In the Time of the Butterflies
The title is significant because it represents how the Dominican Republic was governed by a dictator, his name was Rafael Trujillo. A group of three sisters formed a resistance to combat his rule. They became known by Las Mariposas or in english the butterflies. Their ultimate goal was to overthrow Trujillo. Alvarez chose this title to illustrate the journey that caterpillars proceed through to become butterflies.
In the Time of the Butterflies is a nonfiction novel about life in the Dominican Republic during Trujillo’s rule seen through the eyes of the Mirabal sisters. Julia Alvarez wrote this book because she wanted to tell the story of what she had to flee from with her family in the Dominican Republic. This book was published in 1994 and was written to show what it was like to
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They don’t want to anger their family but some of the ideas force them to make a choice of loyalty and civil duty. This is significant because they can either bite their lip and follow their family or they can disagree with family and upset everyone. The first external conflict is how Trujillo rules the Dominican Republic. This is significant because he treats them horribly such as how he takes young girls out of school and uses them for sex until he is done using them. Minerva faces an external struggle about her commitment to the revolution against Trujillo. This is significant because even after being imprisoned for months she still remained loyal to what she believed in.
In this novel, the story takes place in the Dominican Republic during many years starting in 1938 and going to 1994. Key settings include their father’s farm and Inmaculada Concepion. The mood of the story is an older rustic feeling because it of how in started in the early 1930s. It is significant because it determines how the reader feels about subjects such as Trujillo’s