Importance Of Courage In Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of Butterflies

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘ I lived through this horror I can take the next thing that comes along.” - elanor roosevelt.

The novel In The Time of Butterflies, transpires during the time of the Trujillo rebellion in the Dominican Republic. As a whole, this story is an example of courage, and exemplifies this through the actions of the Mirabal sisters. Because the sisters are constantly surrounded by acts of the rebellion against the government, this ultimately influences them to get involved, which causes them all to have more courage for themselves as well as others around them than they have

Not only did Minerva slap someone, but she slapped the leader of her country, a man in high authority. Minerva has many types of courage that she demonstrates but physical courage is her most used courage. In her younger years, Minerva attended Imaculada school with her sisters, and one of the yearly things that the girls at the Imaculada school held was a play for Trujillo, and others in authority that worked with him. At the play Minerva uses her physical courage to prevent the bow and arrow that her friend Sinta took upon herself to point at Trujillo during the play, “My hands freed, I saved the day, according to what Sinita said later. I flung off my cape and ran in front of Sinita yelling, “Viva Trujillo! Viva Trujillo!” (Alvarez, 28). Minerva ultimately saved Sinita’s life by jumping in front of her. Had Minerva not done this Sinita could have more than likely been killed, and those responsible for preparing and making the play could have possibly gotten in trouble for allowing Sinita to shoot the bow at Trujillo. The next most used courage that Minerva demonstrates

Lio is Minerva’s boyfriend, and is involved in the communist movement, and other things that go against the government. Because of this Minerva’s parents do not allow her to see or speak to him, but in spite of their rules, Minerva would secretly see and speak to him. Despite her hurt upon finding out that Lio has been making effort to speak to her and she was unaware this whole time, she tells her father how she feels, “ I don’t owe you a thing, you’ve lost my respect!” (Alvarez, 89) . Minerva is hurt by her father’s actions but refuses to let him talk down on her when he ultimately put this upon himself. Another example of Minerva demonstrating emotional courage is near the end of the novel when Minerva's father asks her to take care of her mother and sisters, as well as Carmen, her half sister’s family, “Take care of your mother, you hear.” (Alvarez, 103). Minerva demonstrates a strong amount of courage by fighting through her own emotional distress to make up for her father’s lack thereof, and presence at the house to do things that he is now asking Minerva to take up for. This is very important because Minerva is having to grow up somewhat quicker, and be stronger for not just herself, but for her own as well as her half sister’s family, and as a young adult who