In the Time of the Butterflies

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hombres,” he said. Things a man does. So that was supposed to excuse him, macho that he was!” (Butterflies: 92). In the novel an example of machismo is given when the girls’ father cheats on their mother and uses the excuse that he is a man, as if that some how lets him off of the hook, to give a reason of why he did it.

Another example given in the novel is when Dedé lists, in her mind, the reasons of why she no longer wants to be with her husband; “Can you really be so blind, she wanted to say. We don’t talk anymore, you boss me around, you keep to yourself, you’re not interested in my garden” (Butterflies: 188). Jaimito, Dedé Mirabal’s husband, changed greatly from when they were kids. He became an adult and started following into the Dominican Republic generalization for men, he became controlling and somewhat possessive. He would not allow his wife to do what she believed to be right and he did not allow her to express her opinions, he controlled her every move and threatened her with the separation from her sons to make her behave the way he wanted. “Jaimito thinks it’s suicide. He’s told me he’ll have to leave me if I get mixed up in this thing” (Butterflies: 179) This behavior is very common within the Dominican Republic culture, naturally men do what they want and get what they want without consequences. This is definitely not the case for females.

Even so, many of the events that took place in the book were pure fiction, especially when dealing with the girls’ feelings. “So what you will find here are the Mirabals of my creation, made up but, I hope, true to the spirit of the real Mirabal” (Butterflies: 324). The author wanted to make sure the girls would be remembered and she wanted to give her readers a chance to experience life in the Dominican Republic. Adding an element of fiction would allow readers to get a more detailed look at their lives and what it must have been like, to some degree, to be them. An instance of this would be using fiction to help create the sweet, naive, innocent María Teresa the readers come to love. “I’m learning a whole new language here, just like being in our movement” (Butterflies: 231). María Teresa’s character is a great example of Alvarez giving life to the story of the Mirabal sisters, thus giving the world an opportunity to remember them and what they stood for.

Ultimately, the Mirabal sisters will forever be remembered as las mariposas, the butterflies, because they stood for and represented change in their country. Alvarez did a fantastic job incorporating her personal experiences from when she was a young girl, the history of the Dominican Republic, and many elements of fiction, into her novel. All of these writing methods combined made a heart-wrenching, beautiful story about four sisters and their loyalties to each other as well as to their country. They will always hold a special spot in history. ¡Viva Las Mariposas!