The Butterfly Sisters

The main themes of this book is not to far from the reality of every persons life. Not everyone has to live in a tyranny and fight for freedom to live but the fact is you still need to fight for something. Life is filled with struggles and that goes to different extents for different people. For the sisters in, In The Time of The Butterflies they had to go through an extreme part of their lives together and ended up not coming out the same. They were dependent on each other yet they were independent at the same time. The main theme I picked up from this book was the faith they had. The faith they had with each other, the faith they had to survive but most importantly the faith they had for themselves. They had faith as independent woman that they will survive no matter what the cost was and if they did not then they would die trying. The other theme I picked up was independency of these woman. They did not need anything from anyone else just each other. This faith and independence I look at with the growth of my favorite character, Minerva.

In the beginning of the novel, Alvarez introduces Minerva to the reader with Minerva's excitement that her Pap plans to send her away to school. School becomes Minerva's first victory and step towards her life as a revolutionary fighter. The faith she has in herself to go out into the world as an independent woman will shape her future greatly. Minerva says referring to going to school, "is how I got free" (13). Alvarez uses Minerva's departure for school and her excitement for it to signify Minerva's independence, which can bring up the theme of independence that Minerva shows through out the book. Minerva goes from need for her parents approval and dependence on their value system to being an independent person. This is why liked Minerva the most because she showed more faith in her self and being independent then her sisters did. She was strong-minded and no one could take that away from her. At school, Minerva experiences what truly makes her into a woman. Till then she believes in the propaganda that Trujillo and his administration have spread. Her friend Sinita tells Minerva a story of Trujillo's evil when they whispered under the blankets late one night. Minerva says to Sinita, " 'Bad things?...Trujillo was doing bad things?' It was as if I had just heard Jesus had slapped a baby" (17). Although Minerva does not fully accept the image of Trujillo as a tyrant she shows faith in her friend. It is hard for her to accept it but she understands it. When Trujillo seduces a classmate named Lina, she comes to realize his corruption. This is were the theme of faith becomes so important. It changes from the perception of a child that everything in the world is good and having faith for whoever has power over you is right. When she realizes that this is not the case she has grown up into a independent adult. This growth happened so quickly but it is so important to her future faith in the world. Here Minerva is in a position from which she may step into her new role as a