In the Time of the Butterflies: Essay #3

Alexis Boni

English Pd. 2

Ms. Miner

12/12/12

                                    In the Time of the Butterflies: Book vs. Movie

            “Viva la Mariposa! Tears came to my eyes. Something big and powerful spread its wings inside me” (Alvarez 238). In the Time of the Butterflies is a novel by Julia Alvarez about the Mirabal sisters who were apart of the underground movement against Trujillo. The novel is a powerful insight into the revolution, but does the movie do it justice? Though the movie gives the viewer a more detailed background of what was happening politically, the book conveys the theme and allows the reader to see the characters develop.

            The movie fails to express the theme as strongly as the book but the movie does possess a strong visual component. After reading the book, the movie seems bland. The novel gives you so many strong points in the theme that are not included in the movie. Also, the movie differs drastically from the book. While the movie does keep the main events from the novel, it skips around a lot. For example, in the movie, when Mate and Minerva are in jail, and Minerva is forced to watch her husband be tortured. This does not happen in the book. In the book, Leandro is forced to watch Maria Teresa be tortured. “Still very weak, but the bleeding has stopped. I can’t bear to tell the story yet. Just this-I’ve either bled a baby or had a period. And no one had to do a thing about it after the SIM got to me” (240). This quote is said by Mate in the novel after she had gotten back from being tortured. From this change in perspective and the excessive amount of skipping around, the movie leaves holes in the theme. When omitting certain events, it weakens the movies ability to communicate the theme to its viewers. Leaving it with what seems like, no direction. The movie is able to keep the viewers attention with a powerful visual component that is not experienced when reading the book. For example, at the end of the movie when the butterflies are taken into the field and are bludgeoned to death. Though it may seem somewhat graphic and heart wrenching to watch three revolutionaries being killed, it gives you an emotional aspect that the book does not. Even though the movie does not do the theme of the book justice, its visual component gives the reader a strong emotional characteristic. The theme of In the Time of the Butterflies is related to the historical events that occurred during the era of the Mirabal sisters.

            Historical context and background is key with this story line. The novel does not give much background information and context from the political stand point, in which the story line revolves around. Throughout the book the reader starts to catch on to what little context is given, but it is not given by any means. “But really, this woman should shut car doors with less violence. Spare an aging women’s nerves. And I’m not the only one, Dede thinks. Any Dominican of a certain generation would have jumped at that gunshot sound” (5). Said by Dede in the book, this is the first historical context given. Whereas, on the other hand, the movie gives plenty of historical background and context. For example, at the beginning and throughout the movie, slide shows are shown with tidbits of information. Another example is how the movie portrays the racial conflicts, like how Trujillo was murdering African Americans to make the population whiter. The novel gives very little context, whereas you could see, the tension and not only how horrific these events were, but to an extent as to how things were back during Trujillo’s dictatorship, in the movie. The process in which the sisters develop during the course of the story being told, like the theme, is also directly related to the historical events.

            The movie won a few battles against the book, but when it comes to character development, this is where the book triumphs and the movie is dreadfully unsuccessful. The character development in the movie is one sided and weak when compared to the book. The movie is solely based on Minerva’s point of view, making the movie very one sided. The book on the other hand, is from all four of the sisters’ perspectives and switches every chapter. So that the reader gets a deeper insight to all of the sisters’ lives, not how they are all centered around Minerva. Being able to see the events from each sister’s point of view gives not only different perspectives, but more depth. As opposed to the movie, the book also shows the changes and growing maturity of the girls. For example, each sister changes, but Mate changes the most due to her growing up. “I don’t know if you realized how advanced I am for my age? I think it’s because I have three older sisters, and so I’ve grown up quick. I knew how to read before I even started school! In fact, Sor Asuncion put me in fourth, though really, I should have been in third with the other tens” (32). From the novel, said by Mate, this displays how young she was at the beginning. But the movie does not portray this; it in fact gives very little information about the girl’s childhood, when it all started. The movie’s character development pales in comparison to the novel’s.

