There are many themes that resound through this novel, but the most obvious are
the fight against dictatorship, the importance of family, and courage in the face of danger
.
What was Alvarez’s purpose for writing In the Time of the Butterflies?
Three of the four sisters were assassinated during the last days of the Trujillo regime. Although the novel portrays a real situation that occurred in history, Alvarez wrote In the Time of the Butterflies as
a fictional story in order to spread awareness of the Mirabal sisters’ journey.
Why is In the Time of the Butterflies important?
Julia Alvarez’ 1994 novel In the Time of the Butterflies gives fictional voices to the real-life political martyrs, the Mirabal sisters. The book is famous
because it’s the first English-language literary look at the infamous Trujillo era in the Dominican Republic
.
What is the plot of In the Time of the Butterflies?
In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by
the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government
. This is a tale of courage and sisterhood set in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship.
What does rain symbolize In the Time of the Butterflies?
Rain is used as a
symbol of tragic or disastrous events, or as a foreshadowing of doom
. The first scene in which it is mentioned is at the end of Chapter 1, “a clear moonlit night before the future begins”. The family is all together, and Mama is chiding Minerva for her radical and dangerous political views.
Why did Alvarez choose to tell the story of the Mirabal sisters?
It was this connection to the sisters and
a longing to learn more about them and their desire for political rebellion
that inspired Alvarez to tell their story. In writing about these sisters, Alvarez works towards her own liberation as a Dominican woman who experienced the Trujillo regime herself.
What does Alvarez say is the meaning of the title Antojos?
Antojos by Julia Alvarez
The title of the story, Antojos, translates
to cravings
and this is symbolic for her craving for her native culture. The guavas symbolize her craving for her native country.
What is the central conflict In the Time of the Butterflies?
Dede faces the most external and internal conflict throughout the novel
having to deal with deciding not to join the revolution and losing her whole family by the time of Trujillo’s reign is over
.
What are the symbols In the Time of the Butterflies?
In this novel, the Mirabal sisters are called Mariposas (Butterflies). Butterflies
symbolize freedom, beauty and short lives
.
How religious is Patria as a girl?
Known as the most religious of the sisters, Patria
originally devotes herself to becoming a nun
, and her faith is what differentiates her from the rest of the sisters. However, her faith is shaken when her third baby is stillborn.
What happens in the end of In the Time of the Butterflies?
In the Epilogue, Dedé’s story switches to first person narration.
Her sisters are dead. People who encountered her sisters on that last day help her
piece together what happened. Men confess to killing them, and to pushing their Jeep over the cliff.
Did Minerva love Lio?
When school is over, Minerva wishes to study to become a lawyer, but women are not allowed in law school. The sisters return to the farm, and
Minerva soon meets and falls in love with Virgilio “Lio
” (Marc Anthony), a member of the Dominican resistance, who gives her the nickname “Butterfly”, or Mariposa in Spanish.
What happens at the end of Time of the Butterflies?
Minerva’s account ends, but Dedé explains what happened –
the sisters and Rufino are each killed and then put back into their car
, so it looks like an accident. Everyone knows that Trujillo killed them, however, and they become martyrs.
What does the rain symbolize In the Time of the Butterflies Chapter 6?
Storms and rain symbolize
danger and suffering throughout the novel
. Minerva and her family flee Trujillo’s party as a storm begins, hoping to use the commotion as an excuse for their disappearance. Minerva grabs the ship table decoration as a gift for María Teresa but leaves behind her purse in the chaos.
Who is Palomino In the Time of the Butterflies?
Leandro Guzmán Rodríguez
, a.k.a. Palomino
He and Mate quickly fall in love and marry. He, along with all of the husbands, is imprisoned in La Victoria. At one point he is forced to watch as guards torture Mate, and he ends up giving up information in order to make it stop.
How does Alvarez develop the idea of silence in paragraph 21?
What is the impact of Alvarez’s choice to begin paragraph 21 with the words “I don’t know”? By beginning the paragraph with the phrase “I don’t know,” Alvarez develops the idea of silence, highlighting
the fact that she has been kept in the dark by her parents’ silence
.
What Does Dede sacrifice?
Dedé is being asked to sacrifice
her marriage
in order to join her sisters, but by doing so she would lose contact with her boys. … Nelson and Pedrito could have escaped the horrors of prison if they had kept running, but they sacrifice their freedom because of their fear for Patria, Noris, and Raúl Enrique.
What is the theme of Antojos?
“Antojo” means “craving” (for something you have to eat), and it describes
Yolanda’s longing to know her family history and traditions more
, as well as her physical hunger for guavas.
What is Yolanda’s secret Antojos?
Her aunts explained that the word antojo means a craving for something you want
to
eat, or more specifically, the desire of someone who has been taken over by a saint. Yolanda decided that her antojo was to drive north into the countryside toward the coast to look for guavas.
What is the significance of Yolanda’s return to the Dominican Republic at this time?
