In the Time of Butterflies
The storyline of the movie In the Time of Butterflies shows the events that happened on 25th November in the year 1960 when the three sisters were found dead near the cliff in the north of the Dominican Republic. It was reported to be an accident; however, the report failed to identify the existence of the fourth sister. Neither did the report mention the alive sister’s vicious resistance to the General Trujillo's tyranny. The story thus shows how Minerva triggered the tragedy when she refused General Trujillo; it is also portrayed how Patria became opposed to the church and how Maria Teresa joined the revolution via love. Finally, the film tells the story how the three sisters lost their wings, but did not give up their audacity. They were butterflies – Las Mariposas as it is seen in the movie.
This movie is a drama based on a book that involves a woman together with her family who fights against the actions of a corrupt leader. She pays a fearful price for her resistance to the General. In the movie, Minerva decides to become a revolutionary. She is the first of the four sisters to get involved in the activists movements of overthrowing the government of General Trujillo. She became a revolutionist due to the influence of her uncle and the friends whose family members had been imprisoned, tortured, and finally killed by the Trujillo's army of thugs. She was extremely rebellious and always made arguments against the government on the basis of right versus wrong. In addition, education also played a vital role in Minerva’s becoming a revolutionist. She was a liberal patriot and thus understood politics and law. Trujillo’s government believed that all the Haitians in the Dominican Republic needed to be eliminated so as to purify this republic. The Haitians were black people and thus were thought to be polluting the minds of the white people of the government of Trujillo. It is vital to note that the blacks occupied a third area of the HispaniolaIsland.
The Role of Rafael Trujillo
The butterflies were a significant threat to the government of Trujillo and his regime. Because of the arrogance of Trujillo, the only option was to eliminate this group especially after they got released from jail. The three sisters, namely Minerva, Maria, and Patria, declined to give up their fighting for a democratic state and social freedom of every person on the island. Trujillo planed for their death making it looked like an accident. The move of the sisters to overthrow the government’s dictatorship eventually ends with only one surviving sister, Dede. The movie is certainly a sad one. However, several parts about this movie are based on real life happenings. In fact, Rafael Trujillo existed and actually did most of the things during his regime that are shown in the movie. I would love to think that the movie In the Time of Butterflies shows the life during Trujillo’s era of rule, his power, his destiny, and the people’s position towards his ruling. The role of Rafael Trujillo was well-depicted by the actor who played this role in the movie. He brilliantly displayed the real character. After watching the movie, one is left wonder whether the leader actually was human or not. The idea behind this movie originated from the incident in the 1960s when the Mirabal sisters got killed three months after the involvement of their father in the attempted coup against Trujillo. During 30 years of rule, Trujillo killed over 50,000 Haitians and Dominicans.
