This is an online journal for Mr. Lucero's English classes. Students should leave their responses to weekly prompts as comments. Their responses will be graded twice a month.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
English IV In the Time of Butterflies Journal
Write a journal about each sister's personality and interests. Is there one sister who may be considered the main character of the novel? Why/Why not?
Patria Mercedes Mirabal the eldest of the Mirabal sisters from a very young age has always been very religious. When she was a child she would always mind her posture in church and never to eat meat duing Lent. She was as fastidious and meticulous as a pre-teen could be, the priest as well as the nuns believed that she would be one of the greatest blessings on their church. Unfortunately as Patria began to develop so did her body and her mind, she began to have urges that she was not familiar with before and had desires that were against the church. When she met Pedrito Gonzalez she fell hopelessly in love with him and gave up the church for she wanted to have a family with him. She even though fruitful with children is still very religious and it remains to stay that way. After the loss of one of her children she has become a very over protective person, always trying to shield her family from danger, in a very dangerous world.
Maria Teresa Mirabal the youngest of the main for Mirabal sisters is just that very young. As the youngest she has always been very naive, this is probably because she has been babied all her life and shielded from the dark ugly truth of the world. As a young ling she battles with the usual drama, awkwardness and boys. But as her life continues she is faced with much more difficult challenges and hard ships. The first blow to her innocence is the realization that a man she was taught to look up to as god like was actually the devil. Learning that El Jefe wasn't who he had seemed made young Maria start to question everything in her live and taught her not to accepting anything at face value. The second tragedy to strike Maria was the untimely death of her father. After this she became incredibly sad about most things in her life and began to put boys out of her mind. She looked up to her older sister Minerva, a strong independent woman who didn't need a man to define her. After Minerva in fact did get married, Maria focused on her school work. Years later she began to get mixed up in Minerva's business and wanted to work to bring down Trujillo. In Maria's rebellious actions she met a young renegade who she fell in love with and married.
Dede Mirabal the sister who lived. Just from this statement you can draw some inferences, for instance you can ask your self, "why didn't she die, what made her so special?". The truth is she was the only one of the Mirabal sisters who chose not to rock the boat and lived the life of the woman, cooking and cleaning, doing what she was "suppose" to do. She knew that Trujillo was not good man but she chose not to do anything and stood by. You could say this was smart or this was selfish but who is to say. She did not believe in the war her sisters were fighting and her husband also not wanting her to get involved gave her more reason to not join the resistance. She lives a very normal, average, mundane lifestyle selling insurance and that is what normal people do.
Lastly Minerva Mirabal the person I presume to be the main character. Minerva is a strong, smart, independent, out spoken, rebellious women. Ever since she was a young child she wanted to improve woman's rights by becoming a lawyer and fight all of the injustices in her life, even though she was discouraged by her father. As a child she was very altruistic and befriended a young lady and learned the truth of Trujillo and immediately wanted to do something about it. She became more out spoken and after seeing what Trujillo did to one of her friends she began to role with what some may call a bad crowd and thus started her subversive road to rebellion. As time drew on she progressively became more involved in the revolt of Trujillo, she met people from the Capital. Well educated you men and women knew what was going on in the government were the perfect people Minerva needed to be around. After marrying a fellow anarchist her rebellious behavior began to become more explosive with weapon caches and clock bombs. If the is not the main character she is easily the most interesting one.
The four Mirabal sisters as explained in history and as well as in the novel, In The Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa of the Mirabal family, and have distinct personalities that contribute to the story. Patria, the eldest of the four sisters, is found to be the most religious of the sisters causing her to be more reserved and obedient than her sisters. Because she was very religious and believed in this path, it allowed for her other sisters to go a good religious school for an education. I believe that if it weren’t for Patria’s yearning to go to school, Minerva would not have seen the horrible side of the Dictator Trujillo from meeting Sinita, a girl who also attended the same school. Minerva, out of all the sisters appears to be the most rebellious not only to her family, but to the government, especially Trujillo. The major key aspect of her character is that she was the one who sparked up attention of Trujillo’s infamous reputation and dictatorship among the Mirabal family. She also found her husband from their interest of rebelling against the government. As for Maria Teresa, the youngest of them all, at first, she is shown as to be naïve, sensitive, and very worrysome. But as the novel continues, you can easily see her personality grow and mature, especially in her journal entries and how frequently she began to write in it and her language and visuals as well. Dede, the only surviving Mirabal, is a very humble and open person as seen in the earlier chapters, revealing her sisters stories to the news reporter. Rarely has she been involved with any rebellious nor subjective opinions towards their current governor, but rather objectivity to herself. I believe that in terms of the novel, none of the sisters play a real main character in the novel, but there are often points in the story that truly do give them the lead such as the constant change in narrators each chapter to fully explain the relevance in which it became important for one of the sisters to be explaining it from a certain point of view.
In Julia Alvarez’s “In the Time of the Butterflies,” it depicts a striking story of a non-fictional event that involved four sisters named Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. Each one with their own distinct personalities and stories, that is hard to say who would be the main character. Alvarez decided to write her novel in the varying perspectives of the four sisters in order to feel as if they are all main characters, adding and creating intertwined puzzle pieces that are necessary to embrace the entirety of the story. To understand the story, let us explore the minds of the individual sisters starting from the first-born. Patria Mirabel is the oldest of the four sisters. She is portrayed as a religious girl that pursues her hopes of exploring her spiritual beliefs as a nun; yet she still has an unnerving longing for lust that engulfs her soul in the flames of desire. She grew up being quickly recognized by the Church and its community, that she gained quite the reputation and potential for becoming a nun. When she unexpectedly met Pedrito Gonzales, her hidden desires gave in and she fell in love with him. She put her life at church to the side in order to marry him and start a family. With such a religious background, it makes you wonder why she would be one of the three that died. This is why she is a significant piece in the puzzle. Oddly, the only sister that survived was Dede. Dede is the one that leaves you wondering why she would be the one living. In many ways it would have seemed that she would be the one that would be killed, but in another aspect it’s perfectly clear why she is alive. She tried to use her husband as an excuse as to why she doesn’t want to be involved in the rebellion. She lived the more “conventional” lifestyle of a woman in those days and later took up a job at a life insurance company. It would seem almost as if she would be the main character, seeming that she is the only one alive, yet her story in the process of the sisters creating history does not seem influential enough to match up with the other sisters. This brings us to the true insurgent of the sisters, Minerva. Minerva is extremely admirable in the sense that she is so strong in many different aspects such as mentally and spiritually. She is always willing to speak her mind on the situation at hand at fights for what she believes in. She is the polar opposite of what a “conventional” woman would be in those times. From an early age she learned the true horrors of El Jefe’s regime which was the foundation of her negative views of the government. Later on she pairs up with another leader of insurgency named Leo and further fights for the liberty of her people by setting bombs and having weapons. She would be the one that is considered the more obvious indication of a main character, yet she is not alive to tell it. Is it possible for a main character to no longer live throughout parts of the story? The last sister is Maria Teresa. Maria Teresa is the youngest of all the sisters and is much younger than her older sisters. From her many diary entries throughout the novel, she seems to have a much more innocent childhood than her other sisters yet many adversities are thrown her way when she begins to grow older. After the death of her father, she wants to become a strong independent woman like her older sister Minerva and later decides she wants to help in fighting for the revolution. She catches the reader off guard by transforming from an innocent young girl, into a strong and rebellious woman. She is the last bit of the story that allows all of their individual pieces to the story of life, into one coherent, vividly painted image.
In The Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, is a story of the Mirabal sisters that go through a big journey with their lives and what they have done to their country that a lot of people admired. Each of the Mirabal sisters have their own beliefs and personalities that sets them to be a unique individual in the their family and in the novel.
Maria Teresa is the youngest one in the Mirabal sisters, and everyone sees her a naive and sensitive. There was no worries of problems for her due to the fact that the father liked to keep her close to him which it did not allow Maria to go out and explore new things like her sisters. As she was babied for most of her life by her father that she did not know what was going on in the outside world and what other people were facing. For example, how Maria thought that El Jefe was a good person due to many praises of him that later on she found out that he's not the type of a person that she thought he was.
Patria Mirabal was the oldest of all the sisters and she was someone that strongly believed in God and everything she do is related to him. She would always look up to him for guidance and to protect her family. She never once betrayed God in anyway, although she had let go of her religious status a bit when she fell in love with her husband that they got married and had a family together. She was very popular and well known because of her religious beliefs and how she became a nun, her sisters had a easy life due to the fact that they went to a good school.
Minerva Mirabal is the most rebellious girl out of all the four sister. Ever since she was a little girl she knew what she wanted in her life and how to do it although no one really gave her the support, especially her father. She is someone that is not afraid to do whatever that she needs to do to stop something, and she's always ready to speak her mind knowing that sometimes there will be consequences that she needs to take, like how she spoke up to El Jefe knowing she shouldn't have but still did it anyway. She always found the man she loved through the beliefs she believed on taking down El Jefe for all his wrong doings because she wasn't really interested in guys.
Last but not least, Dede Mirabal, the only sister that survived from the crazy chaos. Dede wasn't a rebellious person nor religious. She did not follow what her other sisters were doing, she just minded her own business and problems. She lived a normal like, married to the love of her life, created a beautiful family together, and did chores like a wife and mother. Although she knew all the dirt that El Jefe did to people and to the country but she chose to ignore it for her own good and because her husband wasn't into the things that her sister were doing, it gave her more reasons to stay away from that chaos, although she and her husband helped her sisters and family when they needed help.
In my opinion, there is no main character out of all the sisters because they were independent and each one of them had their own unique personality that makes them stand out as an individual in the novel. The things that they have done can be seen as the main character, each one of the sister had contributed something big into the novel and each of them can be a main character, they helped one another
The novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez portrays the political struggles of the Dominican Republic through the perspectives of four sisters, Dede, Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa Mirabal. Each sister has a distinct personality and different motives for participating or not participating in the revolution.
Dede Mirabal is the sole survivor out of all the Mirabal sisters. She is soft spoken, a people pleaser, but is also very pragmatic. She is focused on taking care of her family and making sure that everyone is okay. She doesn’t like going against authority, whether it be from her father, her husband, or El Jefe. Dede thinks more about other people’s happiness before her own, and often puts her needs on the backburner as she tends to everyone else’s. She loses herself in the process and all the while her marriage deteriorates. Her sister Minerva is the stark opposite.
