Reading Activity

In the Time of the Butterflies as a Work of Historical Fiction On the first page of the book, before one reads the table of contents or the opening lines of the first chapter, the reader is told In the Time of the Butterflies is “a work of fiction based on historical facts.” Julia Alvarez dedicates the novel simply: “For Dedé.” A memoriam page lists the names of three women—all from the Mirabal family—and one man, Rufino de la Cruz. Each shares the same date of death, November 25, 1960. By beginning the novel in such a quietly reflective way, Alvarez subtly signals the reader that one should pay close attention—that the characters and events in the book are an amalgam of historical fact and creative license.

On the first page of Chapter One, we learn that, “Now after thirty-four years, the commemorations and interviews and presentation of posthumous honors have almost stopped, so that for months at a time Dedé is able to take up her own life again. But she’s long since resigned herself to Novembers. Every year as the 25th rolls around, the television crews drive up.” Many readers will find themselves stopping there, thumbing back through the pages to read the dedication and memoriam pages again and wondering what took place that autumn of 1960. Like the gringa dominicana who makes a pilgrimage to visit Dedé in order to learn more about the Mirabal sisters, the reader is on a quest for the truth.

In historical fiction, truth is often based on emotional validity rather than factual reality. Authors, aware that they must turn actual people into three-dimensional characters, look for ways

to demonstrate the essence of each person’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions. When Julia Alvarez was researching the novel, she talked to Dedé Mirabal-Reyes and many others who knew the Mirabal family. Some of the novel’s scenes are clearly historical—such as Minerva’s acquisition of a law degree, the sisters’ role in the underground movement, and the major events leading up to their deaths. Other moments, such as Minerva slapping Trujillo at the dance (which occurs in Chapter Six), remain debatable. Dedé confirms there was a party and that a confrontation took place, but insists that her sister did not slap Trujillo, though she did publicly rebuff him. Popular legend still holds that the slap took place, and the event has even inspired a merengue dance.

Using this moment as an example, Julia Alvarez says, “It was very difficult when writing the book, because how do I negotiate that terrain, and what do I privilege as a point of view? Because once I’m in a novel, I’m in character—the truth according to character.”

In the novel’s postscript, Alvarez explains that she wanted to understand what gave the Mirabal sisters the special courage they needed to stand up to the dictator and his regime. “It was to understand that question that I began this story,” she explains. “But as happens with any story, the characters took over, beyond polemics and facts. They became real to my imagination. I began to invent them.”

HANDOUT ONE

16 THE BIG READ National Endowment for the Arts