In the Time of the Butterflies

In the time of the butterflies
July 23, 2011
By: Gina Roman



“In The Time of the Butterflies,” is a novel published in 1994 by Julia Alvarez based on a real story that took place in the Dominican Republic in the early 1960’s under the regime of Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez tells about the happenings of the four Mirabal sisters “Las Mariposas;” Patria, Minerva, María Teresa and Dedé, symbols of courage, struggle and hope for freedom in a country subdued and overshadowed by Dictatorship and despair.

In spite of the day to day horrors of life under a brutal regime, “Las Mariposas,” “The Butterflies,” came together to overthrow Rafael Trujillo and sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom. They had to pay the human cost of political opression but to this day they still remain in the heart of many people throughout the world.

This story was also adapted into a film in 2001 starring Marc Anthony and Salma Hayek.
I’ve always had this great admiration for Salma Hayek not only because of her captivating beauty but because of her talent and her “ganas,” will for success.
In the film she gives life to Minerva Mirabal who had a dream of going to school which was not common or allowed to farmer’s daughters at that time. After begging her father, he finally gave in. Once in school Minerva started meeting people and it was then that she realized the truth about Rafael Trujillo as many secrets were revealed. As days went by, Minerva also found out that one her friends was taken by Trujillo to bear him a child and then afterwards she was exiled from the Dominican Republic to escape Trujillo's fury and venom.

Rafael Trujillo quickly became attracted to Minerva and years later he hosted a party in Santo Domingo to which Minerva was invited. Since she foresaw his intentions, she declined the invitation but her parents were afraid of the consequences to come so they convinced Minerva to go. At the party, Rafael asked her to dance with him, as they danced Trujillo kept pulling Minerva very close to him and resting his hand on her lower back. Minerva finally pulled away and slapped him leaving her family at stake.

Minerva was allowed to continue school and graduate from university and she was even handed her diploma at her graduation ceremony but her license to practice law was withheld as revenge from Trujillo

The retaliation they suffered after they protested was brutal;“Las Mariposas” and their husbands were arrested because of endless crimes they “had committed,” papá (their father) was also arrested and tortured to death.

Finally Trujillo ordered three of the sisters to be killed on Puerto Plata Road with their driver Rufino, coming back from paying a visit to their imprisoned husbands. “Las Mariposas” and the driver were lynched to death. Their Vehicle and bodies were later dumped off a cliff to make it appear as an accident.

“Las Mariposas will always remain in the heart of the Dominicans and
Museo Hermanas Mirabal is proof of that. The museum is showered with butterflies as a symbol of freedom to them and millions of Dominicans.

When I first saw the movie I was flipping through the channels and only got the end of the story so I rented it the following day and a few weeks later I went to a bookstore and came across the book. I was not only impacted by this story but I loved their symbol of freedom because I felt connected while growing up under my father’s regime….

Although my father’s regime doesn’t even come close to that of Rafael Trujillo, my sisters and I were very restricted when growing up, it seemed as if my father took things to the extreme sometimes. When I think of Minerva Mirabal I reflect myself in her because I always fought against my father’s authority. My oldest sisters were too scared to contradict him or to stand out for themselves. Unlike me, as scared as I was, I always confronted him. When I had just turned fourteen we had a very intense confrontation that we didn’t cross a single word in over a year.
My lack of maturity and understanding encircled me in my own selfish bubble and I neglected to give him a chance to explain why he was so strict.

Now that I look back, it wasn’t so bad. He was just trying to do his job as any parent can go crazy with five girls in the family.
Regardless of what the Mirabal sisters went through in the Dominican Republic, their nickname, the book or the film, butterflies have always been my own symbol of freedom.

Just last weekend, my niece, my nephew and I were trying to figure out how many butterflies I have. Among that Collection is a beautiful red blanket with a huge butterfly in the middle, once I was walking along Carretera de Chapala and I found an intact dead butterfly so I picked it up, brought it home and put it in a box. I have necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, clothes with butterflies, shoes and many other things. When I’m teaching or when I meet someone it doesn't take them long to decipher my love of butterflies and they sometimes ask why.

I may have told a few people that I just simply love them but in reality, long ago I adopted“Las Mariposas” to define “me” and my sense of pursuing my ideals in life, to cherish the freedom I once fought for and prevailed.

“Long Live the Butterflies”