Minerva can be described as fierce, rebellious, scholarly and daring. She sets her own goals and doesn’t let other people control her. Not even the leader of her country. She does not degrade herself, or take no for an answer. If she does not agree with something she will say so. Minerva focuses much of her energy to find freedom for her country, especially the women. She is the first of the Mirabal’s to associate and participate in the treasonous activity. Although she is the most passionate, she can also be reckless. Her dangerous actions include slapping El Jefe, listening to illegal radio stations, harboring enemies of the state, and storing weapons. She is the catalyst of the storyline. Her actions start the major events in the book. Without her, the other sisters wouldn’t have mustered the courage to rebel against their government. Minerva is not necessarily the main character, but she is a pivotal one.
Patria Mercedes is the oldest of the Mirabals. She is loving, compassionate, and very pious. She is the traditional and model wife. She cooks, cleans and cares for her family. She is depicted as the model wife for her beauty and her piousness. But she hides her wild and rebellious side until the time when she decides to join the underground rebellion with Minerva.
The youngest sister, Maria Teresa, is extremely sweet, eager, but also naive. She watches her sisters grow and wonders what she wants in her life. Although she is primarily occupied by boys she focuses on school as she gets older. Later she joins Minerva and meets her future husband along the way. She is quite eager to participate in the dangerous aspects of the rebellion such as harboring weapons and making bombs.
Each sister equally contributes to the telling of the story. Although Minerva takes the most action, each character is essential to the story and how Alvarez wanted to portray it. If Minerva was truly the main character, Alvarez would have probably kept the story from her point of view.
Coming from a tight knit household and raised among their extended family in the town of Ojo de Agua, the four Mirabal sisters were still able to mature and develop their personal identities and interests. Although similar in their passion for freedom and justice, each of the Mirabal sisters showcased their thoughts in different ways and intensities.
Patria was the eldest of the sisters. Religion was very important to her to the point that she even wanted to be a nun. As a baby she was very quiet and didn’t give her parents any trouble. Always thinking about others before herself, she gave whatever she can to those in need. At 14 she went to Inmaculada Concepcion but not before some compromising with their strict father that thought that Patria as a nun would be a waste of a pretty girl. As a devout Catholic, she paid close attention during the early mass at school and she was disciplined during Lent as no meat or steaming broth touched her lips when she got sick and had to go to the clinic. Although she seemed like she was surely going to be nun, Patria fell in love with Pedrito Gonzales and chose to have a family with him instead. At first she was worried about Minerva speaking out against Trujillo but her faith ended up shifting as she noticed that her beloved church is also a follower of Trujillo’s regime.
Dede was born after Patria and is the only living Mirabal sister out of the four. She’s polite and always reminisces about her childhood when her sisters were still alive and their family was complete. Unlike her sisters, she’s very cautious of her actions and lived in the shadows of her husband. She was the typical woman of the household that took care of the children, kept the house tidy, and tended to her husband’s orders. As a meek girl she didn’t stand out among groups very much and that’s probably why Lio didn’t take much interest in her and focused his attention on the more daring sister, Minerva, instead.
Minerva Mirabal’s personality was fiercer than Dede or Patria. She’s generous and friendly which was shown when she befriended Sinita at Inmaculada Concepcion. Everyone used to say that she was their papa’s favorite but she doubted them because she was always standing up against him. Minerva is the type of girl that doesn’t budge once her mind is set on something that’s why she was willing to make a bet with Trujillo when she wanted to attend university to become a lawyer. She’s brave, headstrong, fair, and very outspoken especially against the tyranny. At first she was blinded by Trujillo’s acts but soon she realized his evil doings and the many lives that he has taken. Many thought that she didn’t like men because she didn’t have a relationship for very long but it was only because she didn’t know what she wanted at the time. She had a hard time choosing between romance and revolution. She is not afraid to take risks and put her life on the line in exchange for the safety of her family and loved ones.
The youngest of the bunch is Maria Teresa Mirabal or Mate for short. Her diary entries introduced her to us as this young and innocent little girl that liked to doodle swimsuits and shoes and had frequent crushes on boys. She was diligent in writing about her days but her entries became less frequent as the days went by and her family faced many problems. After their papa dies and she found out about his other family, she became doubtful with men and marriage. She transformed from the sweet and innocent girl into a strong-willed revolutionary that drew bombs instead of shoes. With her sister Minerva as her role model, she was passionate about overthrowing Trujillo.
Out of all the sisters I think Minerva can be considered as the main character of the novel but only in the sense that she had more interactions with Trujillo himself and she was bolder. All the Mirabal girls contributed equally to the fight against Trujillo. Even Dede who didn’t actively participate in her sisters’ underground activities is doing her share of work by giving an account of her sisters’ fight for freedom.
All of the sisters have distinct personalities and while they have many similarities, their differences are huge. For example, Patria is the most religious out of all the sisters, while Maria Teresa, the youngest, doesn’t care so much about it. Minerva is the most rebellious out of the sisters and Dede seems to be the most conservative. Patria Mirabel seems to be the most mature of all the sisters and it’s not just because of her age. Her interest in religion at such a young age affected her personality. She had the self discipline that not many teens can demonstrate. Even as she became older and started to experience feelings she never had before, she tried to suppress them because it was going against the church. When she fell in love with Pedrito Gonzalez, it seemed like she became less uptight, yet she was still very religious. Maria Teresa, the youngest sister, as expected is fairly naïve. The accounts of the events happening in her perspective showed that she was very well protected from the real world. She was confused when bad things were happening and she couldn’t even comprehend why it happened. Her interests, unlike her sisters, were unclear. She was never sure what she really wanted. She had the attention of many boys, but she didn’t like any of them. Eventually, she meets a rebel working in the same organization as her sisters and falls in love with him. Minerva is the outright rebellious sister. You can tell she’s rebellious because she has wanted to become a lawyer, a job usually held by men. Throughout the story, she continually tries to find her way to the university to get her law degree. She learned the truth behind Trujillo at a young age thanks to Sinita. Knowing this information that others either disregard or don’t know just feeds her rebellious nature and her fight for equal rights. Dede Mirabel, the sister who survived, seems very melancholy. Her personality is different because her story is told in the “present” day. She recalls events that happened like a flash black. Compared to her sisters, she was more of a conformer, recognizing the status quo. She wanted to live a normal life and try to stay out of trouble. I believe that for each chapter, the point of view that we read from is the main character. I say this because we’re getting different perspectives where each person is playing the main role and you’re hearing about their story, not so much of any of the other sisters.
Chun Chan Although this novel started out from the point where Dede tells about her life as the last survivor, I don’t think she or any of the character is considered as the main character; because they each contribute their beliefs during the age of Trujillo. Patria, the oldest of the four sisters, is a very generous and religious girl. Although she wanted to become a nun in order to be closer with god, she chose to get married and have kids for the family. She didn’t want to become a part of the revolution, like her husband had asked, but she had to join in order to protect her son and her sister through a Christian revolutionary group. Minerva, the third oldest of the four sisters, is the most strong-willed of all and the leading-figure to many people. She always wanted to go to college and earn a degree in the law field; it was a long process for her to complete the course but it was still unusable after Trujillo decided to take her license away. She’s a very courageous person, but is too blinded from dangers by her ambitions. For example, she would slap Trujillo at the dance and that could’ve gotten her and her family killed. Maria Teresa, the youngest of the four sisters, is the most naïve and spoiled girl in the family. Maria Teresa was always protected by her father and she is always relying on him. She lives in a perfect world where she thinks that everything is revolving for her: People liking her and never having to work too hard to achieve something. She found her true purpose after she married to a rebel and grew up from her superficial attitude. Maria Teresa was bounded to become a strong revolutionary woman and a sister who would watch over her sisters. Dede, the second oldest of the four sisters and the sole survivor, is the least-involving in the family. She was not as a revolutionary person as any of her sisters, and always feared for her sisters; because she doesn’t want her family to lose their lives for something that they can die any minute for. Dede was always held-back and tried to persuade her sisters not to participate; but it never helped and her sisters lost their lives.
The novel In the Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, is a nonfiction story based on historical events that occurred In the Dominican Republic as they were going through political struggles. The struggle was described through different perspectives of the Mirabal sisters, who were actual important people in the cause for freedom. The names of these sisters are Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dede. They each have a different personality and different view of what was happening in the time period. Patria is the oldest of the sisters and the most mature out of all the sisters. Religion was key in the building of her personality. She was faithful to her religion from a very young age and liked to help others. When she was 14 she went to Inmaculada Concepcion but not before coming up with an agreement with her strict father. Her father thought that patria as a nun would be a waste of such a beautiful girl. As a devout Catholic, she was disciplined during Lent as to not having meat or have steaming broth touch her lips when she got sick and had to go to the clinic. It all seemed that she was going to become a nun until she fell in love with Pedrito Gonzalez, who she instead had a family with. Then she changed her ways but still remained faithful to her religion. Minerva is the most rebellious out of all the sisters. The reason you can tell she will be the most rebellious out of all the sisters is because she wants to be a lawyer, a job that was not only for men at that time, but also a lawyer likes to dispute and usually go against things they don’t agree. Throughout the story, she continually tries to find her way to get her law degree. She learned the truth behind Trujillo at a young age because of Sinita, a person she met at boarding school and participated in the play. Knowing information that others either disregarded or didn’t even care about it made her even more eager to rebel against a regime that she believed was wrong in different aspects. But although she was rebellious, she still showed her friendliness and love for close friends and relatives. Maria Teresa is the youngest of all the sisters and is much younger than the other sisters. From her many diary entries throughout the novel, she seems to have a much more innocent childhood than her other sisters and makes it seem like everything surrounds her. This catches the reader off guard as she becomes older. After the death of her father, she wants to become a strong woman like her older sister Minerva and later decides she wants to help in fighting for the revolution against “El Jefe”. This catches the reader off guard because it goes from her talking about shoes and dresses to bombs and other coherent plans that she and her peers will use to destroy the government. Lastly there was Dede Mirabal, the only survivor out of the four sisters. The reason she survived was because she was always a good citizen and didn’t go against authority like her other sisters. She was the only one to live a life that was considered “normal” as she washed dishes and clothes. Also she took care of her family and married her loved one. Even though she knew all the dirty stuff Trujillo was doing she still minded her own business because her husband wasn’t into that environment. But even though they weren’t involved they sometimes had to cover for the rest of the families’ actions when they needed it. I think that there’s no main character in this story because each of the sisters puts a different perspective of the same setting. It is like each of them compliments one another when it comes to understanding the plot and the setting. In the end they all contribute into making a novel with lots of imagery.
