Julia Alvarez’s butterflies are the four Mirabal sisters, whose code name in the revolutionary underground was Mariposa, Spanish for butterfly. These women, daughters of Don Enrique Mirabal, a landed merchant-farmer who became prosperous and socially prominent, and his wife, Doña Mercedes, referred to as “Mamá” throughout the novel, were born into a rising middle class.

In the early 1930’s, an ambitious military man, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, barely literate and from humble origins, rose to be Dominican Chief of Military Operations. He seized the reins of government precipitously, declaring himself president after instigating the downfall of his predecessor.

Trujillo’s meteoric rise to power had begun in the army. He advanced quickly as those in line before him mysteriously disappeared. As second in command, he assured his ascendancy to Chief of Military Operations by devious means. He knew that his superior was having an affair with another man’s wife. One night he learned where the illicit couple planned to rendezvous. He informed the husband, who, lying in wait, killed the lovers in a jealous frenzy.

Trujillo thus became the second most powerful person in the country. He arranged his final ascent by engineering an uprising against the sitting president, then failing to respond to calls for help from the palace. As president, Trujillo, from whose regime Julia Alvarez’s family fled to the United States in 1960 when she was ten years old, retained power in two major ways: He annihilated his opposition without conscience, and he spent public money in visible ways to create an illusion of civic progress.

Alvarez tells the story of the Mirabal sisters in the first person. Each division of the book is headed by the name of one sister and by one or more dates. This structural device permits rounded development of each character because each sister speaks for herself in the first person but is also revealed as others see and comment about her.

Alvarez’s use of time is essentially sequential, although in some cases, as in Dedé’s opening section, it involves two or more nonsequential dates, in the latter instance 1994 and 1943. This is necessary because Dedé, the sister who survives the atrocity that killed the other three, is being interviewed by Alvarez, who remains much in the shadows more than three decades after the murders around which the novel revolves.

The technique Alvarez has developed results in readers’ coming to know the Mirabal sisters intimately, almost as people know members of their immediate families. As this feeling of intimacy grows, knowledge of the story’s outcome becomes agonizingly wrenching.

The novel poses a number of universal social questions. Most obviously, it is a strident statement about human rights and human dignity. It also becomes a forceful feminist statement. Minerva, the most independent of the daughters, is a feminist in every respect. Dedé, a submissive wife until she joins the revolutionary movement, divorces her husband and, after the political troubles have died down, becomes an extremely successful insurance agent, something she could never have done in the Dominican Republic as Jaimito’s wife.

Whereas Patria wants only to be married—she gains her desire at an early age—and have children, Minerva, who does not marry until she is twenty-nine, insists on attending the university and taking a law degree. Dedé and María Teresa, generally called Mate, begin as passive, conventional Hispanic women beholden to their husbands, as Mamá has been to her husband, although, as Alvarez reveals, Papá is the weakest member of the immediate family. Only once in Enrique’s lifetime does Mamá, who has never learned to read, publicly assume the control of which she is fully capable, and that is when Papá’s (and the family’s) future is severely threatened.

Alvarez deftly develops the theme that demonstrates how a bit-by-bit erosion of freedoms eventually eradicates them totally. She shows how a nation in the grips of a dictator becomes a fawning, paranoid society in which no one is secure. The walls have ears. People must put their minds in neutral and devote themselves to glorifying the megalomania of a dictator who makes their lives alternately—and at his own whim—sweet and bitter.

Early in the lives of his daughters, Don Enrique becomes a wealthy man. He owns a car and a truck and is prominent in his community, Ojo de Agua, whose lachrymose name suggests the inner torment of his family. The eldest Mirabal sisters are sent to a convent school to be groomed as submissive matrons. Even the fiercely independent Minerva, Papá’s favorite, submits partially: Upon graduation at age eighteen she returns home rather than going to the university as she wishes.

