw, the reader can get a clear understanding of why Patria wanted to join, and how terrible and extreme the events were that led her to want to join the revolution. Later, still from Patria’s perspective, we see what the government has done to try to stop the rebellion from

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Dedé sent Patria a note: Sorry. Jaimito says no” (177). Dedé seeks the approval of Jaimito to support her sisters in the revolution. Jaimito tells her she cannot and Dedé remains obedient to Jaimito instead of true to herself. She behaves in conformity with her beliefs about women’s submissiveness to men, and allows Jaimito the right to control her choices.

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