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The Time Of The Butterflies Courage Analysis

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Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama; Malala Yousafzai defied threats from the Taliban to campaign for education; Mother Teresa dedicated her life to serving the poor. All of these people have something in common- they all have shown acts of heroism and courage. In Alvarez’s novel the Time of the Butterflies, the Mirabal sisters all demonstrate acts of courage equal to those stated above. Although all of the sisters show courage, it is Minerva, who demonstrates the greatest amount of courage. Minerva demonstrates exceptional courage throughout the story, including at the Discovery Day dance when she stood up to Trujillo, and while imprisoned and never gave up hope.

During the Discovery Day dance, Minerva's …show more content…

While she and Mate are in prison, Minerva shows one act of courage by getting everybody in the prison to wear crucifixes around their necks. This idea is nicknamed the Crucifix Plot. The idea was to wear them as a symbol of their solidarity. When the guards come for them , Mate recalls, “But when they grabbed Minerva, she started kicking and swinging her arms”(Alvarez 237-238). This shows that Minerva does not want to take her crucifix off because it would show that they weren't in solidarity. After they forced the crucifix off of Minerva it left an impact on Mate. As a result, Mate felt her courage, strengthen and she became brave. Mate recalls, “Something big and powerful spread its wings inside me. Courage, I told myself. And this time, I felt it”(Alvarez 238). This shows how Minerva left a lasting impact on Mate. While Minerva is kicking and trying not to get the crucifix off of her it impacts Mate in a way that she feels like she can do anything now. Mate looks up to Minerva and feels that has been building up inside her. Something hatches to reveal her true courage. The consequences overall from this would be Minerva's choices in prison impacted her and Mate in a powerful way, giving mate more courage through these hard

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