The turning point for Minerva comes when Trujillo invites Don Enrique to a Discovery Day Ball at his palace, requesting that Minerva accompany him. This addendum ignites suspicion: Trujillo is legendary for his appreciation—and exploitation—of virginal beauty. The Mirabal sisters remember how he whisked the beguiling seventeen-year-old Lina Lovatón from their convent school. He established Lina in a remote mansion and commanded the nuns to give her a diploma in absentia, placating them by contributing substantially to their school and building its gymnasium, named for Lina.

Minerva, uniquely successful at getting her way through her skilled use of logic, rebuffs the president’s advances at the ball and, when they become flagrant on the palace dance floor, she slaps his face with all her might. By doing this she gains his respect but engenders his smoldering animosity.

Minerva tells Trujillo that she wants to attend law school. He discourages her but eventually arranges for her admission. Four years later, she receives her diploma, but, revealing his strong upper hand, Trujillo withholds from her the necessary Dominican license to practice law.

Minerva marries Manolo, two years ahead of her in law school but five years younger. He becomes a leading figure in the Dominican underground, in which she also serves as an enthusiastic worker. She learns the code language of the movement, stores large quantities of arms and propaganda in her house, and becomes increasingly engrossed in seeking Trujillo’s downfall.

When the youngest sister, Mate, enters the university, Minerva has little difficulty involving her in the revolutionary movement. Patria, who during adolescence considered becoming a nun, is drawn less easily into revolutionary activities. Eventually, however, she all but loses her religious faith and joins in resisting the repressive Trujillo regime. Her house is destroyed by secret police. Her husband and seventeen-year-old son are arrested and detained.

Dedé leans toward joining the movement, but her husband, Jaimito, who turns out to be the mainstay of the extended family during its most trying times, strongly resists involvement. Wanting to save her marriage, Dedé holds out for as long as she can, but she finally decides that she must leave her husband and join the underground.

Pervasive in the novel is the closeness of the Mirabal family, reminiscent of Judith Ortiz Cofer’s representation of the cohesiveness of Hispanic families in her novels The Line of the Sun (1989) and The Latin Deli (1993). Alvarez demonstrates remarkable skill in leading her readers through the various stages of the sisters’ conversion from conventional Hispanic wives and mothers to women fighting for a cause.

Eventually, Minerva and Mate are arrested, as their husbands and Patria’s have been. After they are held at La Victoria Prison without access to attorneys, a kangaroo court sentences the two to five years’ imprisonment, which is finally reduced to a humiliating house arrest in Ojo de Agua. This house arrest permits them two excursions a week, provided that the sleazy representative of the secret police in Ojo de Agua, Tío Peña, issues them passes. They may go to church on Sundays, and they may visit their husbands at La Victoria on Thursdays.

During all this time, Trujillo, whose regime is crumbling, is obsessed by the Mirabal sisters, who are rapidly gaining celebrity as symbols of the resistance. He transfers Manolo and Leandro from La Victoria Prison to a prison in Puerto Plata, closer to home but accessible only over dangerous roads. Every Friday, the two women and their driver, Rufino, visit Puerto Plata without Mate, because she goes every Thursday to La Victoria and does not return home before they leave.

On November 25, 1960, however, Mate, returning on Thursday night, joins Patria and Minerva for the drive to Puerto Plata. The journey assumes ominous aspects from the start. A store clerk who sells them purses slips them a warning. At a deserted mountain pass, they spy Peña’s Mercedes parked outside one of Trujillo’s palaces. Nevertheless, they arrive in Puerto Plata safely.

After visiting Leandro and Manolo, they decide, despite bad weather, not to stay overnight with relatives, whose business has declined as a result of harboring them. By 4:30, they leave for home. At the pass near where they had seen Peña’s automobile, the road is blocked by secret police thugs. They grab the three sisters and their driver, beat them, and strangle them. The attackers then cram their corpses into their Jeep and push it over a cliff.

Dedé, who was unable to join her sisters on this trip, is now the only surviving Mirabal daughter. She and Mamá share responsibility for rearing the children of the dead sisters, who quickly are enshrined as symbols of the liberation movement.

Trujillo is assassinated in 1961 and replaced by a president who is little better. Manolo, released from prison, goes into the hills to organize opposition against the new president. In 1963, he dies there in a hail of bullets.

