Social Change In In The Time Of The Butterflies By Julia Alvarez

Social Change is the change in social structures, rules, behaviour patterns and cultural values over time. Throughout history, we have seen many examples of social change such as the French, American and Latin American revolutions. In both the French and Latin American revolutions we watch the lower classes fight for their equality and rights. They spend years trying to win their rights and eventually gain independence. In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, we witness how social change leads to the fall of the Dominican Republic’s dictator Trujillo through the perspectives of four sisters. Patria is the oldest sister, followed by Dedé, Minerva, and finally Maria Teresa (or Mate). With each sister’s personality being …show more content…
In the novel, it is Minerva’s unique thinking that triggers this change in her family and her friends by persuading them to join her and start a revolution. When Minerva and Mate are in prison and Minerva is being taken away to be put in solitary, Mate says ”a voice from one of the cells [Minerva passes calls] out, Mariposa does not belong to herself alone. She belongs to Quisqueya!Then everyone [is] beating on the bars calling out, iViva la Mariposa!”(Alvarez,238). Everyone who joined the revolution was inspired by Minerva and her bravery is what gives everyone including her sisters the courage to fight back.There have been many other personalities throughout history that were in the same position as Minerva.The open-mindedness of one person can really affect the people near them whether they realize it or not. Their thought process which is unique and different from others makes the public around them want to listen to more. If we look back to how Mexico gained its independence from Spain, we can see that it was a priest named Miguel Hidalgo who took the very first step towards gaining freedom. He “rang the bells of his village church [and when] the peasants gathered in the church, he issued a call for rebellion against the Spanish” (Littel,251). Hidalgo being open about the problem made people support him because there were many people back then who wanted to fight back but they did not say so due to fear of being punishment.His declaration gave people some hope and courage to fight back. It made them realize that what they are thinking is not incorrect, but actually what is needed to happen. From the novel and historical proof, we can see that if people like Minerva or Hidalgo had not stepped up and fought back against injustice even if it meant compromising their own lives, then the revolutions in the Dominican Republic or Mexico might have had a different outcome