Minerva Mirabal was the most heroic of the Mirabal sisters. Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for 30 years; he was oppressive, creepy, and a little insane. The Mirabal sisters were killed because they tried to rebel against him. Minerva is heroic because she was the first of her sisters to join the rebellion, she went to law school, and she slapped the dictator. Minerva was active in the rebellion against Trujillo. "It sounded like treasure hunt clues or something. The Indian from the hill has his cave up that road. The Eagle has nested in the hollow on the other side of that mountain. I was so happy to have them talking to each other, I played with little Minou in the back seat and pretended not to hear them." - Maria Teresa, page 91. Minerva and Manolo are fluent in the rebellion's code, and they know several important people and places. "He had a delivery to make, he said, could I please let him in? As he spoke, he kept looking over his shoulder at a car parked right before our front door." - Maria Teresa, page 93. Minerva's house serves as a delivery point for the revolution. "A little while ago, I got up and dragged that heavy box out from under. It was nailed shut, but the nails had some give on one side where I could work the lid loose a little. I held the light up close and peered in. I almost dropped that lamp when I realized what I was looking at-enough guns to start a revolution!" - Maria Teresa, page 93. She is trusted enough to keep the guns hidden. She is smart and trustworthy, she sought an education and knows the laws. Minerva went to law school even though everyone is telling her not to. "For years Minerva has been agitating to go to law school. 'Ay, Dios mio, spare me.' Mama sighs, ... ... middle of paper ... ...such a pitiful sight. His face is gaunt, his voice shaky, his once fancy guayabera is soiled and hangs on him, several sizes too large." - Minerva, page 74. Trujillo was weaker than Minerva. He had to get back at her by going through her family instead going directly to her. Minerva was brave to slap the dictator. She was stronger than him, and she was incredible. Minerva was the most heroic of her sisters. She introduced her family to the rebellion, she was the first person to go through university, and she smacked an insane dictator. Bravery isn't having no fear; it is accepting and welcoming your fears and getting past them. Minerva did that in many different ways, abandoning comfort for what she believed was right. Follow you're heart, and if someone doesn't come from the future to stop you from doing something, how would you know its the wrong choice?
In 1938, Minerva’s father permitted her to go away to boarding school along with her two older sisters, Patria and Dedé. Alvarez’s writing on behalf of Minerva speaks volumes as to the point of view Minerva had growing up. “And that’s how I got free. I don’t mean just going to sleepaway school on a train with a trunkful of new things. I mean in my head after I got to Inmaculada and met Sinita and saw what happened to Lina and realized that I’d left a small cage to go into a bigger one, the size of our whole country,” (Alvarez 13). Minerva’s father, said that out of all his daughters, Minerva should have been born a boy. The other Mirabal sisters said that she was their father’s favorite daughter because Minerva acted the most like a son to him. She almost became the son he had always wanted, but never had. Due to her father’s influence, as Minerva grew up, she aspired to being a lawyer. Something which was unheard of for a woman in the ‘40s.
Minerva and Maria Teresa are two characters in Julia Alvarez’s In Time of the Butterflies. Minerva is one of the four main characters of the novel, as well as Maria Teresa. Minerva is the second youngest of the family and is very caring and kind. She was talking to her friend Sinita, who was one of the girls she met at school, and told her, “Tell me Sinita, maybe it’ll help” (Alvarez 16). Her friend Sinita told her the story about her brother’s death and Minerva felt sympathetic for her lost. Maria Teresa is the youngest of the Mirabal sisters and the ...
sister is Minerva. Their is 3 great reasons why Minerva is a hero. Minerva stood up for Sinita
In The Time of the Butterflies, chapter six briefly explain why Minerva action against Trujillo led to the sister death. Minerva slapping Trujillo in the face was a sign of bravery that she was not going to let Trujillo dilated her action like he did to a bunch of other women. It was clearly shown that Trujillo wasn’t going to let this slide by, instead build various events to make her suffer, making her commit to this actions which eventually will give Trujillo a reason for murdering the sisters’.“ pg 83-101”. This evidence shows that Minerva is willing to break out from the barriers that society and Trujillo dictatorship is implementing on them, and make a change for the better. “Women hold their beaded evening bags over their head, trying to protect their foundering hairdo after Minerva slap Trujillo”(pg 100). This shows how during the era that Trujillo govern fear was upon every individual that step in the shadow of Trujillo even if you didn 't have anything to do with it. “But el jefe has other plans for me,” A mind of her own, this little cibaeña”(Trujillo), her smirks, rubbing his cheek, then turns to Don Manuel”(pg 101). This evidence shows that Trujillo had other plans to handles his
Out of all the Mirabal sisters, being courageous was Minerva’s specialty to show how she feels without being verbal with her emotions, and to get her point across. Right from the beginning of the book Minerva chose to create actions that were not only courageous, but reckless. After Minerva found out about her other sisters she crashed her father’s Jeep into his Ford at his other lover’s house. As always, she wanted to make a scene, “My voice was as commanding as his. ‘You’ve lost my respect,’” (Alvarez 89). Her father was extremely disappointed with her, but she wanted him to know that what he was doing was extremely wrong. Crashing her father’s cars was definitely brave, and especially since she did it in front of her other family without any second thoughts. Towards the middle of the book, Minerva informed Mate about some things she did not know, “Manolo and Minerva have explained everything. A national underground is forming,” and this is when Minerva explained more about how they created a national underground to try to get everybody freedom no matter what happened (Alvarez 142). This national underground was a h...