In the Time of the Butterflies is unerringly factual, based upon the transformation of one prosperous, God-fearing family from law-abiding citizens to revolutionaries who risk, and eventually give, their lives to overthrow a totalitarian regime. The story, fast-moving and spine-tingling, captures the drama of the evolution to revolution.

Alvarez understands the folklore of the Dominican people, as reflected in Fela, a black servant of the family, who, after the sisters die, begins communicating with their spirits and engaging in magical acts that border on voodoo. The book is replete with folk sayings, such as “Until the nail is hit, it doesn’t believe in the hammer,” and folk ways such as bringing a broom to the door when one wants guests to leave. When three of his daughters are about to go to boarding school, Papá complains that daughters are needles in the heart because they leave their fathers.

One heartening subplot in the story involves Papá’s infidelity. He keeps his mistress and three illegitimate daughters in a house on his land. Mamá learns of this and is devastated, although as a wife, Catholic, lacking marketable skills, she cannot realistically consider leaving her husband. Eventually Minerva discovers her father’s secret and is outraged. She confronts Enrique but soon grows sympathetic to the mistress and to her stepsisters. Finally she insists that they be educated, and she and Patria help pay for their schooling from their inheritance. Eventually Patria, now a pharmacist, helps smuggle luxuries to her stepsisters and their husbands in prison.

Bibliography

Bergman, Susan, ed. Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith. San Francisco: Harper, 1996. One chapter of this collection is “Chasing the Butterflies. The Mirabals: Dominican Republic, 1960,” Alvarez’s description of the path that led her to write about the Mirabal sisters.

Booklist. XC, July, 1994, p. 1892. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Chicago Tribune. October 24, 1994, V, p. 3. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

The Christian Science Monitor. October 17, 1994, p. 13. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Corpi, Lucha, ed. Máscaras. Berkeley: Third Woman Press, 1997. Included in this volume is Alvarez’s essay “An Unlikely Beginning for a Writer,” in which she describes her struggles to adjust to the English language and to perceive herself as a writer.

Cudjoe, Selwyn. Resistance and Caribbean Literature. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1980. This study of Alvarez’s predecessors helps map out one literary tradition to which she belongs.

Ghosh, Bishnupriya, and Brinda Bose, eds. Interventions: Feminist Dialogues on Third World Women’s Literature and Film. New York: Garland, 1997. Although it does not discuss In the Time of the Butterflies specifically, this collection of essays provides international perspective for Alvarez’s work.

Kirkus Reviews. LXII, July 1, 1994, p. 858. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Library Journal. CXIX, August, 1994, p. 123. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Ms. V, September, 1994, p. 79. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

The Nation. CCLIX, November 7, 1994, p. 552. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

The New York Times Book Review. XCIX, December 18, 1994, p. 28. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Newsweek. CXXIV, October 17, 1994, p. 77. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Publishers Weekly. CCXLI, July 11, 1994, p. 62. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

The Washington Post Book World. XXIV, November 27, 1994, p. 7. A review of In the Time of the Butterflies.

Dominican Republic

As Alvarez suggests in her title, In the Time of the Butterflies, her focus extends beyond the Mirabal sisters. She is interested in an entire era and lifestyle. To grasp the impact of Trujillo's rule and the importance of the Mirabal sisters, readers must also comprehend the nation they lived in. Consequently, Alvarez strives to evoke the atmosphere of the country, its landscape, its institutions, and its people. The political climate, naturally, is a central topic. Trujillo's oppressive regime casts a shadow over this period. By highlighting the nation's struggles over an extended time, Alvarez illustrates the devastating effects of Trujillo's reign on both the country and its citizens. She also explores the transformations the country experiences following Trujillo's assassination. The epilogue, in particular, emphasizes the traumas the nation has endured, the changes it has undergone, and the importance of remembering and learning from the "time of the butterflies."

