The Mirabal Sisters: How Sisterhood Creates Courage in Julia Alvarez’s in The Time of The Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a novel that is driven by the relationship between the main characters, the Mirabal sisters. As the sisters grow up together and become aware of the oppressive dictatorship that governs their country, they inspire one another to act. The relationship between the Mirabal sisters serves to show the importance of women in their culture at the time and help each sister find the courage within themselves to take control of their lives and become the figureheads in the underground movement against Trujilo. Although the Mirabal sisters have a reputation for being extremely courageous and brave, they aren’t quite as strong as they seem. We see this mostly in Dedé, who is ruled by her husband. He refuses to let her participate in the rebellion, and she obeys. She is extremely cautious, and simply wishes for her sisters to be safe. We also see a softer side within Maria Theresa. She has always been supportive of the rebellion, but her heart is not fully in it. She confesses she would choose her husband over the cause any day, and while in prison gave away information after her and her husband were tortured. Patria is an extremely resilient character, but she also has her struggles. She struggles with losing her faith, becoming a lost soul after the death of her baby. Minerva is far different from her sisters. She has always been extremely brave and courageous. She constantly snuck away to secret meetings, stayed informed by secretly listening to her radio and voicing her dislike of Trujilo loud and clear. She does not let anyone else rule her, and gets herself into a lot of trouble.

Towards the end of the book, we see great changes within all of the sisters. We see this first in Dedé, when her sisters inspire her to break free from her husband and live for herself. She goes against him, and although they reconcile, Dedé finally gets to have a small part in the rebellion. Dedé finally finds her courage, and she turns from a caterpillar into a full fledged butterfly. This change is owed entirely to her sisters, who give her the confidence to break free from her husband. Had Dedé not had her sisters, who know how long she would have stayed in that situation. Maria Theresa finds her courage in prison. She goes through torture, illness, and even a possible miscarriage behind bars. However, when offered a pardon, she does not accept. Minerva encourages her to stay, because accepting a pardon would be admitting guilt. The sheer amount of resilience Maria Theresa develops due to Minerva’s encouragement and the secret letters from her other sisters show development in her character. She goes from not having her heart fully in the rebellion to giving her all every single day to the cause, all because of her sisters.

Patria finds her courage a bit differently than her sisters. Patria witnessed a horrific massacre of young rebels while on a retreat. Patria is like a mother to all, and is completely changed by surviving this attack. “Coming down the mountain, I was a changed woman. I may have worn the same sweet face, but now I was carrying not just my child but that dead boy as well… my murdered son of a few hours ago”. Patria decides to do all she can to support the rebellion, even if it means going against the wishes of her husband. She refuses to sit back and let these atrocities continue, as she wants a better country for her family to live in. She volunteers her house as the place for all rebel meetings, and becomes the true mother of the revolution. After being freed from prison, Minerva completely loses the courage she was known for. She becomes a shell of her former self, and has to pretend to be alright. She spends hours and hours just laying in bed, letting time pass by. As Minerva loses her courage, it as almost as if it is passed onto her sisters. All of her sisters are transformed into these courageous and powerful being, but Minerva loses that part of her. Her courage was passed on to her sisters. At this point Minerva steps back a bit, and focuses her life more on her husband rather than the movement. Ultimately, it is the link between the sisters that drives them to improve their lives and find their courage. The close bond between each sister helps each of them grow as individuals, and brings them closer together. The Mirabal sisters show just how powerful sisterhood really is.