For the Mirabal sister Patria Mercedes Mirabal, Minerva Mirabal, Dede, Mirabal, and Maria Teresa, their unity as sisters gave them a lot of their audacity. They lived through some very harsh times and fought through their fears to fight injustice no matter what the cost. They were not afraid because they knew that no matter what’s the outcome was, they were winning the fight just by fighting it.
Patria who is the oldest of the four sisters. She begins her life as being a very spiritual girl who plays with the idea of becoming a nun, but as he body changes she realizes that she likes boys and should not be a nun. But as soon as she has gotten older she has the sense that she was more involved in boys rather than the less attention to her political view on being a nun now and got married to a boy name Pedrito Gonzales and has a family with him and with three children. And as she still love the church she has realize that for Trujillo’s regime is the main adherent of the place she believed in. That’s was when she turned out older as the year went on but when she was little she gave no troubles, always think ahead. She went to this camp or school where she wanted to become a num but her father won’t let her due to her waste time. It was at Inmaculada Concepcion where she would be discipline and especially during a special thing where you can’t eat meat that is from any animals.
Dede is the second oldest who was after Patria and is the one who survived as by mean that she’s the only one living. She takes her action in a very different ways then the rest or her three sisters. She doesn’t take it on their side but take it on her point of view. Unlike how the three sisters do what each other do Dede doesn’t insist of doing like what they did going against the regime or so. This is the perspective of my way of thinking how she is the one live. She is like her very own leader thinking what’s right and wrong. A vigilant person who takes cares of herself and the family as well.
Minerva after Dede is a very spontaneous person. She is very provoked and she won't let anyone seize her back once she has an initiative. Out of all the four she is the most sociable of the sisters and it's almost as though she is courageous. Minerva has strength even when everyone is working adjacent to her. She is good at variance and always wins, she later goes to school to study to be a lawyer, which she did and got her degree.
Maria Teresa is the youngest one out of the four. Almost in the beginning of the book she was a nondependent thinker, as the book carry on she began stronger and a independent thinker due to the fact that she join the activist with her sisters and they assist her to become stronger because she wanted to feel worthy. Maria Teresa matures into a strong radical woman. As she writes in her diary it has shown to reflects the shaping events in her life. She basically just follows the way or the path or her sister beside Dede who decided not to go with them in the revolutionary.
I really don’t think that none of the four sisters is the main one. To me I’m thinking that each of the sisters has their own way in their perspective and does whatever they do. Like when Dede doesn’t want to join the revolt against Trujillo with her sister so she is on her own not to go while the rest of them go. Basically I don’t see any of them as the main character. It is telling me that each goes their own path no matter how many the pack is going or it’s a lonely one that is on its own.
The story In the Times of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez has to do with four sisters: Dede: who is the sole survivor of the Mirabal sisters. She is very soft spoken and wasn’t much of a rebel child as he sisters were. She was a home body person who took care of the family and never connected with the Dominican Rebellion that her sisters were into. In the process of being the regular child she lost her personality she believed. She was so caught up her marriage and life that she put herself last. Patria: Is the loving older sister who cares for everyone and is a model wife. not until she joins the rebellion with her younger sisters does the reader get a feel for Patria’s rebel side, and who she really is. Minerva: I defiantly considered the rebellious one of the sisters. She doesn’t care what needs to be done she will make that freedom for her country ring someway somehow. She cares deeply for this freedom for the Dominican Republic whether that be involving herself in illegal activity such as listening to those radio shows or even just committing acts that shouldn’t be done. It’s with Minerva that the points in the book take place due to what she believes in and wants to fight for. As for Maria Teresa: she is the spunky ear one. As she watches her sister’s age she wonders what her life will be like and focuses on her future. With that also she too has a rebellious side that comes out when she joins her sisters in bring an uprising to the Dominican Republic. Lastly I do not believe that any one character or sister has a main role in the story, because they all played a major role in their gatherings and rebellions that no one could do it themselves.
Erika Bell, Being sisters if course your bound to have similarities but differences also. Patria is more religious than the others as for Dede who is more too herself as for Maria Teresa who doesnt seem to care much but Minerva is the most rebellious. Religion is very important to Patria and her family which she cherishes very much so. Patria's father thought that she would waist being so beautiful on becoming a nunn but yet as a child she didnt give much problems to her parents.She loves and adores her family dearly, keeps up with the house work and is an all around good wife and mother. Minerva on the other hand she/s very brave, ouspoken and just not afriad to hold her tounge in all and comletely situations. She does not take no for an answer and looks highly up to her own self. Maria Teresa is seen as naive and seems to have a more caring outlook on her child hood more than the other sisters maria starts to question alot of trials and tributes that she encounters in her life such as her passing of her father which progmates something in her head to where she changes up the scene a little. Dede was the survivor of the book eventhough she didnt play much of a huge role in the story. She tried to convince her sisters not to go to the war and participate in it because of the epiphany that there would be something rong and sooner or later they ended up dead. Some would say that Minerva or Maria Teresa is the main charachter just because there chapters are so long or descriptive but that goes for all of the sisters. Each and everyone of them had there own role in the book and each character and part was important.
There are four sisters, Patria Miribal, Dede Mirabal , Minerva Mirabal and Maria Teresa Mirabal. Each sisters have a distinct personality that makes them who they are. Il start with the oldest sister which is Patria, she is the most religious and has a little more morals for herself which gave her the potential to become a nun. But at such a young age when she was 16 she met a guy named Pedrito Gonzalez who she chose to marry. Dede Mirabal which is the second oldest of the Mirabal sisters and is the only one who surviving sister left. She is very modest and does not get into much trouble and did not want to be rebellious. She was the one that lived an ordinary life. Minerva Mirabal, the third Mirabal sister was the one that was the most involved in the revolution and she is the one that appeared to be the most rebellious out of all the sisters. She hated Trujillo with a passion and would do anything to take him out. She is the type of person who is not afraid to do or say anything she believes in, and she is ready to do it even if she knows there will be a severe consequence. She even found the love of her life from what they both love doing being rebellious and ready to fight. Maria Teresa Mirabal who is the youngest of the sisters was the most immature one probably because she is still young. While she cannot go out and explore like her other sisters do she just stays at home with her father as she watches the other sisters grow up. She is still unsure about reality and the actual horrors that are happening, she always unsure on what she wanted. She had a lot of attention from boys but had no interest in most of them.
Patria, the oldest of the Mirabal sisters, is the most religious. At a young age, she wanted to join a convict. Her parents gave in and allowed her to go to a religious school. Instead of entering a convent, she chose to marry Pedrito Gonzales. When her husband, sisters, and other family members were incarcerated by Trujillio, she prayed constantly with her other family for there safety. She even prayed for Peña.
Dede, the second Mirabal sister, is not as active in the revolution as her sisters, and feels weaker because of that fact. She has flutuating views about joining the revolution, so she doesn't. Because she didn't join the revolution she didn't go to jail and most of all, she didn't die. She, unlike her sisters, survived the revolution. Because she is the only one that survived, she tells the story of her sisters, her life, and experiences through the time of the Trujillo regime. This is the main reason why she will be recongnized as the narrator.
Minerva,the third Mirabal sister, and certainly the most headstrong. She's freeminded and very passoinate in the revelution she's not scared to take any risk or fight for what's right no matter what the cause is. She wants to make a diffrence in her country in which she takes much pride in.
Lastly María Teresa, the youngest of the four Mirabal sisters, is very passionate about the revolution. Which was quite surrprising due to her shelterd childhood. Under her father's wing she was very protected. She was also personified as naive and sensitive. Those characterstics may have stuck with her her whole life because she joined the revolution while living with her sister Minerva because she wanted to feel worthy of Leandro.
Coming from a family with sibling; unlike others, I know my brothers and I have similar characteristics. As for In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez relates the sisters as butterflies because they are related yet they all have a distinct pattern of wings as for in the book that each independent story. Patria can be considered the most different out of all of them not considering she is the eldest but because she’s the most religious one. She seems to be a bit distant compared to the others. At the same time it caused them to become more united because of her belief they were able to go to a religious school together. Praying for her family members including Pedrito Gonzalez who she chose to marry instead of going to a convent caused her faith to rise. She seemed to worry a lot since they were incarcerated by the dictator Trujillo, but having to pray for Peña made her feel safe. Dede, second oldest between the sisters seems to be bit cautious between the relationship of her husband and sister. Even though she’s the survivor of the Mirabal sisters, she seemed a little timid in the early chapters, and began to open up yet she seems like something sets her back. She was never as rebellious as her sisters, and never was involved into rebelling with her sisters. Minerva is the most rebellious out of all sisters; she wants Trujillo to go down and is willing to do anything. Finding her husband with the interest of rebelling and the support of her sisters, she was willing to take a risk. She had the fault of giving the attention of the Mirabal family to Trujillo, which caused him to watch over the family. Maria Teresa, whom is the last sister of all four, is the youngest yet acts like a mother because she worries a lot. Her character grows throughout the novel having to be more focused on her future and worrying more and more about her sisters. Writing in her diary about her thoughts about life and basically everything that is going on deeply reflects her personality. Following the decision her sisters made she becomes passionate of the revolution. I don’t believe any of the sisters are considered a main character. Every sister has that one point where you believe they are the main character. The reader is just reading through it that characters point of view, which is hard to understand if there is a main character. So I believe every sister in the novel IS the main character, they have apart in fully completing the story behind the novel.
Patria, who is the oldest Mirabal sister, can be perceived as the most religious one of them all. From childhood to adolescence, her life-long dream was to become a nun, since she had such an intense devotion to the teachings of God and of the church. Thus, with some convincing, she was able to attend a religious school in order to materialize her dream and make it into a reality. However, as she transcended into young adulthood, progressive "development" of her mind, body, and soul had made her more inclined to want to date boys just like other girls at this age. She later fell in love with Pedrito Gonzales and abandoned her dream to be a nun. She eventually has children, but unfortunately lost one of them to "God". This tragic event provoked her everlasting devotion as a loving wife and mother to protect her family. Later on, she joins her sisters in the revolutionary battle against Trujillo, but they later get arrested along with her son and husband. She prays daily for their safety in La Victoria.
Dede is younger than Patria and is the sole survivor of the Mirabal sisters in the present due to her refusal to join her sisters in the dire revolution. She first married Jaimito and has 3 sons with him, but her marriage becomes tumultuous around the time of the revolution and thereafter. She partially uses the strict and controlling behavior of her husband as an excuse to not join the fight, but in fact, she is very indecisive about her true feelings about the revolution. Some may say that because of her being the only sister to "chicken out" of the battle, Dede is the weakest character. However, I feel that she does reveal some strengths throughout the novel, since she was willing to remain in an unsatisfying relationship with her macho husband in order to protect her boys. Being the only survivor of the clan makes her feel melancholy because she is all alone.
