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Minerva Reflected In The Time Of The Butterflies

478 Words2 Pages

Exploring part one of the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, reflects and reveals Minerva’s dynamic perception of the ongoings taking place in her country. Her view starts off a bit brainwashed and conditioned by society, but as the story progresses, she gains a realization of her sense of self. Meeting Minerva for the first time, she introduces a rabbit locked in a cage. Minerva opens the cage and tries to free her, but the rabbit does not wish to leave (Alvarez 11). The caged rabbit resembles a common citizen in this country, mind controlled by the dictator Trujillo. It feels as if staying in the cage IS the moral decision to make and perceives tranquil surroundings. She then states “I’m no different from you” (Alvarez 11). Her words towards the rabbit echo a resemblance between the two because she in the beginning she is brainwashed by society. The moment when Sinita tells the “secret’ about Trujillo to Minerva, reveals Minerva unawareness towards the darkness of her society. Hearing Sinita’s message about …show more content…

In a way, Sinita acted as a catalyst towards Minerva’s realization of the happenings of her society. She viewed him as a god, but Sinita opened her eyes to view Trujillo’s true image. Sinita tells Minerva about how Trujillo became president through blackmail and that his secret WAS to have everyone killed. This struck Minerva, after hearing this, she stayed up all night to think about “this secret of Trujillo that nobody but Sinita seemed to know about (Alvarez 19). Not only does Minerva realize Trujillo’s brutal dictatorship, but also how brainwashed her society IS. The key words, “nobody but Sinita seemed to know about”, symbolizes that not a lot of people ARE aware of Trujillo and what IS going on in their country. As everything comes together, she joins a group of rebels and states to her little sister Maria Theresa that she wanted her to group up in a “free country” (Alvarez

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