            In conclusion, the movie gives the viewer a more detailed background of what was happening politically and a visual component, the book conveys the theme and allows the reader to see the characters develop. The movie falls short when it comes to theme, but is packed with visual content that is not experienced in the book. The theme is related to the historical events that happened during the Mirabal sister’s era. The historical content and background is much more informative compared to what little is given in the book. The historical events are also directly linked to the changes that happen with the sisters. The movie is one sided because it is from Minerva’s point of view, and because of this, portrays the characters’ development very poorly. Books are always better; most movies are not doing the movies very much justice. In this case with In the Time of the Butterflies, the movie sadly follows suit.

In the Time of the Butterflies Essay #1

                                                 Individual vs. Martyr: Maria Teresa

             In the English Dictionary, a martyr is said to be a person that sacrifices their life for religious or other beliefs. The definition of an ordinary individual would be a person that does not possess any distinctive or special qualities. Can these two qualities be used to define but one human being? In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies author Julia Alvarez speaks of the Mirabal sisters during the revolution against Trujillo. One of the Mirabal sisters that demonstrates such qualities is the youngest Mirabal sister, Maria Teresa. Maria Teresa is an ordinary individual because she is little girl with many child like qualities, but  also has the characteristics of a martyr because she has a firm grasp of the more serious things going on in other aspects of her life growing up.

Maria Teresa is an everyday child growing up in her generation. She has many qualities that would portray a normal little girl, for her generation. Maria Teresa, also called Mate, speaks, and writes in her ‘Little Book’, in rambling sentences. “I long to see my Papa, whom I haven’t seen in three whole months! And my rabbits, Nieve and Coco. I wonder how many new ones I have? And Tono and Fela (they work for us) making a fuss over me” (Alvarez, 32). Maria Teresa goes on from there with more ands. The way the Alvarez cleverly structures her sentences with a lot of run-on sentences and all the ands, makes the character of Maria Teresa seem even more like a child. Mate also has to face everyday childhood troubles like deciding what shoes she wants to wear to church. “I had such a time deciding between the patent leather and the white leather for church today. I finally settled for the white pair” (36). The hardest decision: what to wear. Another child-like characteristic that Maria Teresa possesses is her thought process. She thinks like a young girl. “I have been practicing, walking up and down the Stations of the Cross with a blessed look on my face, not an easy thing when you are trying to keep your balance. I think saints lived before high heels were invented” ( 31). This is one example of Maria Teresa’s thoughts. This quote displays her innocence and youthfulness. Another example that exhibits Maria Teresa’s young thought process is, “Minerva says keeping a diary is also a way to reflect and reflection deepens one’s soul. It sounds so serious. I suppose now that I’ve got one I’m responsible for, I have to expect some changes” ( 30). This demonstrates a child-like thought, because usually when you tell a child something they take it seriously. An additional characteristic that adds to the personality of a young girl which Maria Teresa shows is looking up to her older sister Minerva. She speaks of Minerva repeatedly throughout her ‘Little Book’, whether it be good or bad. “Minerva is so smart” ( 35). When a younger sibling looks up to their older brother or sister, the child typically sides with and praises the sibling that they look up to. In addition to siding with and thinking highly of them, the young child will believe most anything the admired person were to  say.

            Maria Teresa is both an average girl and a martyr in disguise. At quite a young age, Maria Teresa starts to grasp what Minerva is getting into. “It turns out that she and Elsa and Lourdes and Sinita have been going to some secret meetings over at Don Horacio’s house” ( 39). ‘She’ being Minerva in the quote, Maria Teresa finds about her sisters activism against Trujillo when she is young. A further indication that Maria Teresa is starting to acquire the traits of a martyr, is when she is looking at the picture of their president Trujillo and tries to relate some of his attributes to God. “I see the picture of our president with his eyes that follow me around the room, and I am thinking he is trying to catch me doing something wrong. Before, I always thought our president was like God, watching over everything I did. I am not saying I don’t love our president, because I do. It’s like if I were to find out Papa did something wrong. I would still love him, wouldn’t I” ( 40). Maria Teresa’s comparison to God is the beginning of when she starts to question their president. When Maria Teresa began to worry because she knows things that she is not supposed to, “It is so strange now I know something I’m not supposed to know. Everything looks just a little different. I see a guardia, and I think, who have you killed. I hear a police siren, and I think who is going to be killed” ( 39). This describes Maria Teresa’s launch into more serious martyr traits, and how she herself gets intertwined in the revolution against Trujillo. Yet another compiled element that makes Maria Teresa a martyr, and a part of the fight, is when she has to part with her ‘Little Book’ because it contains a great deal of information that could be deemed dangerous, if found. “Minerva is burying all her poems and papers and letters. She says she hadn’t meant to read my diary, but it was lying around, and she noticed Hilda’s name. She says that it was not really right to read it, but sometimes you have to do something wrong for a higher good. (Some more of that lawyer talk she likes so much!) She says we have to bury you, too” ( 43). This is Maria Teresa’s glimpse into how serious things are becoming, and how sensitive the situation is.