I think that Minerva is viewed as the strongest sister of the bunch. Through her tenacity, wit, feminist views, bravery, and non-nonsense attitude, she is able to courageously and fervently rebel against Trujillo even if it meant that she would go to jail or get killed. She hoped to become a lawyer to defend women's rights and freedom of the oppressed in such a convoluted regime, which Trujillo claims is "equal." Although she is married, she seems to be the one who wears the bold revolutionary pants in the story since she never takes tyrannical orders from a man.
Maria Teresa personifies the most innocent doll of the Mirabal clan, since she is so young and naive. Ironically, although she was the most protected and well-nurtured child of the family, she grew up to join the revolution as well. Although she becomes more headstrong and confident through her risk to fight against Trujillo, she still is dependant on others, especially Minerva. She is married to Leandro and eventually gets killed with her other 2 sisters as punishment for defying Trujillo's will.
The four sisters are very distinct in their own way and they have different personalities and those personalities are what make them who they are and how they act. Their is four sister Minerva, Dede, Maria Teresa, and Patria. They have different ways of thinking and showing their emotions.
Dede, she is the second oldest of the four sisters. She never was the rebellious type she was more of the religious stay at home person. She didn't really pay attention or take part in the rebellion it didn't attract her like it attracted her other sisters. She was the only sister that was alive after the Dominican Revolution. At first in the book she seemed like the narrator but she wasn't she was just telling the story of her sisters and herself.
Patria, She was the oldest of the sisters. She is the most religious out of all the sisters when she was a kid she wanted to join a convict and because of that her parents had sent her off to a religious school. She was part of the revolution but she would pray a lot and see what goes from there.
Maria Teresa she is the youngest of the four sisters. She might not be the most rebellious but she was the most passionate about the revolution than all her other sisters. She put her everything just so she can gain her freedom back. She had stayed with her dad so she was very protected by her dad. She was married to Leandro and she also only joined the revolution to satisfy him.
Minerva, she is the third oldest. She was the most rebellious of all sisters she just wanted to go out there and destroy everyone just so she can gain back her freedom and her freedom for her country. She was very hard headed and didn't want to do things by other peoples ways only her ways.
I personally believe that there is not just one main character in the story because it doesnt only focus on one person but 4 sisters. Those 4 sisters being the Mirabal sisters: Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. Dede, she is the second Mirabal sister. her usband really doesnt want her involved because of it. Need to help out the bridge before something bad happens to it. Also, thwy want to strt sone minerva. It was really scared, In a way she doesnt wanna be part of the family reunion so I have to be there like that.I feel sprry for the guya. Patria, she is the oldest of the Mirabal sisters. At a one age, she wanted to be ver religious and study many adrawrings that have to do with God. Her faith wavers intensely as a young woman. She takes the fetal death of her third child as a punishment from God, She is very patriotic and at the same time is the most religious one of the Dominican Republic. She was married at age 16 and from them on has become a Tucson helpered.She takes the fetal death of her third child as a punishment from God, which drives her further into a religious depression. Minerva, one of the Mirabal sisters, kept staring at me tillshe turned around and saw me and she told ne that wanting to start a revolution is king od weakand childish but anything to fight for what you really want to. Its like there can be stupid people this day. Last but not least, lets not forget about the youngest of the Mirabal sisters. He successfully killed somewhere around 10,000 people from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She found her true purpose after she married to a rebel and grew up from her superficial attitude. For Maria Teresa, she is the youngest of the Mirbabal sisters and is also married. She tends to focus more sbout TV and not play Monopoly becuase its hard to play right now. She joined the revolution while living with her sister Minerva because she wanted to feel worthy of Leandro, her husband. They are all different but the only way they all can be similar is that the four Mirabal sisters; Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dede are activists fighting for the same goal and that is to make sure that Trujillo is no more. Also, to top it all of that there is not just one main character, it is because all 4 sisters together play a big role in the story. Each one brings their own unique characteristics.
In the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, there is a story told about a family and their struggles throughout life. In this book there are four main sisters; Patria, Minerva, Dede and Maria Teresa Mirabal. Each sister has a different personality that shines through while telling their side of the main story. Patria is the oldest of the four sisters. She is known for being the religious one in the family and it was because of her that the other three got a good education. Patria wanted to become a nun and she went to school to better herself and learn more about her religion. However, it didn’t take long for her body to start changing and maturing. She met a boy and knew the life of a nun wasn’t for her anymore. She ended up getting married at the age of 16 and they had kids together. Her love for the church was still there, it was just over powered by the love for her husband. Minerva was the sister that was most rebellious. She is fearless and out spoken. A few things you need to know is you can’t hold her back or challenge her because she will always win. She even went to school to become a lawyer which was the perfect job for her because she is a natural leader and she’s extremely intelligent. Dede is another intelligent girl but unlike Minerva, she is always trying to please others. She is known for being “the sister who lived”. While her other sisters where rebelling against El Jefe, she was at home being a good housewife. She used her husband not wanting her to get involved with the rebellion as a way to not do it. Instead, she got a job selling insurance and did what was considered normal for a good housewife. Maria Teresa is the youngest Mirabal sister. She was the most naïve of them all and she told her story through journal entries. Her entries start out nice and innocent but ones she learns of the rebellion and her dads unfaithfulness to her mom, she starts questioning things. She matures by finding out the bad things in life and it shows through the nature of her journal entries. She starts drawing more advanced pictures and starts to talk about things that would have terrified her younger naïve self. All in all every part of each Mirabals story is a piece of the puzzle to the big picture. They are equally important characters and they tell the story for different angles which makes you see everything that goes on. Each of their traits explain why they did the things they did and this added an element of understanding the story to the reader.
The four sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa share similar characteristics; however, they are shown to be different from each other as well. Throughout the story, the sisters have the chance to tell their part of their lives where the reader can have a better relationship and understanding with each of them.
Patria, who was the oldest of the sisters, is a mature and determined woman. She is shown to be the most religious sister and believes everything that happens is from a sign of God whether it's good or bad. She always believed in a close family relationship and did everything she could in helping her family even when they were in prison. She is very thankful when receiving good news and tends to see the glass half full. Her determination to become a nun led her to marry her husband, Pedrito, and have three children with him.
Dede, who is the second oldest, is did not participate in the revolution that occurred. She is the main character in this story because she was the only one who survived during the revolution and was still alive to tell the story of her life. She didn't fit as a rebel as her other sisters did. She would always look out for her sisters, but it was harder for her to do so when she married her cousin, Jaimito. Although she seems unhappy with him as time went by, he had saved her life from the conflict by keeping her from joining the revolution. It seemed as if over time she had lost her knowledge of being an independent woman and followed whatever her husband would tell her to do.
Minerva, who was the second youngest, was more of the independent and rebellious type of the sisters. She wasn't afraid of getting her hands dirty if she believed that it was right. Joining a revolution against Trujillo's regime interested her ever since Lio had come into her life. She has strong beliefs in freedom and bravery. She is the more risk taker sister out of the four.
Maria Teresa, who is the youngest sister, is the more playful and impractical sister of the four. Being the youngest she looks up to her sisters and their actions. She follows her sisters as if obligated to by showing her loyalty and love for her sisters. As she begins to get older, she realizes the actual events that have been going on which brings out her own beliefs and if what she is doing is the right thing. As a child she believes in Trujillo's regime, but once she's older, she finds the real truth. Maria Teresa grew up in difficult times where she couldn't show her true self until it was too late for her and her two sisters, Patria and Minerva.
The Mirabal Sisters share some similarities but then again there is a certain characteristic that a person has that makes them unique. Each sister gets to tell their own life story and we readers get to know them more with each story being told. The book makes its readers talk to the characters like it is an interview. Anyone can be the main character in the book but the author balances their characteristics very well.
Patria Mirabal is the oldest of the sisters has determination in things she does in her everyday life. She relies her decisions on God that is why she is the religious one between the four of them. She sacrificed her own self to give her three sisters a better education and have a better future. She had her mind set on serving the church and God but as life goes on, her body started to get matured and her love for a boy grew and ended up marrying someone at a young age.
Dede, the only sister alive and the most pleasing sister between the four of the Mirabal sisters, was just a simple yet smart housewife. It is one of the reasons why she was the only one alive. She is the only one who lived a normal life and not getting involved with all the resistance her family is in. She was smart enough to know that fighting against El Jefe will only bring them to their own caskets.
Maria Teresa, youngest of the sisters, was an innocent girl and became curious about all the rebellion and things that involves her family. She learns things through the bad things that happen to her life. She thinks that all the things that happens in her life right now will terrify her young naïve self.
Minerva, the most rebellious and the most destructive sister, is the third oldest of the Mirabal Sisters. She wanted to do things in her own way even though it will cause a massive effect to her and her family. All she wanted to gain back was her freedom to live in her country.
The sister all have their own personalities but do have some similarities. One of my favorites Minerva, who is the determined one, always has something to say and it always so eager to put her opinion out. In the book she is the reason why the sister got the education they did. She wanted so badly to go to school and her parents gave in. She has alot of courage and strength and its shown throughout the book, especially when she meets with trujuillo and slaps him across the face.Her interest with the rebel group that is created gets incresingly bigger and soon she is so involved that she doesnt care if she dies of starvation in prison for it. The next sister is Patria who in the book also gets involved with the alliance but not as much as minerva. She is strong but she thinks before she acts unlike minerva.She had more sense. She cares about her people but not to the point to where she would starve herself like minerva did.Her interest are her family and religion. Dede is the only sister to make it out alive but i wouldnt call her a coward for it.She loves her family and isnt as couragoius as the other two sisters. She was the sister who wanted so badlt to be apart of the rebellion but couldnt because of the love for her husband. Her interest are her family.As for the youngest sister Maria Teresa she is the shy and sisitive one that keeps to herslef by writing in a book.She wants to be strong like the older two sisters, She cares about them very much and would do anything for them In the book she becomes part of the rebellion along with the other two and finds herself being alot stronger in the end.
