In the Time of the Butterflies

Multiple Choice

1. D (Chapter 1)

2. A (Chapter 2)

3. B (Chapter 2)

4. C (Chapter 3)

5. A (Chapter 4)

6. D (Chapter 5)

7. C (Chapter 6)

8. A (Chapter 6)

9. A (Chapter 7)

10. D (Chapter 7)

11. A (Chapter 8)

12. A (Chapter 8)

13. C (Chapter 8)

14. B (Chapter 9)

15. B (Chapter 10)

Long Answer

1. Answers can show how the concept of freedom makes a novel about the Dominican Republic a universal story of the human spirit that has everything and nothing to do with Rafael Trujillo. By taking any of the Mirabal sisters or the example of Lio or Leandro or the parish priest, a response can highlight how imprisonment, whether literal or symbolic, is anathema to the human condition. The rabbit scene can show how terrifying leaving imprisonment can be, but the vivid scenes in the Trujillo prisons and even the scenes of house arrest all reveal the horrors of enslavement. (Chapters 3, 6, 9, 10)

2. The concept of not just being willing to die for a cause but to die for an ideal is difficult to understand. Martyrdom is easier to understand as a symbol than as an act. The Butterflies maintain their commitment to a free country despite the odds, despite the obvious impossibility of triumph, and despite the advice of family, friends, and even their church. The commitment of the Mirabal sisters to a free Dominican Republic involves sacrificing what many people dream of—home, family, love, work, just ordinary life. By focusing on the harrowing closing chapters, when the Trujillo government moves against the sisters, a reading of martyrdom emerges. (Various chapters)

3. The role of the Church shifts. Initially, the Church aligns with Trujillo and endorses the perception of him as a benevolent protector of the country. The chapters set in the convent school help underscore the Church’s initial resistance to the insurgents. By remaining neutral, the Church permits atrocities and turns a blind eye to the oppression and brutalities of the government. An essay should reflect how the sisters, particularly Patria, come to a crisis of faith because of this neutrality. The heroic figure of Padre de Jesus, however, reflects the Church’s emerging advocacy of the gospel of social activism that echoes many passages of Christ. In the end, priests become targets of Trujillo’s paranoia and suffer persecution in the regime’s closing years. (Chapters 1-2, 7, 8)