Minerva Mirabal The Mirabal sisters never thought they would grow up to fight for their freedom, but as they get older they start to realize what is really going on in the Dominican Republic. This book takes you for a wild ride through their lives from their point of view. "In the Time of the Butterflies" is about four sisters that grow up under the corrupted ruler known as Trujillo. It is written in first person from all of their perspectives. From all of their perspectives you can tell Minerva is the most wrapped up in the revolution. She is very rebellious, she makes friends with people of the underground, and she is the one that is most concerned about the revolution. Minerva is very rebellious, she doesn't like to listen when told to do something and she doesn't like doing the same thing as everyone else. Minerva thinks "And that's how I got free... I mean in my head after I got to Immaculada and met Sinita and saw what happened to Lina and realized that I'd just left a small cage to go into a bigger one, the size of our whole country" (pg. 13). This is when she starts to get re...
could get into a lot of trouble but she didn't care. Minerva stated "She didn't mean any
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
I read the book Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez. Anita, an eleven year old girl, is suddenly sent into a very scary and unknown world, right in her own home. Her cousins are running away to the United states, but to get away from what? Her parents are keeping secrets and she tries to get information from her sister, but finds out very little. Anita finds herself struggling when she is forced to grow up very quickly and try not to act as scared as she feels at times. Through the view of a young girl, this story really captures what it’s like to feel like immigration is the only option for a family.
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...
rise-a mind of its own-and come down on the astonished, made up face." Minerva said,
Even though there are moments where things were serious Minerva still had moments where she felt like she was young again: “We moved quickly now towards the Jeep, hurrying as if we had to catch up with that truck. I don’t know quite how to say this, but it was as if we were girls again, walking through the dark part of the yard, a little afraid, a little excited by our fears, anticipating the lighted house just around the bend – That’s the way I felt as we started up the first mountain,”
Minerva influenced Patria by helping her understand why she hated Trujillo. While Patria was gazing at the picture of the Good Shepherd in comparison, Minerva said “They're a pair, aren't they?” (53). It then hit Patria, “That moment, I understood her hatred. My family had not been personally hurt by Trujillo, just as before, losing my baby, Jesus had not taken anything away from me. But others had been suffering great losses” (53). By comparing Trujillo to the Good Shepherd Minerva was able to get through to Patria. Though her constant tangents and speeches about the bad in Trujillo didn't seem to budge Patria, Minerva was able to connect the way Trujillo was depicted, to something that meant much more to Patria, her religion. This marked a turning point for Patria because she now truly believed and saw that Trujillo was bad. The Church gave Patria the opportunity to fight. “I couldn’t believe this was the same Padre de Jesús talking who several months back hadn’t known his faith from his fear! But then again, here in that little room was the same Patria Mercedes, who wouldn’t have hurt a butterfly, shouting, 'Amen to the revolution.' And so we were born in the spirit of the vengeful Lord, no longer His lambs” (163, 164). The church, being the thing that meant the most to Patria, was ready to fight. So Patria suddenly became ready to. Having
Over the course of the novel, the Mirabal sisters have shown a strong desire to be in the revolution and free their country from the cruel hands of Trujillo and his regime whilst putting their families in danger. Minerva is the first to give into the revolution as she leaves her children with her sisters and mother while she goes on to try and free the country. “I, who treasured my children more than my own life, couldn’t believe my sister would leave her son for anything…..”(155).Though abandoning her child must be a hard thing to do, Minerva does this, which strongly portrays her dedication to the revolution is stronger than her dedications to her children. They allow their homes to be ‘invaded’ by the revolutionaries; allow their hom...
People ought to live in a society where they feel safe and welcomed; however, when harsh and unnecessary laws are put into place, the people will be unhappy. In the novel, Minerva goes to the government to study law, and after five years, she receives her law degree. She gathers the whole family for her graduation only to learn that she will not be handed “the license to practice. [... Trujillo] was planning all along to let her study for five whole years only to render that degree useless in the end. How cruel!” (Alvarez 138). Trujillo is threatened by powerful women like Minerva, so he does not hand her “the license to practice,” law, meaning she cannot become a lawyer. Minerva could be a threat to his reign, so once Minerva has a position in the government, she will be powerful enough to create a rebellion to overthrow him, endangering his position in society. Therefore, he simply let Minerva “study for five whole years only to render that degree useless in the end,” causing outrage in the Mirabal family. Not allowing women to have many rights or do what they please, creates overall unhappiness in the society, leading to the people revolt, like the Mirabal sisters and many others eventually did. Similarly, the first step of a revolution is described as the overall unhappiness of the people (Steps of a Revolution Notes). This displeasure can be seen in the third estate during the time of the French revolution because they were not treated well by the king and queen at the time, they worked the most but were also taxed the most. Not being treated equally to the other estates, caused the third estate to strive for a voice in the government, which, ultimately, led to the rebellion to overthrow the king and queen. Overall, the unhappiness of the people against the government will cause a rebellion for more freedom and equal rights.
This book is a story about 4 sisters who tell their stories about living on an island in the Dominican Republic , and then moving to New York . What is different about this book is the fact that you have different narrators telling you the story , jumping back and forth from past to present . This is effective because it gives you different view point’s from each of the sisters . It may also detract from the narrative because of the fact that it’s confusing to the reader . This is a style of writing that has been recognized and analyzed by critics . Julia Alvarez is a well- known writer and in a way , mirrors events that happened in her own life , in her book . Looking into her life , it show’s that she went through an experience somewhat like the sisters . I interviewed an immigrant , not from the same ethnic back ground as the sisters , but a Japanese immigrant . This was a very
Minerva is the individual that always makes sure that she is perceived as strong; however, in actuality this strength and desired image is only a deception of herself. Many heroes, courageous leaders, and brave characters in stories never have health problems or other character flaws exploited. However, Minerva is shown in the book to always have problems with her health. She is always described as being sick, weak, and needing rest. Another down flaw of her character exploited in this book is that she gets captured and thrown in jail. Once in jail she breaks down – loosing control of herself and ultimately loosing her drive that she once had. These exploitations in the novel show that Minerva can be broken down and make Minerva a more average human being, rather than an audacious hero as everyone would like to believe.
Even in the beginning of the story, Minerva shows a powerful rebellious attitude. Minerva’s first encounter with courage comes during her first year at school. A girl she pities and befriends, reveals a major secret to
Just as their father wanted, the girls kept their Dominican roots alive and never forgot where they came from. This novel, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, is a coming of age novel, where four girls learn through experience how it is like to grow up in a tough time period. In America, the girls had the freedom to attempt almost whatever they wanted because they were free from the constricting rule of the patriarchy that ruled the Dominican Republic. All four were growing up but took separate paths during life to get to where they are as adults. Through the use of multiple narrators, Alvarez creates different perspectives throughout the story. The girls have come a long way from their mother’s color coding system when they were identity less to the women they are today. Each sister fought and conquered some sort of internal or external battle, helping them to overcome obstacles given by society that marked them as different. As adults, the sisters can keep their Dominican roots alive while living in the United States through
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.
influence all her life and struggles to accept her true identity. Through the story you can