What Are The Challenges In Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies

Four Mirabal sisters against the different aspects of life brought by the Spanish. In the novel, In The Time Of The Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, the four sisters experience several different challenges following the colonization of the Dominican Republic. The Spanish colonized the Dominican Republic in the late 1400s, bringing many different values and beliefs along with them. Some examples of things the Spanish brought were government, religion, and education. The government ideas and beliefs that came with the Spanish to the Dominican Republic created tensions and apparent corruption throughout the book, especially with Minerva. The Spanish also brought educational beliefs and values. The Spanish believed that women were inferior to men

This negatively impacted Minerva because, for the others, education was seen as a way to assimilate people into colonial culture and reinforce the power structures that were already in place. This meant that many people, especially women, were denied access to education or were only given a limited education. This all didn’t match with Minervas’s values and beliefs as she wanted to learn everything and fight for her education as Julia Alvarez says, “For years Minerva has been agitating to go to law school… ‘It is just what this country needs’ Minerva’s voice has the steely sureness it gets whenever she talks politics… ‘It’s about time we women had a voice in running our country” (10). This not only shows the corruption in the government with there not being allowed any women in politics but also shows how much Minerva wants to go to school. This is important because Minerva’s only way of going to law school is to make a deal with Trujillo, “‘I mean, my dream of going to law school.’ He strokes his short, brushed mustache with his fingers, musing. His gaze falls on the dice. Slowly, his lips twist in a wily smile. ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you toss for the privilege. You win, you get your wish. I win, I get mine” (115). This shows that Minerva makes a deal with Trujillo that if she wins the dice game then she gets to go to law school and if she loses then Trujillo gets to sleep with Minerva, Trujillo loses. Minerva gets to attend law school as the only female in the education system and Minerva believes that she has truly made a change, but as four years of schooling pass, graduation approaches. Since it’s already known that the government is corrupt and the education system is voided towards men, when Minerva walks the stage at graduation she isn’t given the degree to practice law saying, “What a shock,