Quinn La
ReplyDeletePatria Mercedes Mirabal the eldest of the Mirabal sisters from a very young age has always been very religious. When she was a child she would always mind her posture in church and never to eat meat duing Lent. She was as fastidious and meticulous as a pre-teen could be, the priest as well as the nuns believed that she would be one of the greatest blessings on their church. Unfortunately as Patria began to develop so did her body and her mind, she began to have urges that she was not familiar with before and had desires that were against the church. When she met Pedrito Gonzalez she fell hopelessly in love with him and gave up the church for she wanted to have a family with him. She even though fruitful with children is still very religious and it remains to stay that way. After the loss of one of her children she has become a very over protective person, always trying to shield her family from danger, in a very dangerous world.
Maria Teresa Mirabal the youngest of the main for Mirabal sisters is just that very young. As the youngest she has always been very naive, this is probably because she has been babied all her life and shielded from the dark ugly truth of the world. As a young ling she battles with the usual drama, awkwardness and boys. But as her life continues she is faced with much more difficult challenges and hard ships. The first blow to her innocence is the realization that a man she was taught to look up to as god like was actually the devil. Learning that El Jefe wasn't who he had seemed made young Maria start to question everything in her live and taught her not to accepting anything at face value. The second tragedy to strike Maria was the untimely death of her father. After this she became incredibly sad about most things in her life and began to put boys out of her mind. She looked up to her older sister Minerva, a strong independent woman who didn't need a man to define her. After Minerva in fact did get married, Maria focused on her school work. Years later she began to get mixed up in Minerva's business and wanted to work to bring down Trujillo. In Maria's rebellious actions she met a young renegade who she fell in love with and married.
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ReplyDeleteDede Mirabal the sister who lived. Just from this statement you can draw some inferences, for instance you can ask your self, "why didn't she die, what made her so special?". The truth is she was the only one of the Mirabal sisters who chose not to rock the boat and lived the life of the woman, cooking and cleaning, doing what she was "suppose" to do. She knew that Trujillo was not good man but she chose not to do anything and stood by. You could say this was smart or this was selfish but who is to say. She did not believe in the war her sisters were fighting and her husband also not wanting her to get involved gave her more reason to not join the resistance. She lives a very normal, average, mundane lifestyle selling insurance and that is what normal people do.
Lastly Minerva Mirabal the person I presume to be the main character. Minerva is a strong, smart, independent, out spoken, rebellious women. Ever since she was a young child she wanted to improve woman's rights by becoming a lawyer and fight all of the injustices in her life, even though she was discouraged by her father. As a child she was very altruistic and befriended a young lady and learned the truth of Trujillo and immediately wanted to do something about it. She became more out spoken and after seeing what Trujillo did to one of her friends she began to role with what some may call a bad crowd and thus started her subversive road to rebellion. As time drew on she progressively became more involved in the revolt of Trujillo, she met people from the Capital. Well educated you men and women knew what was going on in the government were the perfect people Minerva needed to be around. After marrying a fellow anarchist her rebellious behavior began to become more explosive with weapon caches and clock bombs. If the is not the main character she is easily the most interesting one.
Nicole Pabilona
ReplyDeleteThe four Mirabal sisters as explained in history and as well as in the novel, In The Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa of the Mirabal family, and have distinct personalities that contribute to the story.
Patria, the eldest of the four sisters, is found to be the most religious of the sisters causing her to be more reserved and obedient than her sisters. Because she was very religious and believed in this path, it allowed for her other sisters to go a good religious school for an education. I believe that if it weren’t for Patria’s yearning to go to school, Minerva would not have seen the horrible side of the Dictator Trujillo from meeting Sinita, a girl who also attended the same school.
Minerva, out of all the sisters appears to be the most rebellious not only to her family, but to the government, especially Trujillo. The major key aspect of her character is that she was the one who sparked up attention of Trujillo’s infamous reputation and dictatorship among the Mirabal family. She also found her husband from their interest of rebelling against the government.
As for Maria Teresa, the youngest of them all, at first, she is shown as to be naïve, sensitive, and very worrysome. But as the novel continues, you can easily see her personality grow and mature, especially in her journal entries and how frequently she began to write in it and her language and visuals as well.
Dede, the only surviving Mirabal, is a very humble and open person as seen in the earlier chapters, revealing her sisters stories to the news reporter. Rarely has she been involved with any rebellious nor subjective opinions towards their current governor, but rather objectivity to herself.
I believe that in terms of the novel, none of the sisters play a real main character in the novel, but there are often points in the story that truly do give them the lead such as the constant change in narrators each chapter to fully explain the relevance in which it became important for one of the sisters to be explaining it from a certain point of view.
River McCaine
ReplyDeleteIn Julia Alvarez’s “In the Time of the Butterflies,” it depicts a striking story of a non-fictional event that involved four sisters named Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. Each one with their own distinct personalities and stories, that is hard to say who would be the main character. Alvarez decided to write her novel in the varying perspectives of the four sisters in order to feel as if they are all main characters, adding and creating intertwined puzzle pieces that are necessary to embrace the entirety of the story. To understand the story, let us explore the minds of the individual sisters starting from the first-born.
Patria Mirabel is the oldest of the four sisters. She is portrayed as a religious girl that pursues her hopes of exploring her spiritual beliefs as a nun; yet she still has an unnerving longing for lust that engulfs her soul in the flames of desire. She grew up being quickly recognized by the Church and its community, that she gained quite the reputation and potential for becoming a nun. When she unexpectedly met Pedrito Gonzales, her hidden desires gave in and she fell in love with him. She put her life at church to the side in order to marry him and start a family. With such a religious background, it makes you wonder why she would be one of the three that died. This is why she is a significant piece in the puzzle. Oddly, the only sister that survived was Dede.
Dede is the one that leaves you wondering why she would be the one living. In many ways it would have seemed that she would be the one that would be killed, but in another aspect it’s perfectly clear why she is alive. She tried to use her husband as an excuse as to why she doesn’t want to be involved in the rebellion. She lived the more “conventional” lifestyle of a woman in those days and later took up a job at a life insurance company. It would seem almost as if she would be the main character, seeming that she is the only one alive, yet her story in the process of the sisters creating history does not seem influential enough to match up with the other sisters. This brings us to the true insurgent of the sisters, Minerva.
Minerva is extremely admirable in the sense that she is so strong in many different aspects such as mentally and spiritually. She is always willing to speak her mind on the situation at hand at fights for what she believes in. She is the polar opposite of what a “conventional” woman would be in those times. From an early age she learned the true horrors of El Jefe’s regime which was the foundation of her negative views of the government. Later on she pairs up with another leader of insurgency named Leo and further fights for the liberty of her people by setting bombs and having weapons. She would be the one that is considered the more obvious indication of a main character, yet she is not alive to tell it. Is it possible for a main character to no longer live throughout parts of the story? The last sister is Maria Teresa.
Maria Teresa is the youngest of all the sisters and is much younger than her older sisters. From her many diary entries throughout the novel, she seems to have a much more innocent childhood than her other sisters yet many adversities are thrown her way when she begins to grow older. After the death of her father, she wants to become a strong independent woman like her older sister Minerva and later decides she wants to help in fighting for the revolution. She catches the reader off guard by transforming from an innocent young girl, into a strong and rebellious woman. She is the last bit of the story that allows all of their individual pieces to the story of life, into one coherent, vividly painted image.
Luciana Kuang
ReplyDeleteIn The Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, is a story of the Mirabal sisters that go through a big journey with their lives and what they have done to their country that a lot of people admired. Each of the Mirabal sisters have their own beliefs and personalities that sets them to be a unique individual in the their family and in the novel.
Maria Teresa is the youngest one in the Mirabal sisters, and everyone sees her a naive and sensitive. There was no worries of problems for her due to the fact that the father liked to keep her close to him which it did not allow Maria to go out and explore new things like her sisters. As she was babied for most of her life by her father that she did not know what was going on in the outside world and what other people were facing. For example, how Maria thought that El Jefe was a good person due to many praises of him that later on she found out that he's not the type of a person that she thought he was.
Patria Mirabal was the oldest of all the sisters and she was someone that strongly believed in God and everything she do is related to him. She would always look up to him for guidance and to protect her family. She never once betrayed God in anyway, although she had let go of her religious status a bit when she fell in love with her husband that they got married and had a family together. She was very popular and well known because of her religious beliefs and how she became a nun, her sisters had a easy life due to the fact that they went to a good school.
Minerva Mirabal is the most rebellious girl out of all the four sister. Ever since she was a little girl she knew what she wanted in her life and how to do it although no one really gave her the support, especially her father. She is someone that is not afraid to do whatever that she needs to do to stop something, and she's always ready to speak her mind knowing that sometimes there will be consequences that she needs to take, like how she spoke up to El Jefe knowing she shouldn't have but still did it anyway. She always found the man she loved through the beliefs she believed on taking down El Jefe for all his wrong doings because she wasn't really interested in guys.
Last but not least, Dede Mirabal, the only sister that survived from the crazy chaos. Dede wasn't a rebellious person nor religious. She did not follow what her other sisters were doing, she just minded her own business and problems. She lived a normal like, married to the love of her life, created a beautiful family together, and did chores like a wife and mother. Although she knew all the dirt that El Jefe did to people and to the country but she chose to ignore it for her own good and because her husband wasn't into the things that her sister were doing, it gave her more reasons to stay away from that chaos, although she and her husband helped her sisters and family when they needed help.
In my opinion, there is no main character out of all the sisters because they were independent and each one of them had their own unique personality that makes them stand out as an individual in the novel. The things that they have done can be seen as the main character, each one of the sister had contributed something big into the novel and each of them can be a main character, they helped one another
The novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez portrays the political struggles of the Dominican Republic through the perspectives of four sisters, Dede, Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa Mirabal. Each sister has a distinct personality and different motives for participating or not participating in the revolution.
ReplyDeleteDede Mirabal is the sole survivor out of all the Mirabal sisters. She is soft spoken, a people pleaser, but is also very pragmatic. She is focused on taking care of her family and making sure that everyone is okay. She doesn’t like going against authority, whether it be from her father, her husband, or El Jefe. Dede thinks more about other people’s happiness before her own, and often puts her needs on the backburner as she tends to everyone else’s. She loses herself in the process and all the while her marriage deteriorates. Her sister Minerva is the stark opposite.
Minerva can be described as fierce, rebellious, scholarly and daring. She sets her own goals and doesn’t let other people control her. Not even the leader of her country. She does not degrade herself, or take no for an answer. If she does not agree with something she will say so. Minerva focuses much of her energy to find freedom for her country, especially the women. She is the first of the Mirabal’s to associate and participate in the treasonous activity. Although she is the most passionate, she can also be reckless. Her dangerous actions include slapping El Jefe, listening to illegal radio stations, harboring enemies of the state, and storing weapons. She is the catalyst of the storyline. Her actions start the major events in the book. Without her, the other sisters wouldn’t have mustered the courage to rebel against their government. Minerva is not necessarily the main character, but she is a pivotal one.
