• text hold power over women? How is this power measured and enacted? What do the Mirabal sisters do to empower themselves? 
• For discussion: What expectations to the Mirabal sisters face as women? When do they act contrary to these expectations? When and why do they fulfill their expected roles as wives and mothers? 
• For discussion: When does femininity disempower the Mirabal sisters, and when are they able to use their gender to their advantage? Are there any examples of womanhood itself being an asset in the text? 
• For discussion: How important is romance to each of the Mirabal sisters? When do they prioritize their romantic lives over their political lives? When and why do those priorities shift? 
• For discussion: Compare and contrast the way Papá and Trujillo hold power over Minerva’s life. In what way are the roles of father and president similar, and how are they different? How does Minerva react to each? 

Interpreting Historical Fiction: Though Alvarez created much of the dialogue and detail in the text, her novel follows historical individuals as they carried out critical events in the Dominican Republic in the middle of the 20th century. The novel asks readers to consider not only the characters and events themselves but also the artistic license Alvarez took in writing her novel. 

• For discussion: Ask students to fact-check the events and characters in the novel. What changes to the historical events did Alvarez make? What is fact, and what is fiction? 
• For discussion: What effect does the shifting point of view have on the events of the story? Why did Alvarez have certain characters convey key events? In particular, what is the effect of Patria narrating the Fourteenth of June Movement? What is the effect of Mate informing readers that Papá dies? 
• For discussion: How is the experience of reading the novel different from reading a book of historical scholarship? What unique understanding does reading the novel bring? 

The Injustices of Tyranny: In the Time of the Butterflies depicts the Dominican Republic as it existed during Trujillo’s dictatorship. While many of the dynamics in the story are unique to that place in time, other aspects of Trujillo’s regime are commonly seen in examples of tyranny throughout the 20th century, such as suppression of freedom of speech, maintenance of secret police for intimidation and coercion, and the disappearance of undesirable citizens. Studying the lives of the Mirabal sisters shows the effects of life under a tyrannical government and the power of single individuals to create national change. 

• For discussion: How do each of the Mirabal sisters come to understand the nature of their government? What convinces each of them to risk their safety to change their government? 
• For discussion: Is Papá complicit in Trujillo’s government? To what extent is he, and those benefiting from Trujillo’s government, at fault for the injustices in the Dominican Republic? 
• For discussion: Based upon Dedé’s view in the Epilogue, was the revolution successful? How has political and social life in the Dominican Republic changed since the death of her sisters? Has the social change in the nation since been worthy of their sacrifice? 

Additional Questions for Discussion: 

• What sacrifice does each sister make as a part of the revolution? Introduce students to the term “martyr” and ask them to consider the extent to which it applies to the Mirabal sisters. 
• What does In the Time of the Butterflies suggest about human behavior in the face of oppression? How do those with power diminish others? What motivates citizens to risk their lives and livelihoods to act against those in power? 
• What role does the Catholic Church play in the text? In what ways does Catholicism empower the citizens of the Dominican Republic, and in what ways is it another example of patriarchal, imperialist oppression? 

Tricky Issues to Address While Teaching

In the Time of the Butterflies Is Complex and Challenging: Told from multiple points of view across six decades, many students, particularly those unfamiliar with Latin American history, will struggle to follow and understand the events in the novel. 

• What to do: Use study guides, timelines, and interactive reenactment activities to support students in understanding the events in the text. 
• What to do: Discuss with students the implications of Alvarez’s authorial choice to divide the narration between characters. What attributes does each character bring to the events that they convey? How would the experience of the story been different if Alvarez selected one narrator or a third-person omniscient narrator?

The Ending Is Violent and Tragic: The novel culminates when Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal are assassinated by the Trujillo regime. 

• What to do: Invite students to consider the author’s reason for writing: to share the story of the Mirabal sisters with North American audiences. What value do students gain from learning about their story? How do the Mirabal sisters compare to and contrast from revolutionary heroes in US history? 
• What to do: Ask students to compare the social dynamics in their world to those the Mirabal sisters experienced. What would students do if they were in the Dominican Republic during Trujillo’s regime? Do the Mirabal sisters offer any lessons that are applicable to them? 
• What to do: Remind students that reading tragic material is valuable as it allows them an opportunity to discuss such things. Further, it prepares readers to approach the tragedies of life. What lessons do the Mirabal sisters offer in terms of dealing with grief and trauma and in fighting social, political, or economic injustice? 

Alternative Approaches to Teaching In the Time of the Butterflies

While the main ideas, character development, and discussion questions above are typically the focal points of units involving this text, the following suggestions represent alternative readings that may enrich your students’ experience and understanding of the novel. 

Focus on the male characters in the text. How do Papá and Trujillo reflect individuals that are actively and passively responsible for injustice in the Dominican Republic? How do the sisters’ husbands reflect different attitudes toward women participating in government and politics? 

Focus on class conflict. At the story’s start, the Mirabal family is comfortably positioned in the upper-middle class. How does their socioeconomic status, and the changes therein, affect the choices the sisters make? Compare and contrast the freedoms the protagonists have with the freedoms their half-sisters from Papá’s second family have. 

Focus on narrative structure and authority. Consider the relationship between plot and point of view as the novel progresses. Why is the Fourteenth of June conveyed through Patria? Why are Minerva’s early revolutionary actions narrated by Mate, who is more preoccupied with falling in love than the revolution itself? How does each narrator’s unreliability contribute to the construction of the text? 

Focus on the prevalence of violence. Political violence is a prominent motif in the text, used to intimidate, manipulate, coerce, torture, silence, and kill the people of the Dominican Republic. Conversely, the revolutionaries also use violence to try to overthrow Trujillo. To what extent is violence an effective political tool? How do individuals combat violence? Is violence an effective and just means of empowerment?