In The Time Of The Butterflies Analysis

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Fear is 99% of the reason why social change never occurs. In In the time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the Dominican people are oppressed by the dictator at the time, Trujillo, and never do anything about it. Perhaps some are too naive to understand what is going on. Perhaps it is the police state or the regime as a fear factor. Perhaps they support the regime because their lives depend on it. Either way, people lacked the urge to fight the monolithic power of Trujillo. The Mirabal Sisters present an opportunity and a model for others due to their solidarity and fierce nationalistic feelings towards the dictatorship. Social change can only occur when the people are willing to be informed, take action, and a catalyst occurs.
An important …show more content…

In the French revolution, some important catalysts were the winter famine, the raised food prices, and the poor spending of money by the French monarchy. Due to the lack of resources and food, people were fighting over resources. These events contributed to the French citizen’s angry attitude with the monarchy who they blamed for raising the already high food prices and poorly spending their already low sum of money. Similarly in In The Time of The Butterflies, each sister has a specific catalyst that encouraged them to join and support the revolution earlier than they would of. One sister’s catalyst that particularly stuck out was Minerva and the catalyst that convinced her to join the revolution. “Because Lio presented a very real opportunity to fight against the regime…. Minerva was never the same…”(66,Alvarez) Lio, who was a popular revolutionary, “presented a very real opportunity” for Minerva to actually transform her thoughts on the revolution and the regime into actions that actually could make a difference. Lio influenced and sparked Minerva’s thoughts for she “was never the same”. “Never the same” meaning the same Minerva, but a Minerva who thought proactively. In relation to this, the French Revolution would have later or never happened if the famine, high prices, and poor spending had not occurred. All in all, without a catalyst, social change could not …show more content…

Haile Selassie, a late Ethiopian regent, once said, “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” Selassie stated this in an address in Addis Ababa in 1963 to indicate the “inaction” of the people when the Organization of African Unity was replaced by the more corrupt African Union. This is paradox to In In The Time of The Butterflies, where Dede meets a revolutionary named Lio. Wanting to show off her knowledge, Dede decides to start reading newspapers. “She began to read the paper with pointed interest….key names….evaluated and reflected...”(75,Alvarez) Dede now has an objective and a reason to become more knowledgeable. Dede slowly matures from a shy girl to a woman who now is

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