Patria Mercedes is the oldest of the Mirabals. She is loving, compassionate, and very pious. She is the traditional and model wife. She cooks, cleans and cares for her family. She is depicted as the model wife for her beauty and her piousness. But she hides her wild and rebellious side until the time when she decides to join the underground rebellion with Minerva.
The youngest sister, Maria Teresa, is extremely sweet, eager, but also naive. She watches her sisters grow and wonders what she wants in her life. Although she is primarily occupied by boys she focuses on school as she gets older. Later she joins Minerva and meets her future husband along the way. She is quite eager to participate in the dangerous aspects of the rebellion such as harboring weapons and making bombs.
Each sister equally contributes to the telling of the story. Although Minerva takes the most action, each character is essential to the story and how Alvarez wanted to portray it. If Minerva was truly the main character, Alvarez would have probably kept the story from her point of view.
Coming from a tight knit household and raised among their extended family in the town of Ojo de Agua, the four Mirabal sisters were still able to mature and develop their personal identities and interests. Although similar in their passion for freedom and justice, each of the Mirabal sisters showcased their thoughts in different ways and intensities.
ReplyDeletePatria was the eldest of the sisters. Religion was very important to her to the point that she even wanted to be a nun. As a baby she was very quiet and didn’t give her parents any trouble. Always thinking about others before herself, she gave whatever she can to those in need. At 14 she went to Inmaculada Concepcion but not before some compromising with their strict father that thought that Patria as a nun would be a waste of a pretty girl. As a devout Catholic, she paid close attention during the early mass at school and she was disciplined during Lent as no meat or steaming broth touched her lips when she got sick and had to go to the clinic. Although she seemed like she was surely going to be nun, Patria fell in love with Pedrito Gonzales and chose to have a family with him instead. At first she was worried about Minerva speaking out against Trujillo but her faith ended up shifting as she noticed that her beloved church is also a follower of Trujillo’s regime.
Dede was born after Patria and is the only living Mirabal sister out of the four. She’s polite and always reminisces about her childhood when her sisters were still alive and their family was complete. Unlike her sisters, she’s very cautious of her actions and lived in the shadows of her husband. She was the typical woman of the household that took care of the children, kept the house tidy, and tended to her husband’s orders. As a meek girl she didn’t stand out among groups very much and that’s probably why Lio didn’t take much interest in her and focused his attention on the more daring sister, Minerva, instead.
Minerva Mirabal’s personality was fiercer than Dede or Patria. She’s generous and friendly which was shown when she befriended Sinita at Inmaculada Concepcion. Everyone used to say that she was their papa’s favorite but she doubted them because she was always standing up against him. Minerva is the type of girl that doesn’t budge once her mind is set on something that’s why she was willing to make a bet with Trujillo when she wanted to attend university to become a lawyer. She’s brave, headstrong, fair, and very outspoken especially against the tyranny. At first she was blinded by Trujillo’s acts but soon she realized his evil doings and the many lives that he has taken. Many thought that she didn’t like men because she didn’t have a relationship for very long but it was only because she didn’t know what she wanted at the time. She had a hard time choosing between romance and revolution. She is not afraid to take risks and put her life on the line in exchange for the safety of her family and loved ones.
The youngest of the bunch is Maria Teresa Mirabal or Mate for short. Her diary entries introduced her to us as this young and innocent little girl that liked to doodle swimsuits and shoes and had frequent crushes on boys. She was diligent in writing about her days but her entries became less frequent as the days went by and her family faced many problems. After their papa dies and she found out about his other family, she became doubtful with men and marriage. She transformed from the sweet and innocent girl into a strong-willed revolutionary that drew bombs instead of shoes. With her sister Minerva as her role model, she was passionate about overthrowing Trujillo.
Out of all the sisters I think Minerva can be considered as the main character of the novel but only in the sense that she had more interactions with Trujillo himself and she was bolder. All the Mirabal girls contributed equally to the fight against Trujillo. Even Dede who didn’t actively participate in her sisters’ underground activities is doing her share of work by giving an account of her sisters’ fight for freedom.
Brandon Nguyen
ReplyDeleteAll of the sisters have distinct personalities and while they have many similarities, their differences are huge. For example, Patria is the most religious out of all the sisters, while Maria Teresa, the youngest, doesn’t care so much about it. Minerva is the most rebellious out of the sisters and Dede seems to be the most conservative.
Patria Mirabel seems to be the most mature of all the sisters and it’s not just because of her age. Her interest in religion at such a young age affected her personality. She had the self discipline that not many teens can demonstrate. Even as she became older and started to experience feelings she never had before, she tried to suppress them because it was going against the church. When she fell in love with Pedrito Gonzalez, it seemed like she became less uptight, yet she was still very religious.
Maria Teresa, the youngest sister, as expected is fairly naïve. The accounts of the events happening in her perspective showed that she was very well protected from the real world. She was confused when bad things were happening and she couldn’t even comprehend why it happened. Her interests, unlike her sisters, were unclear. She was never sure what she really wanted. She had the attention of many boys, but she didn’t like any of them. Eventually, she meets a rebel working in the same organization as her sisters and falls in love with him.
Minerva is the outright rebellious sister. You can tell she’s rebellious because she has wanted to become a lawyer, a job usually held by men. Throughout the story, she continually tries to find her way to the university to get her law degree. She learned the truth behind Trujillo at a young age thanks to Sinita. Knowing this information that others either disregard or don’t know just feeds her rebellious nature and her fight for equal rights.
Dede Mirabel, the sister who survived, seems very melancholy. Her personality is different because her story is told in the “present” day. She recalls events that happened like a flash black. Compared to her sisters, she was more of a conformer, recognizing the status quo. She wanted to live a normal life and try to stay out of trouble.
I believe that for each chapter, the point of view that we read from is the main character. I say this because we’re getting different perspectives where each person is playing the main role and you’re hearing about their story, not so much of any of the other sisters.
Chun Chan
ReplyDeleteAlthough this novel started out from the point where Dede tells about her life as the last survivor, I don’t think she or any of the character is considered as the main character; because they each contribute their beliefs during the age of Trujillo. Patria, the oldest of the four sisters, is a very generous and religious girl. Although she wanted to become a nun in order to be closer with god, she chose to get married and have kids for the family. She didn’t want to become a part of the revolution, like her husband had asked, but she had to join in order to protect her son and her sister through a Christian revolutionary group.
Minerva, the third oldest of the four sisters, is the most strong-willed of all and the leading-figure to many people. She always wanted to go to college and earn a degree in the law field; it was a long process for her to complete the course but it was still unusable after Trujillo decided to take her license away. She’s a very courageous person, but is too blinded from dangers by her ambitions. For example, she would slap Trujillo at the dance and that could’ve gotten her and her family killed.
Maria Teresa, the youngest of the four sisters, is the most naïve and spoiled girl in the family. Maria Teresa was always protected by her father and she is always relying on him. She lives in a perfect world where she thinks that everything is revolving for her: People liking her and never having to work too hard to achieve something. She found her true purpose after she married to a rebel and grew up from her superficial attitude. Maria Teresa was bounded to become a strong revolutionary woman and a sister who would watch over her sisters.
Dede, the second oldest of the four sisters and the sole survivor, is the least-involving in the family. She was not as a revolutionary person as any of her sisters, and always feared for her sisters; because she doesn’t want her family to lose their lives for something that they can die any minute for. Dede was always held-back and tried to persuade her sisters not to participate; but it never helped and her sisters lost their lives.
Robyn Pulgarin,
ReplyDeleteThe novel In the Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, is a nonfiction story based on historical events that occurred In the Dominican Republic as they were going through political struggles. The struggle was described through different perspectives of the Mirabal sisters, who were actual important people in the cause for freedom. The names of these sisters are Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dede. They each have a different personality and different view of what was happening in the time period.
Patria is the oldest of the sisters and the most mature out of all the sisters. Religion was key in the building of her personality. She was faithful to her religion from a very young age and liked to help others. When she was 14 she went to Inmaculada Concepcion but not before coming up with an agreement with her strict father. Her father thought that patria as a nun would be a waste of such a beautiful girl. As a devout Catholic, she was disciplined during Lent as to not having meat or have steaming broth touch her lips when she got sick and had to go to the clinic. It all seemed that she was going to become a nun until she fell in love with Pedrito Gonzalez, who she instead had a family with. Then she changed her ways but still remained faithful to her religion.
Minerva is the most rebellious out of all the sisters. The reason you can tell she will be the most rebellious out of all the sisters is because she wants to be a lawyer, a job that was not only for men at that time, but also a lawyer likes to dispute and usually go against things they don’t agree. Throughout the story, she continually tries to find her way to get her law degree. She learned the truth behind Trujillo at a young age because of Sinita, a person she met at boarding school and participated in the play. Knowing information that others either disregarded or didn’t even care about it made her even more eager to rebel against a regime that she believed was wrong in different aspects. But although she was rebellious, she still showed her friendliness and love for close friends and relatives.
Maria Teresa is the youngest of all the sisters and is much younger than the other sisters. From her many diary entries throughout the novel, she seems to have a much more innocent childhood than her other sisters and makes it seem like everything surrounds her. This catches the reader off guard as she becomes older. After the death of her father, she wants to become a strong woman like her older sister Minerva and later decides she wants to help in fighting for the revolution against “El Jefe”. This catches the reader off guard because it goes from her talking about shoes and dresses to bombs and other coherent plans that she and her peers will use to destroy the government.
Lastly there was Dede Mirabal, the only survivor out of the four sisters. The reason she survived was because she was always a good citizen and didn’t go against authority like her other sisters. She was the only one to live a life that was considered “normal” as she washed dishes and clothes. Also she took care of her family and married her loved one. Even though she knew all the dirty stuff Trujillo was doing she still minded her own business because her husband wasn’t into that environment. But even though they weren’t involved they sometimes had to cover for the rest of the families’ actions when they needed it.
I think that there’s no main character in this story because each of the sisters puts a different perspective of the same setting. It is like each of them compliments one another when it comes to understanding the plot and the setting. In the end they all contribute into making a novel with lots of imagery.
Pete Thai
ReplyDeleteFor the Mirabal sister Patria Mercedes Mirabal, Minerva Mirabal, Dede, Mirabal, and Maria Teresa, their unity as sisters gave them a lot of their audacity. They lived through some very harsh times and fought through their fears to fight injustice no matter what the cost. They were not afraid because they knew that no matter what’s the outcome was, they were winning the fight just by fighting it.
