Alvarez's Purpose

      Alvarez definitely served her purpose with writing In the time of the Butterflies. With this particular book, Alvarez was able to tell a story about four very different sisters, but through the eyes of only one sister, Dede.  Alvarez interviewed Dede, (the soul survivor of the four sisters) and Alvarez took Dede’s stories of each sister and was able to create a story about sisters as if each sister were sitting in front of Alvarez herself.  Though Alvarez created a story through the sister’s stories and experiences, I feel Alvarez was trying to tell us of what the Haitian women went through during this time. These four particular women fought for what they believed in, as well as fought for those women who might have been affected by what was going on during this awful time. Before I started reading this particular book, I thought it was going to be a historical timeline, you can say straight to the point. But after reading the book, I realized that Alvarez was doing more than that, she took the facts, and put them into a story that showed how each sister was affected by one another. Though in story form, Alvarez told the truth, she wrote what she was told from Dede, she wrote as if she experienced the whole thing with the sisters. Alvarez I feel accomplished what she was trying to accomplish, she told the story of four sisters who were strong-willed but at the same time experienced many fearful events. Alvarez was able to give Minerva, Mate, Patria, and Dede a voice, it allowed them to tell their stories “from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule, “ (back cover). After reading this particular book, you see how times have changed, and how women are becoming more of a force as well as being able to use their own voice. You cannot help but feel for Dede and her sisters because these girls did not deserve what happened to them, and Dede did not deserve to have to bury her sisters because they someone did not approve of their actions. In the end justice was not served for these four sisters as well as the Haitian women, and also men.