Brief Summary Of Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies

Part II of the historical fiction novel In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez focuses on the Mirabal sisters as they grow up. Dedé brings us back to a volleyball game with Lio and Jaimito. One day, when Dedé is reading her mother the newspaper, she accidentally reads too much and her mother learns Lio is a communist and he is no longer allowed in their house. Because of this, when Jaimito and Dedé go on dates, they pick up Lio on their way. One night, Jaimito proposes to Dedé in her father's car and are surprised to find Lio hiding in the back seat. Next, Minerva notices her father’s car as well as four girls who have Mirabal eyes, realizing they are her half-sisters. Back at home, she finds letters from Lio, her father was keeping from her. She also finds an invitation to the Discovery Day Dance, in which Minerva is specifically requested to attend. At the party, Minerva dances with Trujillo. She accidentally mentions Lio in conversation. After slapping Trujillo, the Mirabals leave early, and their father is arrested. Minerva is interrogated and she admits she knows Lio. Finally, Minerva gambles with Trujillo to

Although the book had more action than last time and showed the sisters getting involved in the rebellion, I found it disturbing that Dedé wanted to marry her cousin. When the text states, “Her cousin now seems to quicken something in her heart” (Alvarez 67), I was confused by Dedé love for her cousin. And when she ended up marrying Jaimito and had kids, I was ultimately disturbed. Despite this, the action in the book had picked up and it was entertaining reading about the start of the rebellion. I noticed that the girls get married at a young age. Looking at statistics in our world today, it is interesting that the Dominican Republic still has very young marriage ages for women at age 21 compared to age 27 in the United States. Also, most hispanic countries have low marriage ages as