            All in all, Maria Teresa is an individual because she posses the many attributes of a young girl, and is a martyr because though she does have the many characteristics of a child, Maria Teresa has a firm grasp of the more serious things going on in the other sides of her life. She can be described as a child by Julia Alvarez’s uses of run-on sentences and her many uses of the word ‘and’ throughout Maria Teresa’s sentences. Maria Teresa also has the personality of a child in a way that she faces the usual childhood difficulties like, choosing what shoes to wear to church that day, or her thoughts and how the maturity varies within them. Maria Teresa also, like many other little siblings, looks up to her older sister Minerva. Maria Teresa depicts the traits of a martyr by her grasp of what her sister, Minerva, is getting into, her comparison of Trujillo and God. Moreover, Maria Teresa starts to worry because she learns things that she is not supposed to know, in as a result of it has to bury her journal because of the danger it presents. Apparently not all superheroes have alter egos. Some people may seem ordinary, but they may turn out, that they are doing extraordinary things.

In the Time of the Butterflies Essay #2

                                         Las Mariposas: Transformation and Freedom

            There are many definitions and symbols regarding the butterfly. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, is a novel in which the Mirabal sisters a part of the revolution against Trujillo. The sisters are represented as butterflies, because in this case, they are all symbols of transformation and freedom. The Mirabal sisters all embody free and transforming butterflies, but for different reasons.

            Patria, mariposa number three, is a symbol of freedom and transformation. Patria throughout the novel transforms and changes. When Patria decides to be a part of the revolution against Trujillo that is her major transformation, “I knew then I had brought it up as a way of letting her know I was with her if only in spirit” (Alvarez 155). Patria is speaking of the revolution. The ‘it’ that the quote refers to his the name of her unborn child, Ernesto, a revolutionary’s name. Patria is letting her sister know that even though she is not yet fully involved, she always will be in spirit. “I got braver like a crab going sideways. I inched towards courage the best way I could, helping out with the little things” (154). In this quote, Patria describes her fight towards freedom. She started to become braver, and began to gain more courage. It took Patria a while to gain enough courage and bravery to help, even in the smallest ways. The crab described is personified as Patria, because she too, is inching toward her freedom. Patria, mariposa number three, symbolizes both freedom and transformation, which in turn constitutes her as a butterfly.

            Despite the fact that Dede is not one of the three mariposas, she still represents freedom and transformation. Dede is the second of the Mirabal sisters. When Dede starts to develop a strong political view, it is at that point she is transforming. “Lio was right, this was an absurd and crazy regime. It had to be brought down” (78). As Dede’s political view changes, she starts to agree more and more with the rebellious Lio, and her sister Minerva. While her hate for Trujillo grows, she herself changes too. In a way, Dede finds freedom in discovering her hate for the regime. She is able to look beyond the good things they are told about El Jefe, and realize the truth.

            Mariposa number one, Minerva, also portrays freedom and transformation. Minerva is the sister that has always been somehow involved in the revolution against Trujillo. Minerva’s transformation is one through sacrifice, when she has to give her only child, Manolito, to Patria. “‘But Minerva, your own child-’ I began and then I saw it did hurt her to make this sacrifice she was convinced she needed to make” (155). Minerva in this quote is giving her child to Patria because she is so heavily involved in the revolution. When she makes this sacrifice as a mother, it’s to be a part of something that will create a better future for her child. As for her freedom, Minerva has always been an independent, free, rebellious person. She was always the sister in some way fighting against Trujillo in the revolution. “I can see my hand in an endless slow motion rise- a mind all its own- and come down on the astonished, made-up face” (100). Minerva is dancing with Trujillo, and Trujillo gets a little too close for comfort. Minerva then slaps Trujillo. When Minerva slaps Trujillo, it shows how she does not let anyone, even an evil dictator, mess with her. Minerva, Mariposa number one, is a free and transforming butterfly, and she embodies those characteristics.