The school she attended school in 1938 at Inmaculada Concepcion. Her parents did not like this decision but it followed through and she went. While Minerva was there, she experienced life with other girls from other cultures. She participated in the school's plays and activities. She didn't really have a choice to if she wanted to or not. She met a girl by the name of Sinita whom became her friend and roommate.
paved the way for religious freedom. She was a great leader in the cause for
Helena Maria Veramontes writes her short story “The Moths” from the first person point of view, placing her fourteen year old protagonist female character as a guide through the process of spiritual re-birth. The girl begins the story with a description of the debt she owes her Abuelita—the only adult who has treated her with kindness and respect. She describes her Apa (Father) and Ama (Mother), along with two sisters as if they live in the same household, yet are born from two different worlds. Her father is abusive, her mother chooses to stay in the background and her sisters evoke a kind of femininity that she does not possess. The girl is angry at her masculine differences and strikes out at her sisters physically. Apa tries to make his daughter conform to his strict religious beliefs, which she refuses to do and her defiance evokes abuse. The girl’s Abuelita is dying and she immerses herself in caring for her, partly to repay a debt and partly out of the deep love she has for her. As her grandmother lay dying, she begins the process of letting go. The moth helps to portray a sense of spirituality, re-birth and becomes, finally, an incarnation of the grandmother. The theme of the story is spiritual growth is born from human suffering.
Minerva, as is further revealed later in the story, always has a hero’s attitude to situations, in the sense that she feels it is her responsibility to be brave so that others don’t have to. The earliest example of this occurs when Sinita tells Minerva her secret concerning Trujillo. While Sinita is telling Minerva the secret, Minerva, frightened, begins to cry, but pinches her arm because she
As a social studies girl, I knew most famous women in history. But without a doubt, I would choose Susan B. Anthony. She was a social reformer who played a significant role in women’s suffrage movement. As a feminist, she went against women stereotypes. During the 1800s, women were recognized as a social inferior group. Their jobs were categorized as a phrase- Republican Motherhood. This phrase means that as a woman, our job is to take care about domestic issues and we cannot take over men’ jobs. As a young woman, I had experienced gender stereotype in China. I believe that I state it in my personal statement. If I had a chance to talk to her, I would love to ask about her role as a political figure. What did she experienced that made her a
One very successful leader, who was also a hero in the popular press, was Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt made enduring changes in the role of the First Lady of the United States, and championed change in human rights around the world. The First Lady became a career position, a political platform, a media persona, and a worldwide influence at a time when most women did not pursue careers. Eleanor Roosevelt stood up for women when women did not have any rights. She then stood up for African-American, most notably the Tuskegee Airmen during World War Two, at a time when African-American did not have civil rights (The Tuskegee Airmen, n.d.). Once she left the White House, she emerged as a worldwide leader of human right when she authored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with the United Nations. Throughout her life, she used her high social standing, her political prowess, and own passion for human rights to breach barriers, influence followers, and create lasting change.
It is influential to have strong people who want to fight for their rights. It is often easy to focus on oppression than it is to change it. It takes courage to be able to go against the rules of law. In both “In The Time Of The Butterflies” and “The Censors” , Juan and the Mariposas not only reveal their courage, but also develop significant symbols to the roles of each one of them during their time overcoming oppression. The Mirabal’s behavior towards their determination to fight for freedom, symbolizes the hope for freedom. The Dominicans were blessed to have four courageous women who went against the law in order to better their country for all. In the other hand, Juan role to overcome oppression resulted in his death and death to many innocent people. His behavior symbolize distrust, one cannot trust anyone, not even yourself. He was so caught up with his job, doing what he believed was right, he ended up censoring
Like most things in the world, they have their place. A man's place is to get their education and to get a substantial job that would bring in the money for his family. Women were not expected to attend school or to get a job that exceeded from a housewife or a housekeeper. When Minerva tells her family that she aspires to become a lawyer, her Mother does not take her seriously. "'Ay, Dios mio, spare me. ... Just what we need, skirts in the law'" (10)! It is because women like Minerva do not typically think of doing a job that involve family or cleaning, the dream is laughable. The implication is that women studying law is considered "out-of-place." Therefore, stating that women are not expected to desire or be capable of doing something that a man can.
...o avoid disbelief from her audience. She was the first woman who dared to tell her experience of enslavement and how she was sexuallyabused.
Finally, she was became less dumb on her judgements of other people. She thought in very black and white terms. Today, she pays a lot closer attention to what their officials were did.