Authoritarianism

Alvarez uses the Trujillo regime not only to illustrate the brutal tactics of this dictator but also to expose the effects of authoritarian governments. Under Trujillo, anyone involved in "subversive" activities—even simply criticizing the government—faces imprisonment, and possibly torture and death. Consequently, Dominicans live in a state of fear, however subtle it may be. They censor their conversations with others and often suppress their own thoughts. This environment fosters suspicion among people, hindering close relationships and ensuring individuals suffer in silence. Additionally, because Trujillo mandates that his portrait be displayed in homes and that he always be depicted as the nation's hero, he intrudes into the personal lives of citizens. He particularly influences the minds of children, who are taught to revere him alongside religious figures. These authoritarian strategies allow dictators to infiltrate and often dominate almost every aspect of people's lives. Alvarez underscores the impact of this situation when Dedé hears a radio commentator remark that dictatorships "are pantheistic. The dictator manages to plant a little piece of himself in every one of us." As Alvarez reveals, such a dictator also fulfills his own enormous desires at the expense of the suffering of thousands.

Change and Transformation

In a novel where the central motif is "butterfly," readers might anticipate that transformation will be a key theme. This expectation holds true for this book. Alvarez delves into the evolution of the Mirabal sisters as they advance towards their revolutionary endeavors. Additionally, she highlights the subtle shifts occurring in the country during Trujillo's rule. Trujillo faces criticism from the Catholic Church, and more citizens join the resistance against him. These aspects emphasize both the perilous and liberating nature of change, whether on a personal or political level. Through characters like Patria and the broader nation, Alvarez illustrates that people often need to be forcibly pushed out of their detrimental routines. Although change can be painful, it frequently enables individuals or even entire nations to uncover stronger, richer, and more courageous versions of themselves.

Courage and Cowardice

The Mirabal sisters clearly exemplify the power of courage. In Alvarez's portrayal, the sisters also exhibit vulnerability, as they are not always brave and self-confident. Their fears make them even more admirable because they overcome these fears and find the strength to act. They draw strength from each other, demonstrating that personal courage often relies on the support of others. While bravery may come more naturally to some, all the main characters possess this trait. Minerva's courage is admired by everyone, but even she experiences fear and doubt after her release from prison. Dedé, in contrast, talks about her own lack of boldness when she refuses to join her sisters. She fears losing her marriage and is also afraid for herself and her sisters. Nevertheless, in times of crisis, she acts bravely to protect others. For example, when stopped by Trujillo's men while with Minerva, she claims to be Minerva to protect her sister. She also finds the courage to continue living after the loss of her sisters, providing strength to her nieces and nephews. In 1994, she has the fortitude to confront both her personal past and her country's history honestly.

The courage of the Mirabal sisters is starkly contrasted with the fundamental cowardice of Trujillo and his men. Trujillo, who struts around, wears makeup and absurd medals, constantly needs to hear about his own superiority. These men hold power and use it unjustly and brutally. Even when Trujillo is clearly in the wrong, his men follow his orders to gain favor and avoid punishment. Their selfishness and cowardice further highlight the bravery of the Mirabal family in resisting such greed and inhumanity.

Family Life

The depiction of family life is crucial to Alvarez's portrayal of the Mirabals, aiming to present them as Dominican women rather than Dominican legends. The families of the Mirabal sisters are integral to their lives, providing them with strength and support. Despite numerous conflicts, they help each other even when they disagree. Naturally, their family commitments also render the Mirabals susceptible to painful losses. For example, Patria mourns her stillborn child and constantly worries about Nelson after his arrest. The sisters also endure suffering due to their father's infidelity, although they eventually accept their half-sisters. Dedé and Mamá Mirabal experience profound grief when Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa are killed. Alvarez places significant emphasis on the sisters' children, effectively conveying their need for them and their readiness to sacrifice for their children's futures. By highlighting the children, Alvarez communicates the powerful loyalties that motivate the sisters, causing them both guilt and pain. Without this focus on family, Alvarez would not as effectively convey the sacrifices made by the Mirabal family for a cause greater than themselves.

