In the Time
of the Butterflies
“In the Time Of the Butterflies” is a story about guilt in all forms. From historical to modern, and in the narration itself as survivor’s guilt (with a historical throughline in Álvarez’s own survivors guilt). Álvarez argues the point that optimism under oppression can lead to hidden strength but also the guilt that comes from surviving can be crushing even decades after the oppression has passed.
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Passage 1
“The slamming of a car door startles DedéThe car door is an intrusion of the political world into Dedé's domestic space, one that will not be uncommon as the book progresses. The violence of the Trujillo (and other) regimes is not polite. The startling quality positions Dedé as someone who must be continually on guard, and it positions her peace shown here as entirely conditional.. When she calms herself she finds she has snipped"Snipped" is a surgical word. Álvarez chooses a word that implies precision rather than accident - Dedé's fear causes her to do exactly what she's trained herself to do (tend, cut, maintain) at the exact wrong moment. Her survival mechanism has become her method of damage. her prize butterfly orchidThe butterfly orchid is a direct symbolic stand-in for the Mirabal sisters. Dedé has spent her life cultivating the memory of her sisters, and here the ambient terror of the memory of the regime causes her to harm the very thing she cherishes most. The orchid is also something fragile, decorative, and kept alive only through careful attention, mirroring Dedé's role as the protector of the family..”
Passage 2
“Every time he made one of those promises, he'd look at me as if he needed me to approve what he was doing. Or, really, not meSelf-correction is the key, here. Dedé recognizes in real time that she is not the audience, she is the intermediary through which people view her, and her sisters, past. Her identity has been entirely eclipsed by her role as witness., but my sisters whose photos hung on the wall behind me. Those photos had become icons"Icons" shifts the sisters from people to symbols - religious or political, but certainly flattened. "Emblazoned on posters" and "collectors pieces" push further: the Mirabals have become merchandise. Álvarez is marking the uncomfortable distance between martyrdom and commodification. The photos on the wall behind Dedé literally loom over her, flattening her and her guilt into one dimension as "The One who Lived.", emblazoned on posters - already collectors pieces. Bring back the butterflies! the surface, a political rallying cry to restore the Mirabal legacy's ideals. But the "butterflies" here are dead butterflies. They are dead and preserved. The slogan "Bring back" is impossible. The butterflies cannot come back, and the people chanting it are looking at Dedé while they say it, the one butterfly who survived only because she did not fly.”
Passage 3
“Watching him, Dedé was reminded of his fighting cocks which, in the barnyard, appeared to be just plain roostersThe barnyard is presented as the safe and ordinary, and it establishes that initially violence is not always legible. It can look harmless when the situation does not demand it. This maps onto Trujillo's officers and collaborators, who in civilian life appear normal, but are capable of extreme brutality. Dedé can see this, yes, but she cannot prevent it, which ties into her survivor'. But put them in a ring with another rooster, and they sprang to life "Sprang to life" is a disturbing inversion - 'life' here means violence. The ring is the condition (the regime) that activates latent brutality. Álvarez is arguing that cruelty is situational and not innate.. Explosions of feathers and dagger claws. She had seen them dazed, stumbling, eyes pecked out, still clawing the air at an attacker they could no longer seeThe rooster fights something that isn't there anymore. It's a portrait of resistance past the point of rationality, which cuts two ways - either heroic (refusing to stop) or tragic (unable to stop). Dedé, and Alverez, are the ones who see the full arc, from plain rooster to blind fighter, and that they alone understand the cost that the roosters themselves cannot..”
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Passage 1
“Dedé hesitatesThis implies that something happened that makes her not want to remember what happened in the past., but her mind is already racing back year by year by yearThis sets up the flashback that happens immediately after, and also in the rest of the story, presenting it as her remembering things., to the moment she has fixed in her memory as zeroIt shows just how good her memory is, that she is able to have a set point that begins her memories. It also helps set up how the story is starting from nearly the very beginning of her life, at least before the main conflict of the story..”
Passage 2
“‘So when did all the problems start?It shows that Dedé has been telling her memories as a story to the interviewer, framing the narration of the book as Dedé's words, though likely not verbatim due to quotes and other pieces that allow for a more cohesive story.’ The interview woman's voice calls Dedé back to the present momentThe interview woman brings her back from her memory, causing another disruption in chronology, though this had also happened for the full current chapter, taking place still in the past, but the very near past, rather than far.. Again, Dedé feels as if the woman has been eerily reading her thoughtsIt shows that what happens next will proceed a lot worse than what has happened before. Provides the viewer with an idea that the "problems" are about to start in the story..”