Patria who is the oldest of the four sisters. She begins her life as being a very spiritual girl who plays with the idea of becoming a nun, but as he body changes she realizes that she likes boys and should not be a nun. But as soon as she has gotten older she has the sense that she was more involved in boys rather than the less attention to her political view on being a nun now and got married to a boy name Pedrito Gonzales and has a family with him and with three children. And as she still love the church she has realize that for Trujillo’s regime is the main adherent of the place she believed in. That’s was when she turned out older as the year went on but when she was little she gave no troubles, always think ahead. She went to this camp or school where she wanted to become a num but her father won’t let her due to her waste time. It was at Inmaculada Concepcion where she would be discipline and especially during a special thing where you can’t eat meat that is from any animals.
Dede is the second oldest who was after Patria and is the one who survived as by mean that she’s the only one living. She takes her action in a very different ways then the rest or her three sisters. She doesn’t take it on their side but take it on her point of view. Unlike how the three sisters do what each other do Dede doesn’t insist of doing like what they did going against the regime or so. This is the perspective of my way of thinking how she is the one live. She is like her very own leader thinking what’s right and wrong. A vigilant person who takes cares of herself and the family as well.
Minerva after Dede is a very spontaneous person. She is very provoked and she won't let anyone seize her back once she has an initiative. Out of all the four she is the most sociable of the sisters and it's almost as though she is courageous. Minerva has strength even when everyone is working adjacent to her. She is good at variance and always wins, she later goes to school to study to be a lawyer, which she did and got her degree.
Maria Teresa is the youngest one out of the four. Almost in the beginning of the book she was a nondependent thinker, as the book carry on she began stronger and a independent thinker due to the fact that she join the activist with her sisters and they assist her to become stronger because she wanted to feel worthy. Maria Teresa matures into a strong radical woman. As she writes in her diary it has shown to reflects the shaping events in her life. She basically just follows the way or the path or her sister beside Dede who decided not to go with them in the revolutionary.
I really don’t think that none of the four sisters is the main one. To me I’m thinking that each of the sisters has their own way in their perspective and does whatever they do. Like when Dede doesn’t want to join the revolt against Trujillo with her sister so she is on her own not to go while the rest of them go. Basically I don’t see any of them as the main character. It is telling me that each goes their own path no matter how many the pack is going or it’s a lonely one that is on its own.
The story In the Times of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez has to do with four sisters:
ReplyDeleteDede: who is the sole survivor of the Mirabal sisters. She is very soft spoken and wasn’t much of a rebel child as he sisters were. She was a home body person who took care of the family and never connected with the Dominican Rebellion that her sisters were into. In the process of being the regular child she lost her personality she believed. She was so caught up her marriage and life that she put herself last.
Patria: Is the loving older sister who cares for everyone and is a model wife. not until she joins the rebellion with her younger sisters does the reader get a feel for Patria’s rebel side, and who she really is.
Minerva: I defiantly considered the rebellious one of the sisters. She doesn’t care what needs to be done she will make that freedom for her country ring someway somehow. She cares deeply for this freedom for the Dominican Republic whether that be involving herself in illegal activity such as listening to those radio shows or even just committing acts that shouldn’t be done. It’s with Minerva that the points in the book take place due to what she believes in and wants to fight for.
As for Maria Teresa: she is the spunky ear one. As she watches her sister’s age she wonders what her life will be like and focuses on her future. With that also she too has a rebellious side that comes out when she joins her sisters in bring an uprising to the Dominican Republic.
Lastly I do not believe that any one character or sister has a main role in the story, because they all played a major role in their gatherings and rebellions that no one could do it themselves.
Erika Bell,
ReplyDeleteBeing sisters if course your bound to have similarities but differences also. Patria is more religious than the others as for Dede who is more too herself as for Maria Teresa who doesnt seem to care much but Minerva is the most rebellious.
Religion is very important to Patria and her family which she cherishes very much so. Patria's father thought that she would waist being so beautiful on becoming a nunn but yet as a child she didnt give much problems to her parents.She loves and adores her family dearly, keeps up with the house work and is an all around good wife and mother.
Minerva on the other hand she/s very brave, ouspoken and just not afriad to hold her tounge in all and comletely situations. She does not take no for an answer and looks highly up to her own self.
Maria Teresa is seen as naive and seems to have a more caring outlook on her child hood more than the other sisters maria starts to question alot of trials and tributes that she encounters in her life such as her passing of her father which progmates something in her head to where she changes up the scene a little.
Dede was the survivor of the book eventhough she didnt play much of a huge role in the story. She tried to convince her sisters not to go to the war and participate in it because of the epiphany that there would be something rong and sooner or later they ended up dead.
Some would say that Minerva or Maria Teresa is the main charachter just because there chapters are so long or descriptive but that goes for all of the sisters. Each and everyone of them had there own role in the book and each character and part was important.
There are four sisters, Patria Miribal, Dede Mirabal , Minerva Mirabal and Maria Teresa Mirabal. Each sisters have a distinct personality that makes them who they are. Il start with the oldest sister which is Patria, she is the most religious and has a little more morals for herself which gave her the potential to become a nun. But at such a young age when she was 16 she met a guy named Pedrito Gonzalez who she chose to marry.
ReplyDeleteDede Mirabal which is the second oldest of the Mirabal sisters and is the only one who surviving sister left. She is very modest and does not get into much trouble and did not want to be rebellious. She was the one that lived an ordinary life.
Minerva Mirabal, the third Mirabal sister was the one that was the most involved in the revolution and she is the one that appeared to be the most rebellious out of all the sisters. She hated Trujillo with a passion and would do anything to take him out. She is the type of person who is not afraid to do or say anything she believes in, and she is ready to do it even if she knows there will be a severe consequence. She even found the love of her life from what they both love doing being rebellious and ready to fight.
Maria Teresa Mirabal who is the youngest of the sisters was the most immature one probably because she is still young. While she cannot go out and explore like her other sisters do she just stays at home with her father as she watches the other sisters grow up. She is still unsure about reality and the actual horrors that are happening, she always unsure on what she wanted. She had a lot of attention from boys but had no interest in most of them.
Sharissa Wright
ReplyDeletePatria, the oldest of the Mirabal sisters, is the most religious. At a young age, she wanted to join a convict. Her parents gave in and allowed her to go to a religious school. Instead of entering a convent, she chose to marry Pedrito Gonzales. When her husband, sisters, and other family members were incarcerated by Trujillio, she prayed constantly with her other family for there safety. She even prayed for Peña.
Dede, the second Mirabal sister, is not as active in the revolution as her sisters, and feels weaker because of that fact. She has flutuating views about joining the revolution, so she doesn't. Because she didn't join the revolution she didn't go to jail and most of all, she didn't die. She, unlike her sisters, survived the revolution. Because she is the only one that survived, she tells the story of her sisters, her life, and experiences through the time of the Trujillo regime. This is the main reason why she will be recongnized as the narrator.
Minerva,the third Mirabal sister, and certainly the most headstrong. She's freeminded and very passoinate in the revelution she's not scared to take any risk or fight for what's right no matter what the cause is. She wants to make a diffrence in her country in which she takes much pride in.
Lastly María Teresa, the youngest of the four Mirabal sisters, is very passionate about the revolution. Which was quite surrprising due to her shelterd childhood. Under her father's wing she was very protected. She was also personified as naive and sensitive. Those characterstics may have stuck with her her whole life because she joined the revolution while living with her sister Minerva because she wanted to feel worthy of Leandro.
Coming from a family with sibling; unlike others, I know my brothers and I have similar characteristics. As for In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez relates the sisters as butterflies because they are related yet they all have a distinct pattern of wings as for in the book that each independent story. Patria can be considered the most different out of all of them not considering she is the eldest but because she’s the most religious one. She seems to be a bit distant compared to the others. At the same time it caused them to become more united because of her belief they were able to go to a religious school together. Praying for her family members including Pedrito Gonzalez who she chose to marry instead of going to a convent caused her faith to rise. She seemed to worry a lot since they were incarcerated by the dictator Trujillo, but having to pray for Peña made her feel safe.
ReplyDeleteDede, second oldest between the sisters seems to be bit cautious between the relationship of her husband and sister. Even though she’s the survivor of the Mirabal sisters, she seemed a little timid in the early chapters, and began to open up yet she seems like something sets her back. She was never as rebellious as her sisters, and never was involved into rebelling with her sisters.
Minerva is the most rebellious out of all sisters; she wants Trujillo to go down and is willing to do anything. Finding her husband with the interest of rebelling and the support of her sisters, she was willing to take a risk. She had the fault of giving the attention of the Mirabal family to Trujillo, which caused him to watch over the family.
Maria Teresa, whom is the last sister of all four, is the youngest yet acts like a mother because she worries a lot. Her character grows throughout the novel having to be more focused on her future and worrying more and more about her sisters. Writing in her diary about her thoughts about life and basically everything that is going on deeply reflects her personality. Following the decision her sisters made she becomes passionate of the revolution.
I don’t believe any of the sisters are considered a main character. Every sister has that one point where you believe they are the main character. The reader is just reading through it that characters point of view, which is hard to understand if there is a main character. So I believe every sister in the novel IS the main character, they have apart in fully completing the story behind the novel.
Nancy Ngo:
ReplyDeletePatria, who is the oldest Mirabal sister, can be perceived as the most religious one of them all. From childhood to adolescence, her life-long dream was to become a nun, since she had such an intense devotion to the teachings of God and of the church. Thus, with some convincing, she was able to attend a religious school in order to materialize her dream and make it into a reality. However, as she transcended into young adulthood, progressive "development" of her mind, body, and soul had made her more inclined to want to date boys just like other girls at this age. She later fell in love with Pedrito Gonzales and abandoned her dream to be a nun. She eventually has children, but unfortunately lost one of them to "God". This tragic event provoked her everlasting devotion as a loving wife and mother to protect her family. Later on, she joins her sisters in the revolutionary battle against Trujillo, but they later get arrested along with her son and husband. She prays daily for their safety in La Victoria.
Dede is younger than Patria and is the sole survivor of the Mirabal sisters in the present due to her refusal to join her sisters in the dire revolution. She first married Jaimito and has 3 sons with him, but her marriage becomes tumultuous around the time of the revolution and thereafter. She partially uses the strict and controlling behavior of her husband as an excuse to not join the fight, but in fact, she is very indecisive about her true feelings about the revolution. Some may say that because of her being the only sister to "chicken out" of the battle, Dede is the weakest character. However, I feel that she does reveal some strengths throughout the novel, since she was willing to remain in an unsatisfying relationship with her macho husband in order to protect her boys. Being the only survivor of the clan makes her feel melancholy because she is all alone.
