Summary Of In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

The sacrifice of the Mirabal sisters persists to influence and connect with those in the Dominican Republic. A New York Times article describes the result of courageous actions by the Mirabals as being, “marked change in the political climate has completed the transformation of ‘the Butterflies,’ as the sisters were known in their days as members of the anti-Trujillo underground, into symbols of both popular and feminist resistance” (Rohter). Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal defy the abilities of women to overthrow Dictator, Rafael Trujillo and his tyrannical supremacy. In the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez demonstrates a fictional style to explain the true events the sisters underwent to terminate the division

Their mother comments about how women in politics is not accepted as she states, “Just what we need, skirts in the law” (10). Women are referred to as a piece of clothing and are assumed to be incapable of having enough intellect to be involved in law. In spite of gender, Minerva asserts to have the right to learn in school because she contends that all people should be deemed as equal. Papa implies how the typical nun is unattractive as he remarks, “patria as a nun would be a waste of a pretty girl” (11). Men view most women as objects and only care about appearances, so ‘pretty girls’ should not become nuns since they cannot get married or have children. Within society, women are commonly bossed around, however, as Patria strives to become a nun, she vocalizes that no one should be told what they can and cannot do and are free to make their own decisions. Among the revolution, the Mirabals spread awareness that both females and males are equivalent; they argue that women should be viewed as more than a pretty face and should be accepted into

Trujillo advises Minerva that she is unfit to attend law school when he says that “The university is no place for a woman these days” (99). Although it is false, the more superior sex is considered to be males as they are viewed as being both smarter and stronger over females. Defying this misconception of women not deserving an education because the main role of a lady is presumably housework, Minerva agitates to go to law school. With all the limitations of women, Minerva restates how without education there is even fewer options for girls as she expresses, “You know as well as I do that without schooling we women have fewer choices open to us” (105). Without school, females have fewer opportunities to become successful in life despite that they are fully competent for greatness. All of the Mirabal sisters are restricted to what they are allowed to do, so they advocate for the privilege of women attending school. To end the injustice of different treatment for men and women, the Mirabal sisters suppress the idea that girls are dumber and powerless over boys as they incite increase in competence in the