In the Time of the Butterflies

Image: Google

Maysa Michel Cordero

Language: Spanish 

Book Title: En el Tiempo de las Mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies)

Author: Julia Álvarez

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

Editor:  Editora Taller - República Dominicana

Year published: 1994

Summary

In this book, En El Tiempo De Las Mariposas, Julia Alvarez tells the heroic life of the Mirabal sisters (Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal) during the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Trujillo was a bloody dictator who took power of the Dominican Republic from the late 1930 until 1961, oppressing people and taking countless lives. The Mirabal sisters were young and pious women, who were politically committed to overthrow the Trujillo regime. In consequence, the sisters were harassed, persecuted and imprisoned. Their families suffered retaliation from the military intelligence service. “The Butterflies” (Las Mariposas) was the secret name of the Mirabal sisters while they were involved in underground political activities against the dictatorship. Furthermore, the book describes the perspective of these three sisters, including a fourth one who later survived them. The butterflies fought arbitrariness, injustice and the cult of personality in pursuit of justice, equality and inclusive Dominican society. The novel reaches its climax with the assassination of these three Mirabal sisters, which occurred on November 25, 1960, missing only few months away from the overthrow of Trujillo.The Mirabal sisters, thus martyred, became heroic figures in their country.

Recommendation  

The Mirabal sisters are extraordinary characters from reality, who certainly provided much of the strength that contains in this story during the most traumatic dictatorship in Latin America. They were known as Las Mariposas (the butterflies), symbolizing the hope for a small, unprotected and vulnerable country. Personally, I am proud that women had been the initiators of this mission. Every person who is proud of and committed to his or her country should read this book. Also, at this present time, there is a continuing emergence of such ‘’ butterflies,’’ who are very capable of defending their own countries.