I think that Minerva is viewed as the strongest sister of the bunch. Through her tenacity, wit, feminist views, bravery, and non-nonsense attitude, she is able to courageously and fervently rebel against Trujillo even if it meant that she would go to jail or get killed. She hoped to become a lawyer to defend women's rights and freedom of the oppressed in such a convoluted regime, which Trujillo claims is "equal." Although she is married, she seems to be the one who wears the bold revolutionary pants in the story since she never takes tyrannical orders from a man.
Maria Teresa personifies the most innocent doll of the Mirabal clan, since she is so young and naive. Ironically, although she was the most protected and well-nurtured child of the family, she grew up to join the revolution as well. Although she becomes more headstrong and confident through her risk to fight against Trujillo, she still is dependant on others, especially Minerva. She is married to Leandro and eventually gets killed with her other 2 sisters as punishment for defying Trujillo's will.
Rigoberto Navarro
ReplyDeleteThe four sisters are very distinct in their own way and they have different personalities and those personalities are what make them who they are and how they act. Their is four sister Minerva, Dede, Maria Teresa, and Patria. They have different ways of thinking and showing their emotions.
Dede, she is the second oldest of the four sisters. She never was the rebellious type she was more of the religious stay at home person. She didn't really pay attention or take part in the rebellion it didn't attract her like it attracted her other sisters. She was the only sister that was alive after the Dominican Revolution. At first in the book she seemed like the narrator but she wasn't she was just telling the story of her sisters and herself.
Patria, She was the oldest of the sisters. She is the most religious out of all the sisters when she was a kid she wanted to join a convict and because of that her parents had sent her off to a religious school. She was part of the revolution but she would pray a lot and see what goes from there.
Maria Teresa she is the youngest of the four sisters. She might not be the most rebellious but she was the most passionate about the revolution than all her other sisters. She put her everything just so she can gain her freedom back. She had stayed with her dad so she was very protected by her dad. She was married to Leandro and she also only joined the revolution to satisfy him.
Minerva, she is the third oldest. She was the most rebellious of all sisters she just wanted to go out there and destroy everyone just so she can gain back her freedom and her freedom for her country. She was very hard headed and didn't want to do things by other peoples ways only her ways.
I personally believe that there is not just one main character in the story because it doesnt only focus on one person but 4 sisters. Those 4 sisters being the Mirabal sisters: Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa.
ReplyDeleteDede, she is the second Mirabal sister. her usband really doesnt want her involved because of it. Need to help out the bridge before something bad happens to it. Also, thwy want to strt sone minerva. It was really scared, In a way she doesnt wanna be part of the family reunion so I have to be there like that.I feel sprry for the guya.
Patria, she is the oldest of the Mirabal sisters. At a one age, she wanted to be ver religious and study many adrawrings that have to do with God. Her faith wavers intensely as a young woman. She takes the fetal death of her third child as a punishment from God, She is very patriotic and at the same time is the most religious one of the Dominican Republic. She was married at age 16 and from them on has become a Tucson helpered.She takes the fetal death of her third child as a punishment from God, which drives her further into a religious depression.
Minerva, one of the Mirabal sisters, kept staring at me tillshe turned around and saw me and she told ne that wanting to start a revolution is king od weakand childish but anything to fight for what you really want to. Its like there can be stupid people this day.
Last but not least, lets not forget about the youngest of the Mirabal sisters. He successfully killed somewhere around 10,000 people from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She found her true purpose after she married to a rebel and grew up from her superficial attitude.
For Maria Teresa, she is the youngest of the Mirbabal sisters and is also married. She tends to focus more sbout TV and not play Monopoly becuase its hard to play right now. She joined the revolution while living with her sister Minerva because she wanted to feel worthy of Leandro, her husband.
They are all different but the only way they all can be similar is that the four Mirabal sisters; Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dede are activists fighting for the same goal and that is to make sure that Trujillo is no more. Also, to top it all of that there is not just one main character, it is because all 4 sisters together play a big role in the story. Each one brings their own unique characteristics.
Jessica Van Zile
ReplyDeleteIn the book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, there is a story told about a family and their struggles throughout life. In this book there are four main sisters; Patria, Minerva, Dede and Maria Teresa Mirabal. Each sister has a different personality that shines through while telling their side of the main story.
Patria is the oldest of the four sisters. She is known for being the religious one in the family and it was because of her that the other three got a good education. Patria wanted to become a nun and she went to school to better herself and learn more about her religion. However, it didn’t take long for her body to start changing and maturing. She met a boy and knew the life of a nun wasn’t for her anymore. She ended up getting married at the age of 16 and they had kids together. Her love for the church was still there, it was just over powered by the love for her husband.
Minerva was the sister that was most rebellious. She is fearless and out spoken. A few things you need to know is you can’t hold her back or challenge her because she will always win. She even went to school to become a lawyer which was the perfect job for her because she is a natural leader and she’s extremely intelligent.
Dede is another intelligent girl but unlike Minerva, she is always trying to please others. She is known for being “the sister who lived”. While her other sisters where rebelling against El Jefe, she was at home being a good housewife. She used her husband not wanting her to get involved with the rebellion as a way to not do it. Instead, she got a job selling insurance and did what was considered normal for a good housewife.
Maria Teresa is the youngest Mirabal sister. She was the most naïve of them all and she told her story through journal entries. Her entries start out nice and innocent but ones she learns of the rebellion and her dads unfaithfulness to her mom, she starts questioning things. She matures by finding out the bad things in life and it shows through the nature of her journal entries. She starts drawing more advanced pictures and starts to talk about things that would have terrified her younger naïve self.
All in all every part of each Mirabals story is a piece of the puzzle to the big picture. They are equally important characters and they tell the story for different angles which makes you see everything that goes on. Each of their traits explain why they did the things they did and this added an element of understanding the story to the reader.
The four sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa share similar characteristics; however, they are shown to be different from each other as well. Throughout the story, the sisters have the chance to tell their part of their lives where the reader can have a better relationship and understanding with each of them.
ReplyDeletePatria, who was the oldest of the sisters, is a mature and determined woman. She is shown to be the most religious sister and believes everything that happens is from a sign of God whether it's good or bad. She always believed in a close family relationship and did everything she could in helping her family even when they were in prison. She is very thankful when receiving good news and tends to see the glass half full. Her determination to become a nun led her to marry her husband, Pedrito, and have three children with him.
Dede, who is the second oldest, is did not participate in the revolution that occurred. She is the main character in this story because she was the only one who survived during the revolution and was still alive to tell the story of her life. She didn't fit as a rebel as her other sisters did. She would always look out for her sisters, but it was harder for her to do so when she married her cousin, Jaimito. Although she seems unhappy with him as time went by, he had saved her life from the conflict by keeping her from joining the revolution. It seemed as if over time she had lost her knowledge of being an independent woman and followed whatever her husband would tell her to do.
Minerva, who was the second youngest, was more of the independent and rebellious type of the sisters. She wasn't afraid of getting her hands dirty if she believed that it was right. Joining a revolution against Trujillo's regime interested her ever since Lio had come into her life. She has strong beliefs in freedom and bravery. She is the more risk taker sister out of the four.
Maria Teresa, who is the youngest sister, is the more playful and impractical sister of the four. Being the youngest she looks up to her sisters and their actions. She follows her sisters as if obligated to by showing her loyalty and love for her sisters. As she begins to get older, she realizes the actual events that have been going on which brings out her own beliefs and if what she is doing is the right thing. As a child she believes in Trujillo's regime, but once she's older, she finds the real truth. Maria Teresa grew up in difficult times where she couldn't show her true self until it was too late for her and her two sisters, Patria and Minerva.
Jethro Martinez
ReplyDeleteThe Mirabal Sisters share some similarities but then again there is a certain characteristic that a person has that makes them unique. Each sister gets to tell their own life story and we readers get to know them more with each story being told. The book makes its readers talk to the characters like it is an interview. Anyone can be the main character in the book but the author balances their characteristics very well.
Patria Mirabal is the oldest of the sisters has determination in things she does in her everyday life. She relies her decisions on God that is why she is the religious one between the four of them. She sacrificed her own self to give her three sisters a better education and have a better future. She had her mind set on serving the church and God but as life goes on, her body started to get matured and her love for a boy grew and ended up marrying someone at a young age.
Dede, the only sister alive and the most pleasing sister between the four of the Mirabal sisters, was just a simple yet smart housewife. It is one of the reasons why she was the only one alive. She is the only one who lived a normal life and not getting involved with all the resistance her family is in. She was smart enough to know that fighting against El Jefe will only bring them to their own caskets.
Maria Teresa, youngest of the sisters, was an innocent girl and became curious about all the rebellion and things that involves her family. She learns things through the bad things that happen to her life. She thinks that all the things that happens in her life right now will terrify her young naïve self.
Minerva, the most rebellious and the most destructive sister, is the third oldest of the Mirabal Sisters. She wanted to do things in her own way even though it will cause a massive effect to her and her family. All she wanted to gain back was her freedom to live in her country.
Lisa Huerta
ReplyDeleteThe sister all have their own personalities but do have some similarities. One of my favorites Minerva, who is the determined one, always has something to say and it always so eager to put her opinion out. In the book she is the reason why the sister got the education they did. She wanted so badly to go to school and her parents gave in. She has alot of courage and strength and its shown throughout the book, especially when she meets with trujuillo and slaps him across the face.Her interest with the rebel group that is created gets incresingly bigger and soon she is so involved that she doesnt care if she dies of starvation in prison for it. The next sister is Patria who in the book also gets involved with the alliance but not as much as minerva. She is strong but she thinks before she acts unlike minerva.She had more sense. She cares about her people but not to the point to where she would starve herself like minerva did.Her interest are her family and religion. Dede is the only sister to make it out alive but i wouldnt call her a coward for it.She loves her family and isnt as couragoius as the other two sisters. She was the sister who wanted so badlt to be apart of the rebellion but couldnt because of the love for her husband. Her interest are her family.As for the youngest sister Maria Teresa she is the shy and sisitive one that keeps to herslef by writing in a book.She wants to be strong like the older two sisters, She cares about them very much and would do anything for them In the book she becomes part of the rebellion along with the other two and finds herself being alot stronger in the end.