This was a particularly traumatic experience since language was a particularly important part of her life as a poet. She returned to the Dominican Republic
after her divorce in order to reconnect to her cultural roots
, though she finds she has forgotten her Spanish and sticks out culturally.
What type of plot structure does Alvarez use in In the Time of the Butterflies?
Alvarez uses
a pattern of switching between the sisters
, narrating (fictionally, for three of them are dead and Dede’s narrative was not written by her) each in the first person — that is, from their own point of view.
Who were the Mirabal sisters?
The Mirabal sisters (Spanish pronunciation: [eɾˈmanas miɾaˈβal], Las Hermanas Mirabal) were three sisters, known commonly as
Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa
, who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (El Jefe) in the Dominican Republic and were involved in clandestine activities against his regime.
What does the Anacahuita tree symbolize?
The anacahuita tree symbolizes
hope, strength, perseverance
. It is a big, tall, beautiful tree that stays rooted in the ground year round, year after year.
What do the rabbits symbolize In the Time of the Butterflies?
In this way the rabbits represent
Minerva
– trapped by her father’s overprotectiveness as a child, and then trapped by the rules and fear of the Trujillo police state. The rabbits also represent the populace of the Dominican Republic.
Why does Patria lose her faith in the Time of the Butterflies?
Patria gets pregnant a third time, and in the meantime is really worried about her rebellious sister Minerva’s big mouth. She’s afraid she’ll get into trouble.
Minerva’s political and religious rebellion affects
Patria, and she begins to lose her faith. She loses the baby and feels empty inside.
How does Patria show courage in the Time of the Butterflies?
Patria gradually gets a little braver
, “inching towards courage” and helping her sisters with little things. … Patria’s union with her sisters is gradual but steady, and she fortifies her courage with faith and motherly love. Meanwhile Minerva and Manolito’s movement continues to progress in its plans.
What happened to Lina in the Time of the Butterflies?
Lina Lovatón
She never comes back. It turns out that
Lina had gotten pregnant
, Trujillo’s wife had gotten mad and tried to kill her, and so Trujillo had shipped her off to Miami. She serves as a cautionary tale for all the other girls who might succumb to El Jefe.
What does the demise of mate’s little book suggest to the reader about what is happening?
What does the demise of Mate’s Little Book suggest to the reader about what is happening? The demise suggests that
they must bury the book because they will be searched in the future for evidence
. This is foreshadowed.
Who visits with Minerva’s family for a time?
Out of prison, the
three sisters Patria, Minerva, and Mate
drive across the mountains to visit Minerva and Mate’s husbands, Manolo and Leandro, in prison.
Why does mate have to hand over her diary?
The Mirabal sisters go home for summer vacation. Patria, the eldest sister, has a baby, but he is stillborn. Minerva asks María Teresa to hand over her diary (the one we’re reading),
because it has information written in it about Hilda
. Hilda has been arrested, so all the incriminating papers have to be buried.
What is the secret of Trujillo?
Sinita finally says that “Trujillo’s secret” is that
he is having everyone killed
. One of the most terrifying and tragic things about Trujillo’s dictatorship is how it turned civilians against each other.
Who dies in In the Time of the Butterflies?
In In the Time of the Butterflies,
Enrique Mirabal
dies in 1953. Patria, Minerva, and Mate Mirabal are assassinated in 1960. Dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in 1961. Minerva’s husband, Manolo, is also killed.
Did Minerva slap Trujillo?
Minerva plays Trujillo’s power against Papá, trying to manipulate him into letting her go to law school. … Trujillo returns to his flirtatious mood, and he starts pulling Minerva towards him aggressively. He thrusts at her “in a vulgar way” and
Minerva slaps him
.
Is in the Time of Butterflies a true story?
Her second novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, is
based on the real story of the four Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic
, three of whom became symbols of resistance after being murdered at the order of the dictator Rafael Trujillo.
How accurate is In the Time of the Butterflies?
A skillful blend of fact and fiction, In the Time of the Butterflies is
inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters
who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government.
How does Minerva change in the Time of the Butterflies?
Minerva Mirabal goes
through metamorphosis like a butterfly, from egg to a larvae, then to a chrysalis, and finally to a blossoming butterfly
. She changes immensely and gets other people of her country to aid her in defying the regime. She changes the life for her republic and for the people of her country.
What happened at the Discovery dance in the Time of the Butterflies?
Discovery Day Dance – what happens, who suffers? …
Later ends up dancing with him and then with el jefe where she try to convince him to let her study in the capital, he asks her is she know virgilio and she says not personally
. He makes some rude remarks and she slaps him in the face.
What does Minerva learn about her father?
One day Minerva sees her
dad’s Ford parked at a little house on their property
. She starts driving past there to see what he’s up to, and when she does four little girls always come out to ask her for mints. She realizes that they have her family’s eyes, and asks them who their father is.
