In the Time of the Butterflies Group

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courtcourt93
courtcourt93
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In the book In the Time of the Butterflies, Dede came to an unsettling realization about Lio...what did she find out and how did it effect her?

Chapter 5

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Posted by courtcourt93 on Sunday August 16, 2009 at 12:17 PM and tagged with chapter 5, characters, dédé, lio, summary.

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  1. dymatsuoka

    eNotes Editor

    In Chapter 5, Dede first realizes the full extent of Lio's revolutionary ideology.  Mate reads from the newspaper that

    "there had been a demonstration at the university, led by a bunch of young professors, all members of the Communist party.  Among the names listed was that of Virgilio Morales".

    Although Minerva and even Jaimito had known that Lio had Communist leanings, to Dede, the revelation comes as a complete surprise.  She really hadn't known that Lio was "a Communist, a subversive...she had never known an enemy of state before".  In her naivete, she had assumed that "such people would be self-serving and wicked, low-class criminals.  But Lio was a fine young man with lofty ideals and a compassionate heart".

    Dede reacts to this unsettling new realization by reexamining her own beliefs.  She reasons that if Lio is "an enemy of state", then Minerva must be too, and she herself, "if she...thought long and hard about what was right and wrong, she would no doubt be an enemy of state as well".  The discovery that Lio is a Communist causes "a new challenge" to be sounded in Dede's life. She tries to refocus her philosophies and her plans for the future in accordance to her developing awareness of the realities of her country's political situation, but, "confused about what she want(s)", she cannot make a true commitment to the revolutionary cause.

    Dede learns one other thing about Lio in this Chapter which disturbs her.  When Lio is forced into exile, he gives Dede a letter to deliver to Minerva, asking her to go with him into hiding.  Dede, overcome by conflicting feelings of jealousy, destroys the letter, and Minerva never finds out that Lio had wanted her to go with him (Chapter 5).

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/time-butterflies/
    http://www.enotes.com/time-butterflies/characters
    http://www.enotes.com/time-butterflies/summary-analysis-p...

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Thursday September 10, 2009 at 2:59 PM