In the Time of the Butterflies Group

Question:

toxxicgodess
toxxicgodess
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In The Time of the Butterflies, does the dictator die before or after the sisters die?

Was it because of them that he died... and why and how did they die???

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Posted by toxxicgodess on Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 7:44 PM and tagged with characters, death, dictator, in the time of the butterflies, plot, sisters.

Answers:


  1. dymatsuoka

    eNotes Editor

    The Mirabal sisters died on November 26, 1960, while the dictator was still alive.  Patria was thirty-six, Minerva thirty-four, and Maria Teresa twenty-four.  They were returning from visiting their husbands in prison, when they were accosted by assassins commissioned by Trujillo.  The three women, along with their driver Rufino de la Cruz, were taken into the sugar cane fields and beaten to death. 

    It is believed that Trujillo masterminded the murder of the Mirabal sisters because they were popular leaders of the rebel element in the country and were a definite threat to his regime.  Also, he was known to be extremely egotistical, and had been snubbed years earlier by Minerva at a party.  The assassinations backfired - the Mirabal sisters were much loved by the Dominican people, and their murders served to strengthen the cause of the revolution. 

    On May 30, 1961, Rafael Trujillo was himself assassinated by members of the revolutionary ranks, shot in his car as he was being driven along a deserted highway.  His death did not end dictatorial rule in the Dominican Republic, however.  He was replaced in his office by his son Ramfis Trujillo and a powerful military, and his assassins and their families and friends were systematically rounded up, tortured, and killed.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/time-butterflies/
    http://www.jlhs.nhusd.k12.ca.us/classes/social_science/La...
    http://www.learntoquestion.com/seevak/groups/2000/sites/m...

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 11:38 PM

  2. nuna
    nuna Student
    High School - 11th Grade

    the sisters die last and they where beaten to death after coming home from seeing there husbands in jail...and the dictator was shot 61 times and so was his workers and now everyone from his family is band from D.R. or will be killed.

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    Posted by nuna on Tuesday March 25, 2008 at 3:07 PM

  3. rachy23
    rachy23 Student
    High School - 10th Grade

    The dictator died after the the sisters died. Part of his death is due to that the people of the Dominican Republic were tired of the dictatorship and thought that the only way to regain freedom again was to kill Trujillo. The other half was also because the people of the Dominican Republic loved and admired the sisters bravery, they were very angry and upset that they were killed as it said that Trujillo was the one who sent the sisters to get killed. They die beaten to death and this is happended because tehy were part of the underground movement that wanted to kill Trujillo 

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    Posted by rachy23 on Wednesday March 26, 2008 at 8:28 PM

  4. trex2010
    trex2010 Student
    High School - 10th Grade

    heres a quick answer, opposed to all the other ones:

    The dictator, Trujillo, dies AFTER the mirabal sisters... 

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    Posted by trex2010 on Saturday March 29, 2008 at 12:34 PM