Analysis Of The Time Of Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

In The Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the rule of Rafael Trujillo directly affected all four Mirabal sisters, Patricia, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Mirabal.

The rule of Rafael Trujillo directly affected Patricia Mirabal. Patricia grew up as the oldest of four girls, and she was naturally the nicest, simplest of the four girls. She married early and had kids before she turned 20. But as she grew older, her faith was restored. One day she went on a church retreat into the mountains, the same day the first invasion from Trujillo fell. The author described how it seemed as if the Earth was coming down upon the very roof of that retreat house. Explosion after explosion ripped the air. The house shook to its very foundation (Alvarez 161). During that attack, Patricia made eye contact with a young boy who couldn’t be older than her own son in the

She took the son in as her own, and as she was coming down from the mountain, she was a completely changed woman (Alvarez 162). That invasion never would’ve happened had it not been for the growing rebellion against Trujillo. Trujillo was a dictator and had heard about the growing rebellion in the mountains. He had such an evil heart, he couldn’t stand the rebellion and attempted to kill it, and everything that might be in its way whether it was innocent or guilty. After the retreat, Patricia gathered with the other woman who went on the retreat and they created the ACC, Accion Clero-Cultural (Alvarez 164). The mission of the ACC was only to Organize a powerful national underground. “We would spread the word of God among our brainwashed campesinos who had hunted down their own liberators” (Alvarez 164). If Trujillo had never sent bombs to the mountains, Patricia would never have joined the