In the time of the butterflies Essay

1 Overview In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about the struggle of the Mirabal sisters in their fight against the totalitarian of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, the merciless ruler of the Dominican Republic. The, though, fictitious, book tackles many issues mainly centered on the Dominican Republic Government and the true essence of its function. The Mirabal sisters went through drastic changes, one of the notable themes in the book is that the sisters put photographs of Jesus Christ and Trujillo together and cite differences between the two. The tremors of a dictatorial rule to citizens is also another attention grabbing theme in the narrative. The story in its entirety is told by the famous Mirabel sisters who each tell their version of how they fought Trujillo’s tyranny. The book was based on a true story Summary In an era where free will is totally controlled by one person, four sisters showed courage in its truest form and joined a rogue faction to fight a dictator to the end. The tale of the Mirabel sisters tells a story of courage and repulsion. The four sisters denied dictatorial decree in every means necessary until their lungs ceased to draw breath. The narrative starts with the surviving Mirabal sister, Dede. Telling th events of their struggle to an American interviewer. The succeeding chapters are told by each sister. Throughout the book, the sisters’ endeavors against the government, apart from this, a personal struggle on the hands of Trujillo are also told by each sister. Three of the Mirabal sisters who were major contributors to the rebel group that fought against Trujillio were beaten to death in 1960. In the Time of the Butterflies 2 The Root of all Evil Trujillo claimed his name to power the hard way, meaning he did not simply grabbed it but he worked his way to achieve it. The path to his reign began when the United States conducted an occupation on the Dominican Republic in the twentieth century. The U. S Marine-trained Trujillo quickly rose among the ranks in the Guardia Nacional, an army of locals trained by the U. S armed forces. The United States made many developments during the occupation. The Americans built infrastructures, developed public health, and established schools, creating a middle-class society. Trujillo enrolled himself in a military school operated by America, in the year 1921. By the end of the year, he was assigned to command a particular battalion. This was the stepping stone to his rule. He the collaborated with rebel troops and forced the current president to file an immediate resignation. Come the next election, Trujillo was the sole candidate for the Dominican Party. Rafael Trujillo’s Tyrant career was already put into practice upon the beginning of his term. This is because of the disastrous hurricane that hit the country, Santo Domingo was totally devastated. Help soon arrived and the United States Red Cross provided the funds and the City of Santo Domingo was reconstructed by Trujillo. Tranquility lasted for a year, Trujillo later began to make the citizens aware of his powers. He decreed that the only political party shall be the Dominican Party, hence making elections only a formality for his dictatorship to last. Government employees were forced to shell out ten percent of their wage to the National Treasury. All who opposed the decrees met their demise. From own yard, Trujillo expanded his domain to the local populace. Trujillo was incomprehensive of the biggest challenge to his career, upon unveiling his will to the people, Maria Argentina Minerva Mirabal refused to be controlled by Trujillo and fought for what she believed in, Trujillo was unmindful of the other threats and the only dreadful thought to him was to be beaten by a woman, when Trujillo finally got rid of his greatest nemesis, he thought the he finally won. Contrary to his convictions, the assassination of the key figures of the resistance led to a revolution in a nationwide scale which led to the plot of his his death on May 30, 1961. In the Time of the Butterflies 3 The Way of the Butterfly Minerva was the second born of the Mirabal Sisters. Minerva grew up a strong woman with rebellious tendencies. She started concerning herself when she noticed that she can’t even speak her mind in her own home. In Minerva’s narrative chapter, she told that her eyes opened little-by-little, she exclaimed that her primary motives were political as she fought for her freedom, as a girl and as a citizen. As she sees the torment inflicted by Trujillo’s cronies to her friends’ families, in her years with Immaculada Concepcion, her separatist ideology was turning into angst. Her revitalized cause went on, as she got associated with the Popular Socialist Party. Her acquaintance with the group’s leader strengthened Minerva’s rogue emotions toward the Trujillo Administration. These sentiments that she had were also backed up by literary works with leftist implications and radio frequencies from the nearby lands of Cuba and Venezuela that centered discussion on the Dominican Republic’s political turmoil. Minerva’s first encounter withTrujillo was when the Mirabals were invited to a party by Trujillo, the invitation was personally brought by prominent local government officials. Don Enrique, Dona Chea, Patria with her husband Pedro, Dede along with her husband Jaime and Minerva attended the Banquet. A storm ruined the party which prompted the family to make a graceful exit. Minerva’s father was immediately apprehended the next day, followed by Minerva and her Mother the day after. Trujillo, angered by the family’s early departure, treated such act as a form of disrespect. Prior to their arrest, the governor suggested that Don Enrique should submit a letter of apology to Trujillo. The head of the Mirabal family complied, however Trujillo was not satisfied. Minerva was detained with her mother at he Hotel Nacional apart from Don Enrique who was barred at the Ciudad Trujillo(Santo Domingo). Everyday, Minerva was taken to the Fortaleza Ozama for interrogation. Minerva was questioned about communism charges and was also obliged to write a letter of apology but declined. The connections of the family brought Minerva and her family back to liberty’s arm. In the Time of the Butterflies 4 They were again arrested, after two years of freedom, Don Enrique was incarcerated on Ozama while Minerva and the other females were placed under house arrest. They were convicted of failure to purchase a book written about Trujillo. The truth behind the arrest was actually Minerva’s contempt for Trujillo’s ideologies in government. These accounts proved to be too straining for their father, fear and stress brought Don Enrique Mirabal to his grave in 1953. Due to this recent events, Minerva’s motives list added a fresh one, a personal motive, her angst turned into desire, the desire to get Rafael Trujillo out of position. She went to the city of Santo Domingo to study law in her belief that it would give her a big leap in her struggle against Trujillo’s governance, she was then persuaded by a law professor, Lio Morales and taught her that Trujillo was Neither the God nor the Supreme Ruler whom the people believed he is. As she was in law school, her her studies were ordered to stop due to the sensitivity of her topic. The next years were periods of peace for Minerva as she led a normal life. Minerva and her sisters pursued romantic relationships. Four years later Minerva would be part of an internal anti-regime group in her re-kindled attempts to abolish the Trujillo-led government. The group in which Minerva’s husband was the president, was named The 14th of June Movement. The movement was named as such as a tribute to the Dominican Liberation Troops who were slaughtered by Trujillo’s army in an effort to end his regime. The group has an elite subgroup â€Å"The Butterflies† in which Minerva is a part of. The members of the Leftist Sect were apprehended and later released due to increasing anti-government uprisings. Unfortunately, some of the prisoners remained, one of them was Minerva’s husband Manuel. This move by Trujillo did not stop Minerva in fighting for her cause, one after noon when Minerva was on her way home from a visit to her husband, the vehicle they were in was ambushed by the Trujillo Soldiers. They were brought in a sugarcane filled where the unarmed Minerva together with her sisters Patria and Maria Teresa. Here they were ruthlessly beaten to death. Minerva did not die in vain. Her death served as a wake up call and started an anti Trujillo which resulted to the ruler’s assassination, thus ending his barbarous sovereignty. References Alvarez, J. (1994). In the Time of the Butterflies. New York. Alonquin.