In the Time of the Butterflies Essay Example

The main point of Julia Alvarez's "In the Time of the Butterflies" is to show individual personality in each character. This book shows that the people involved in the revolution led personal lives and had feelings just like those of us who read about them. By telling about the characters' families and personal issues, Alvarez draws her readers into the book and makes them feel for each character. Something that puzzled me was why the Mirabal sisters refused to leave prison. Minerva said that they had to set a good example and that accepting a pardon would mean that they thought they had something to be pardoned for. It seems to me that Minerva had too much pride. They should have accepted the pardon for the sake of their children and their mother. Did they really want their children to grow up without them? I see that they were trying to prove a point, but it also seems that they were working against themselves at the same time. They could not further the revolution while they were sitting in jail. I also wondered why Trujillo all of the sudden started killing people left and right. I concluded that he was desperate because he knew he was not going to have that much power for very long. He knew he was in trouble because the OAS Peace Committee came so he figured he might as well kill people while he still can. I don't understand why Mate did not tell the OAS Peace Committee what happened at La 40. She said she did not want to endanger Santiclo. That is understandable, but it seems that there was a very slim possibility that he would get in trouble. She should have been thinking of her own good as well as her fellow prisoners'. It was interesting how much the Mirabal sisters' true personalities came out while they were in prison. Mate was weak. She had a lot of breakdowns and relied on Minerva for support. Minerva always had to be the strong one, but even she had a weak side. That began to show during their last weeks in prison. She admitted to herself