In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

One of the strongest traits to possess is not courage nor intellect, but rather love for one another. The novel, In the time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, perfectly illustrates the capabilities love can accomplish. Love is shown to bond families like the Mirabel sisters together and evoke emotion that encourage others to sympathize with them. The stories about the Mirabel sister’s children, husbands, and themselves, paved a path to ending Trujillo’s regime. The emphasis of love that the sisters and their families share is prevalent throughout the novel In the Time of the Butterflies, as it influences them to protect and sacrifice for one another, which ultimately inspires a revolt to successfully end Trujillo’s regime.
The sister’s

One day, Patria travels with her church group to the mountains, however there was a sudden attack and a boy was wounded. Patria was sympathetic towards the boy and considered him as her own son. She, “saw wonder on his face as the life drained out of him, and I thought, he’s one of mine…I’m not going to sit back and watch my babies die” (162). This situation shows the love that Patria has for her kids. She thinks her son and even considered that this young boy was “one of mine”. This is the turning point for Patria as she now understand that her duty is not to let her kids die, but also to create a better future for them. It is this maternal love that motivates Patria and the church to join the rebellion. Afterwards, Patria and the church were, “mourning that dead boy” (163). Eventually, the church, “invited a few of us old members, they had pick us out as ready for the Church Militant…the room was silent with the fury of avenging angels. And so

The church formed a new movement in order to prevent and avenge the deaths of the innocent citizens during Trujillo’s regime. Eventually, Patria and the church proved to be formidable enemies to Trujillo as he remarked, “My only two problems are the damn church and the Mirabal sisters” (281). Thus, showing how at the end, it was due to this love shared between Patria and her kids that led to the establishment of the church, which was crucial to the fall of Trujillo. Although the sisters had created a strong foundation with the church through their love of their children, they further enhanced the rebellion by loving their husbands.
The love shared between the sisters and their husbands propelled the downfall of Trujillo by gaining support from the OAS and the citizens of the Dominican Republic. During Mate’s time in prison, she became the representative of Dominican Republic and was chosen to write a letter to the OAS. It was here that she wrote about a traumatizing experience with her husband in prison. The letter was received by the OAS investigating Human Right Abuses, in which Mate wrote, “This is a journal entry of what occurred at La 40…I’d rather not put my name.