Dedé's Courage In The Butterflies

Words: 1023
Pages: 5
Open Document
While Dedé initially hides behind her fears and excuses as a means to avoid getting involved in the revolution, she ultimately adopts a new courage to carry on the butterflies' legacy. Dedé avoids facing her passionate love for Lío and instead marries Jaimito out of fear of a dangerous, chaotic lifestyle that contrasts with her orderly personality. When Dedé reads in the paper about Lío's actions against the government, she thinks to herself, "Lío was a communist, a subversive, all the other awful things the editorial had called him...Enemy of state? Why then, Minerva was an enemy of state. And if she, Dedé thought long and hard about what was right and wrong, she would no doubt be an enemy of state as well" (Alvarez, ch. 5). This quote …show more content…
When the president comes to Dedé's house to speak about the changes he plans to make in the country, a major realization hits Dedé. She looks up at the photos of her sisters on the wall and thinks to herself, "Those photos had become icons, emblazoned on posters...And I started to think, maybe it was for something that the girls had died" (Epilogue). Dedé realizes just how large of an effect her sisters have made in their country and will continue to make for centuries. A major change has occurred within her, and she begins to take on her role as Butterly #4 and preserve the legacy of her sisters. Dedé adopts her own unique sense of courage that is different from that of her sisters' but equally as important. When she loses herself in thought with the gringa dominicana, Dedé thinks, “She feels bad when she can’t carry off what she considers her responsibility. To be the grande dame of the beautiful, terrible past. But it is an impossible task, impossible! After all, she is the only one left to manage the terrible, beautiful present" (ch. 5). This quote shows how Dedé has taken on her role of carrying on the butterflies' story. Although it is hard for her sometimes to have to revisit the past, Dedé's newfound sense of courage allows her to continue keeping the story of her sister's alive in the heart of people all over the world. For the first time in the novel, the readers see Dedé choose courage over living a life in
Show More

Related Documents: Dedé's Courage In The Butterflies

Comparing The Mirabal Sisters In In The Time Of The Butterflies

isn’t perfect, but he loves her nonetheless. The Mirabal sisters, from the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, each have their faults, Mate’s cowardice, Minerva’s impulsive choices, Patria was unable to see past her religious views, and Dede’s struggle with leadership without a male’s guidance. However the people of the Dominican Republic still view them as hope. These butterflies each do what they have to in order to lead as women while still holding the respect of their peers…

Words 542 - Pages 3

What Are Gender Roles In Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies

Alvarez through her novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, shows the Mirabal sister’s power as they challenge gender limitations set on them by the patriarchal culture in the Dominican Republic to induce women not to be afraid to assert that part of themselves. The most significant role the Mirabal sisters undertook were as revolutionary women’s that further challenged gender limitations as they, being women, spoke up instead of being silent. These revolutionary women: Minerva, Patricia, and Maria…

Words 1055 - Pages 5