            The youngest Mirabal sister, mariposa number two, Maria Teresa also symbolizes freedom and transformation. Mate may be the youngest, but she is still a transforming and free butterfly. Maria Teresa’s transformations are throughout the novel because along the way she matures. But, when she joins the revolution everything changes. “I told Minerva and Manolo right out, I wanted to join” (142). This quote is referring to Mate’s joining of the revolution. Another quote that shows Maria Teresa’s transformation into a revolutionary is, “It was the shock of my life to see Maria Teresa, so handy with her needle point, using tweezers and little scissors to twist the fine wires together” (167). In this quote, Mate is creating a bomb. After joining the revolution Maria Teresa becomes very much invested into doing her part. Maria Teresa, who used to be so young and child-like, is using her needle point skills to create a bomb in Patria’s kitchen. Maria Teresa’s freedom comes along when she goes off to the university. “Tomorrow we’ll head back to San Francisco. It’s all settled. I’m going to be a day student and live with Dede and Jaimito during the week, then come home weekend to keep Mama Company” (124). Mate’s freedom is being allowed to go to college, and live with her sister and Jaimito. Though her freedom comes with the price of having to go home and stay with her mother on the weekends, she is still free is some aspects of her life. Maria Teresa is a representation of freedom and transformation, and in that way she truly is mariposa number two.

            In conclusion, all four Mirabal sisters are butterflies, and signify freedom and transformation in different ways. Patria’s freedom is gaining enough courage and bravery to join the revolution, yet that is also her transformation. Dede’s transformation and freedom both come when her political views strengthen and expand. Minerva being an independent person is her freedom, but she transforms when she has to give her child to Patria. Maria Teresa’s transformation was also due to the revolution, but also because she matures a lot. Mate’s freedom is in being allowed to attend the university. The Mirabal sisters are all powerful examples of freedom and transformation, which signifies them all as butterflies. The Mirabal sisters all, at some point, transform into becoming seriously involved with the revolution, in that way, they all want freedom and are risking their lives fighting for it: which for them, is the bigger picture.

Magical Realism Narrative

                                                                                                                                        Alexis Boni

                                                                                                                                      English Pd. 2

                                                                                                                                           9/17/12

                                                  Troll Tempers

It was an ordinary Thursday. All of Aria’s classes leading up to third period were just as boring as they usually were. Until after lunch when Aria and her friend Griselda, the kindest witch you could ever meet, walked to the most dreaded class of the day, math. Math would have been okay except that both Griselda and Aria were horrible at math. Plus, they had the worst teacher, Mr. Hayne. Mr. Hayne was a troll, with fading forest green skin with wrinkles a plenty. His nose looked like the beak of a toucan; his body was short and squatty. When he walked around the classroom the most wretched smell followed behind him. The class started with the class doing the bell work on the board. After the class did the work individually, Mr. Hayne would call on some people to do one of the problems of the board. Well, Griselda and Aria had not understood the problems but did them anyways on our paper. While they were talking about the last problem, Aria heard this,

“Aria, please do number three on the board,” Said Mr. Hayne, in his deep, screeching voice.

Aria really did not want to go up to the board, so she said no. But Mr. Hayne must not have heard her because he proceeded to tell her once again to up to the board. Aria turned to Griselda and said,

“I am not going up there, I hate doing work on the board and he knows it!”

“Just go up there and write something….” Said Griselda.

Mr. Hayne walked over to Aria and told her to up to the board and show the work for number three. Well at this point he was frustrating her. So she decided to go up to the board, with Aria’s heart pounding in her chest, she wrote a giant question mark under number three.  Mr. Hayne looked at her with a fury in his concrete gray eyes. When Aria went to sit back down next to Griselda, he came back over to her desk.

