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Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

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In Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, a young, naïve girl transforms into a prominent figure in the revolution against Leonidas Trujillo as we read page after page of her most private thoughts. This character is Maria Teresa (Mate), the youngest of the Mirabal sisters. Alvarez weaves Maria Teresa’s story as a coming of age story under a dictatorship, and slowly, but thoroughly, shows us how it corrupts childhood innocence and forms revolutionaries. Mate’s chapters in the novel are solely journal entries. In Julia Alvarez’s words, “Techniques are just tools on the wall to help you get at what best reflects the stories in your heart to tell. For me, certain characters are more real, or more realized, depending on the angle …show more content…

Still just a little girl, her entries in this chapter are often mundane. She draws her new shoes, Minerva’s swimsuit, and lists her christmas presents, but this section shows us that Mate is observant and intelligent. She takes control of the narrative, and we get to see her in a different light. She says, “I don’t know if you realize how advanced I am for my age?” directly addressing one of the issues that comes with being labeled as the baby, maturity (Alvarez 32). Further, when Mate learns that Minerva is doing “dangerous things” because “she wanted [Mate] to grow up in a free country” she writes her reaction on the page, outlining her growth for us. She goes from saying, “I am taking these few minutes to wish El Jefe Happy Benefactor’s Day with all my heart” to “I see the picture of our president with eyes that follow me around the room… Before, I always thought our President was like God, watching over everything I did,” her changing ideas are right in front of us (Alvarez 37, 39). And although she does not explicitly state she no longer thinks he is like God, her words carry an air of anxiety. She is beginning to understand the danger of her country’s dictator, and we continue to see her evolve into a revolutionary. “Everything looks just a little different,” she says, and right alongside her, we see how her perceptions change as her journals

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

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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.

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In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about 4 sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa. The book is about the three girls growing up and their experiences during the time of the underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The book was written in memory of Dedé’s 3 sisters who had been ambushed and murdered, which we are aware of since the beginning of the novel. The beginning chapter of the book is describing Dedé as she waits for a woman who is going to interview her about her three sisters, she then goes into a flashback she has of her family talking at the dinner table and her father mentions someone named Trujillo, which then gives a hint at who this book might be formed around. Through the book, we read stories about times in the girls’ lives when they were going to school at Inmaculada Concepcion and being at home and falling in love, as well as there run ins with Trujillo himself.

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In the Time of the Butterflies, characters are seen making morally challenging decisions. Maria Teresa, Mate, is the youngest Mirabel sister. She is described as virtuous and fears elementary things. However, Mate and Minerva are held captive in prison. Fortunately, The OAS Peace Committee schedules to interview a prisoner in each pavilion, Mate has been selected.

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In The Time Of Butterflies was written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. She wrote In the time of Butterflies in 1994. The book divided into four sections, which make the sisters to have their own sections. The story took place in Dominican Republic during President Trujillo’s dictatorship government.

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Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of historical fiction set in the Dominican Republic that focuses on the four Mirabal sisters who bond together to rebel against the corrupt leader of their country, Rafael Trujillo. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa form closer relationships with each other as they figure out a way to bring down the tyranny of Rafael Trujillo. Although they have a mutual goal, each of the Mirabal sisters has different feelings and thoughts throughout this time period. The theme of coming-of-age and identify is best exemplified through the character of María Teresa, known as Mate, through the ways she matures throughout the novel and becomes her own person who stands up for what she believes in.

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