Gender Roles

Alvarez's emphasis on gender underscores the accomplishments of the Mirabal sisters. They exist in a country and era where gender roles are strictly defined, with men occupying positions of power and women largely confined to domestic roles. Alvarez illustrates these realities through Enrique Mirabal's efforts to compel his daughters to adhere to their gender limitations. For instance, he refuses to let Minerva attend law school despite her evident capability. Alvarez also highlights the repercussions of gender definitions through Dedé and Jaimito's marriage. Dedé is highly intelligent and possesses strong business acumen, but Jaimito prevents her from utilizing these abilities because he wants to "wear the pants" in the family. He tries to uphold his notions of masculinity, authority, and honor by managing their business affairs, often with disastrous results. Dedé's business success after their divorce attests to the falseness of these gender distinctions.

Alvarez showcases the complexity of women's lives by depicting women who challenge gender limitations, such as Minerva and her friends at school, many of whom go on to have successful professional careers. Even Patria, who relishes the more traditional roles of wife and mother, becomes involved in revolutionary politics. Alvarez also uses her female characters to illustrate changes in attitudes toward gender. The Mirabal sisters clearly step outside the bounds of traditional feminine behavior in their country. Yet, Alvarez also depicts the further defiance of the sisters' daughters and even their mother, who advises Minou, Minerva's daughter, to pursue a career before marrying, despite having opposed this desire in Minerva years earlier. Ultimately, Alvarez's focus on gender allows her to highlight the breadth of the Mirabal sisters' challenges and achievements in life.

Setting

In the Time of the Butterflies is set in the Dominican Republic and spans the years from 1938 to 1994, although not all these years are depicted in the novel. This period is marked by the authoritarian rule of Rafael Trujillo, which heavily influences both the country and the lives of its people. The Dominican Republic is predominantly Catholic, with the Church playing a significant role in society. It is also a largely patriarchal society, where men typically hold positions of power, and women are often expected to sacrifice personal careers, though this expectation is not as strict as it once was. Trujillo's prisons are a significant element in the novel, and Alvarez skillfully contrasts their brutality with the lush and fertile landscapes of the country.

Historical Fiction

Through the creation of fictional characters and scenarios based on historical figures and events, Alvarez explores the role of the novel in understanding history. Does placing real people in a fictional context lessen their importance—or worse, result in unethical representation? Does altering historical facts to suit a writer's narrative weaken the messages she aims to deliver? Alvarez addresses such concerns in the novel's postscript. She does not claim historical accuracy in her work. Instead, she states that she wanted "to immerse ... readers in an epoch in the life of the Dominican Republic that I believe can only finally be understood by fiction, only finally redeemed by the imagination." Her goal is to convey the emotional and psychological truths of the era, rather than strict historical facts. By fictionalizing, she offers readers her perspective on the Mirabal family, the political and social contexts they navigated, and the lessons their lives and deaths impart. For Alvarez, the purpose of a novel is to serve as "a way to travel through the human heart," rather than a "historical document."

Multiple Points of View

Alvarez narrates the Mirabal sisters' stories from their own perspectives. Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa each narrate three chapters, while Dedé narrates three chapters and the epilogue, which briefly covers the years between 1960 and 1994. In the novel's postscript, Alvarez mentions that she started writing about the Mirabals to understand the source of their bravery in opposing Trujillo's oppressive regime. However, she notes that "the characters took over, beyond polemics and facts," leading her to fictionalize them. By using multiple viewpoints, Alvarez is able to craft her fictional versions of the Mirabal sisters and delve deeply into their differing personalities. Each sister has unique motivations for joining or not joining the underground movement against Trujillo, and their personal narratives illustrate the evolution of their political beliefs. These narratives also depict the depth of their love for others and the challenges they face in maintaining their resilience amid severe adversity. This narrative approach enables Alvarez to avoid creating a "mythological" portrayal of the Mirabals, which she believes would "dismiss the challenge of their courage as impossible for us, ordinary men and women." Thus, her use of individual perspectives is crucial in developing more human characters who she hopes remain "true to the spirit of the real Mirabals."

