In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

Courage by Maybelline

Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline. Or maybe it’s courage! Many people can be born with a perfectly clear face, or the oh so perfect rosy cheeks. Then there is some that have to work a little bit harder than others. Courage is the same way. Some people are born with it, and others might have to work for. Julia Alvarez’s historical fiction novel, ‘In the Time Of The Butterflies’, tells the story of four sisters gaining courage throughout their lives from events they have experienced. Like in every family of sisters, even siblings, each one has their own personality, and this is true with the Mirabal sisters, but they all share the same trait- courage. Courage runs in each sister’s

Minerva might be the most courageous sister, but it doesn’t mean that she was the only sister with courage. Minerva, the feisty sister, had heroism running through her blood ever since she was just a young girl. Maria Theresa, also called as Mate, followed her sister’s brave footsteps.

Patria, the eldest Mirabal sister, wanted to be a nun. During her school years, she attended Inmaculada Concepcion, and showed a deep interest in religion. One example from the novel is, “How could our loving, all powerful Father allow us to suffer so? I looked up, challenging Him. And the two faces had merged!” In this quote, Patria questions God and asks why'd he let her family suffer from the loss of her baby.When Patria says “the two faces merged.” she’s comparing God and Trujillo, by saying they have become the same person. Patria gains courage from this because she realizes that God might not be so great as she thought him to be. At a young age, Patria also showed signs of a motherly-figure. Patria, like any mother, loves her child no matter what. Another example from the novel is, “That moment, I understood her hatred. My family had not been

Throughout ‘In the Time of the Butterflies’, Julia Alvarez creates Dede’s chapters during the present day, rather than in the 1960’s like the other sisters, and it tells the back and forth session she has with Julia Alvarez. Dede’s heroism mainly comes from her sisters’ death because she has to grow past it even though she is reminded of it almost everyday. In the novel it says, ““I mean, you’re so open and cheerful. How do you keep such a tragedy from taking you under?”... “There were many many happy years. I remember those. I try anyhow. I tell myself, Dede, concentrate on the positive!”” Alvarez asks her how is she able to keep being so happy-spirited when a tragedy like that happened to her, and Dede’s response is to focus on the positivity and all the good times she has had with her sisters. This illustrates Dede’s courage because she has learned how to overcome this barren by focusing on the days where there was sunshine rather than the rainy days. When Minerva passed she left behind her daughter, Minou, and Dede took her in. In the novel it says, “Minou’s eyes flashed with anger, and Minerva herself stood before Dede again. “I’m my own person. I’m tired of being a daughter of a legend.””. In the midst of Dede explaining why she believe it’s wrong for Minou to be “communicating” with Minerva, Minou snaps that she doesn’t want to live in her mother’s shadow, and she doesn’t want