“Did you even do the work in your notebook?” Mr. Hayne said furiously.

Calmly looking at him, Aria said,

“Yup,”

But then he proceeded to try and take Aria’s open notebook off her desk, as if to check her work, because he didn’t believe her. When he reached his slimy, wrinkled hand across Aria’s desk to try and take her notebook. Aria merely flipped the notebook over and folded her arms across her chest. As he angrily stomped across the classroom towards the phone, he simply looked at Aria with that same ugly, smug look of rage painted across his face.

“Aria, I’m tired of walking on eggshells with you! Go to the office now, and speak with Mrs. Boyle!!” Mr. Hayne was beyond furious; as he yelled at Aria vaguely yellow spit trickled down his chin. As she quietly rose from her seat, Griselda looked at her with wide concerning eyes. Because it was such a small school it did not take Aria very long to make her way down the hallway to the front office.  Aria was dreading having to talk to Mrs. Boyle, she was the vice principal, but was a witch of the wicked sort. To Aria’s relief, the actual principal, Mrs. Reed was sitting at the front desk. Mrs. Mary must have been out to lunch. Having to talk to Mrs. Reed was a lot better than having to talk to Mrs. Boyle, because Mrs. Reed had known Aria since sixth grade, she has the same name as her daughter, and she knows that Aria would never lash out at teacher.

“Hello Aria, what can I do for you?” She always greeted her in a kind way.

“I was told by Mr. Hayne to come up here-“ Aria was interrupted by the loud, unsettling sound of the phone ringing. She knew what that ring meant, it meant that Mr. Hayne was calling to inform the office of Aria’s actions.

“Yes, she’s here. Yeah, okay I’ll have a chat with her. When can she go back to class? Okay, thank you. Bye now.” As she was talking to Mr. Hayne, Mrs. Reed was looking at Aria with disproving eyes. After she hung up the clunky jet black phone, she sighed and looked down.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” Mrs. Reed said with hints of disappointment in her voice.

So Aria proceeded to tell Mrs. Reed what had happened, or at least her side of the story.

“Aria, you can’t go against a teachers authority,” Oh, no Aria knew it was coming, a lecture. “When a teacher tells you to do something, you do it. I’m not mad at you because I know that you’re a good kid, and that you have never done this before.”

Aria was relieved that Mrs. Reed was not mad at her. But, she still had to sit up in the office next to her for the remainder of the period. The only thing worse than the fact that this may have go on Aria’s record, was the fact that all the teachers that were nice to her because they thought that she was a good student, were walking in and out of the office starring at her. Aria was not sorry for her actions, she did nothing wrong, but sitting up in the office and having teachers starring at her, was the worst punishment of all.

“Aria, you can go now, I’m going to ring the bell in a second,” Said Mrs. Reed.

The last thing that Aria wanted to do was walk back into that classroom to return the math book that she had brought with her.

When she walked through that classroom door, she felt like all eyes were on her, especially Mr. Hayne’s. Aria’s friends Griselda, and Susan were waiting for her with their eyes wide, almost as if they were thinking, Aria survived Mrs. Boyle! But in actuality, she hadn’t, she had just chatted with Mrs. Reed.

“Are you okay?” Griselda asked curiously.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Mrs. Boyle wasn’t there, but Mrs. Reed was, so I had to talk to her instead.” Said Aria. Now, for another student on Mrs. Reed’s bad side were to get in trouble and have to go up to the office, it would have been a lot worse. This explains why Griselda and Susan were staring at her with concern in their eyes.

“But, she wasn’t mad at me, I have a feeling that if I had spoken with Mrs. Boyle, it would have been a lot worse,” Aria said calmly.

There was a lot more to that day, like Aria’s friend’s, Griselda, Susan, and a few other students, had told her when she returned to the office. What she heard not only infuriated her, but changed the way she saw Mr. Hayne. Aria’s new way of seeing her monstrous math teacher was just that, monstrous. Aria’s day did not dull after she had left, she had told her mom. That is a whole other story of its own. But at the end of the day, Aria learned that monster have short tempers and that monsters are just as they are named, monsters, especially Mr. Hayne.