Diary Entries

María Teresa's chapters are composed of her diary entries from her childhood, young adulthood, and her time in prison. These entries provide a more fragmented view of events compared to the chapters narrated by her sisters. The younger María Teresa's diary entries also offer a child's perspective on significant family events, such as Patria's stillborn child, Minerva's friendship with the radical Hilda, and their father's death. Each of her journals includes drawings that reflect María Teresa's emotional and psychological growth. For example, she sketches shoes and a dress in her first journal; in the second, she draws a ring, Minerva's house, and a bomb; and in the third, she depicts the layout of her prison cell.

Flashbacks

While the entire novel is essentially a flashback to the lives of the Mirabals, Dedé's chapters most explicitly use this device. Her chapters start with her reflections and conversations in 1994, then transition back in time as she delves into her memories. This technique highlights the lingering impact of the past on the present and underscores the immense losses suffered by both Dedé and the country. The flashbacks also contrast Dedé's desire to preserve the past with the young generation's wish to move on and forget it entirely.

Sense of Inevitability

By starting the book with Dedé in 1994, Alvarez immediately brings the deaths of the Mirabal sisters to the forefront. This knowledge impacts the reader's perception of the characters and their lives. Even during the joyful moments in the book, the unavoidable fate of the sisters casts a shadow of impending tragedy and loss. It also shifts the focus away from the plot, as readers are not left wondering about the characters' fates. Instead, readers are encouraged to delve into the characters' personalities, their relationships, the reasons behind their tragic end, and the aftermath of their deaths.

Spanish Phrasing

Although Alvarez writes the novel in English, she frequently incorporates Spanish words and phrases such as Sor (sister), Tía or Tío (aunt or uncle), por Dios (for Heaven's sake), and El Jefe (The Chief). In his review titled "Sisters in Death" in The New York Times Book Review, Roberto González Echevarría argues that these "Hispanisms" "mar" the book because "Once we accept the idea of English-speaking Mirabals, there is no reason for them to have accents." However, Isabel Zakrzewski Brown offers a different perspective in her article "Historiographic Metafiction in In the Time of the Butterflies" in South Atlantic Review. She argues that Alvarez's approach provides "an artful means of approximating the English-speaking reader to the ambience within which the Mirabal sisters lived."

Trujillo governed the Dominican Republic with an iron grip for over three decades. Initially, he maintained his dictatorship through any means necessary, and later, by indulging in his cruel whims. He was bolstered by his secret police and the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. Additionally, he was supported by the attitudes of many citizens, as exemplified by Papá Mirabal's saying, "don't annoy the bees."

1. Research which other countries in Central and South America have been under dictatorial rule. Identify which of these have been allies of the United States and explore the reasons for these alliances.

2. Alvarez mentioned that the most intriguing aspect of writing fiction is finding where her different worlds intersect or merge. We all inhabit multiple worlds, both private and public. Discuss how we navigate and separate these overlapping worlds.

3. Identify and discuss issues in our nation that can be described as being "between the devil and the deep blue sea."

4. What transpired in the Dominican Republic following Trujillo's assassination?

5. What type of government does the Dominican Republic have today?

6. Compare the lives of people in the Dominican Republic today with their lives under Trujillo's regime.

7. In an article for Library Journal, Alvarez shared her criteria for selecting books for her personal library. She chooses authors whose work enhances her understanding of life, books recommended by trusted readers, new books in areas of current interest, or books for research purposes. How can you apply these principles to choose books for your own library?

8. In an article for The Writer, Alvarez mentioned that each morning, she begins her writing routine by reading poetry and then prose. She stated, "I read my favorite writers to remind me of the quality of writing I am aiming for." Discuss a writer who has influenced your own writing.

9. In the same article, Alvarez noted, "it's by what people have written and continue to write, our stories and creations, that we understand who we are.… It [writing] clarifies and intensifies; it reduces our sense of isolation and connects us to each other." Discuss an author who has helped you discover more about yourself. What was it about this author that facilitated this discovery?

10. Compare the literary work of Julia Alvarez with that of Chicano writer Sandra Cisneros.