The Mirabal Sisters In Trujillo's Butterflies

The Mirabal sisters undergo tremendous transformations throughout their lives. When Trujillo’s dictatorship begins affecting their families, they become upstanding women. As a result of their outspokenness, the sisters earn the nickname Mariposas, meaning “Butterflies”. Butterflies do not begin their lives as the colorful and graceful creatures many people initially think of. They begin as caterpillars. At a specific time in their lives, caterpillars undergo a change known as metamorphosis and become butterflies. The Mirabal sisters undergo a significant change, or metamorphosis, when they decide to speak out against Trujillo. As a result of the oppression the Mirabal sisters experience, they transform from passive young girls to upstanding
Here she earns the nickname “Mariposa”. Over the course of the novel, readers are able to witness Minerva’s increasing strength and determination as she defies social expectations. All of her life Minerva desired to be free. Like a butterfly, she was always eager to spread her wings. She desired to be free from her father’s rules when she was young, and from Trujillo’s dictatorship when she was grown. As Minerva matures, she becomes more aware of her country’s political circumstances. At one point in the novel Minerva reflects, “And that's how I got free. I don't mean just going to sleep away school on a train with a trunkful of new things. I mean in my head after I got to Immaculanda and met Sinita and saw what happened to Lina and realized that I'd just left a small cage to go into a bigger one, the size of our whole country” (Alvarez __). Minerva feels that becoming aware of the political situation in her country is similar to being freed. Rather than being sheltered and naïve, Minerva is able to open her eyes and face the imprisonment that pervades the Dominican Republic. Minerva’s character development embodies the perseverance that butterflies show as they undergo