Passage 3
“When did it turn, I wonder, from my being the one who listened to the stories people broughtPreviously in the story she had been one who listened to stories from others, but now after everything that happened, she tells the story. Especially through the framing of the entire book, as a story she tells. to being the one whom people came to for the story of the Mirabel sisters?After everything that happened, she had become the one to provide the stories to those who came to learn of what happened. The entire interview shown previously in the book is an example of that. When, in other words, did I become the oracle?At her age, she has become the person who carries all this knowledge on the lives of these important people, the last surviving sister, the one who remembers those who died.”
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Passage 1
“‘Look at the moon.’ It is not a remarkable moon, waning, hazy in the cloudy nightThe storm motif is prevalent in the ending of the book, and is shown in many ways. The haziness through the cloudy night represents more than just a moon in Dedé's eyes; it shows the power of optimism shining through the cloudy night, which could be contrasted with Trujillo's tyranny. In this powerful moment, the girls are represented by the light of the moon shining through the clouds, which are representative of Trujillo's cover on the whole Dominican Republic. But as far as I'm concerned, a moon is a moonThis passage is an example of an oxymoron in the way that the moon was not just "a moon", it was a part of Dedé realizing the hope that she has given to the community, and although her sisters are gone now, that hope still remains through the cloudy night., and they all bear remarkingThis part defines Dedé as a character who believes in equality for all. She fought back against the oppression of Trujillo and believes that not just her story should be told, all stories under the republic are important and all "bear remarking.".”
Dedé, pg 326Passage 2
“My boy grew into a man, my girl long and slender like the blossoming mimosa at the end of the drive. Pedrito took on a certain gravity, became an important man around here. And I, Patria Mercedes?”
Annotations pending.
Passage 3
“She didn't really know Lio was a communist, a subversive, all the other awful things the editorial had called him. She had never known an enemy of the state before. She had assumed such people would be self-serving and wicked, low-class criminals. But Lio was a fine young man with lofty ideals and a compassionate heart. Enemy of state? Why then, Minerva was an enemy of the state.”
Annotations pending.
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Passage 1
“That night, Sinita told me the secret of Trujillo. I couldn't sleep.This is where we see Dedé become stressed for the first time, and see her keep the secret of what Trujillo was doing. She is afraid. All day, I hadn't felt right, but I didn't tell Sor Milagros.It seems she felt out of place and that somebody should know for the protection of her family, but she didn't want to worry anyone or tell anyone quite yet because she herself couldn't even fathom it. I was afraid she'd stick me in the sick room, and I'd have to lie in bed, listening to sor Consuelo reading novenas for the sick and dying.This is when Dedé was getting into her own head, thinking she would be seen as crazy to think someone would want so much power twisted in such a way no one could think of.”
Dedé, pg 15Passage 2
“Dedé catches my eye, smiling only after a lag of a second, for we have to seem pleased.Minerva and her family can't be alarmed, as this is Trujillo's party, and they have to seem as calm as possible, as anything can go wrong under the man with all the power. Especially being in a building of a party he hosted and having all his people and security around. She touches her glass and gives me a slight nod.It's hard to give a signal in a palace with high security and having an invitation and having to attend, but to still be safe is hard. One wrong move could cost her bad juju for her whole family. Don't drink anything you are offered. The gesture reminds me.As a woman, it is already a lot of pressure to go to a party; if you are offered a drink or a dance, it could go very wrong. As well as the scenario in the book, later on minerva is offered a dance, she declines for her safety, and maybe because she didn't want to, but that takes a massive turn on her and her family.”
Dedé, pg 99-100Passage 3
“Compañeros y Compañeras. We must not fall prey to petty divisions, but concentrate on our next point of attack–the OAS members when they come.Maria Teresa has been imprisoned for a couple of weeks now, and she wants to revolt and stop this while she can, she wants to attack the people of OAS and to stop them, so she and others can be freed. If sanctions are imposed, the goat will fall.If her plan worked, then Trujillo would fall, and everyone could finally be freed and not be imprisoned over something useless. She wants to be free, and she wants her family to be in good hands. But it becomes political and life-threatening. We are suffering a setback, but we have not been beaten.After they were imprisoned, that was the first downfall of the plan, but after they decided to strike again if was going to be a good idea or not, all they wanted was freedom and to be in good governmental hands, but all they got was a personal attack straight from the dictatorship, and eneded up dead.”
Dedé, pg