Experiencing a traumatizing event in person creates a ripple effect that lasts a lifetime. Throughout the novel In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez, the Mirabal sisters become radicalized from the effects of intimate confrontations with Trujillo himself. Most of the sisters are quite different when they are younger, but as they grow and become more acquainted with the world they are living in, they become more involved and more passionate about saving their country. Through the stories of Minerva, Mate and Patria, Julia Alvarez shows that experiencing personal encounters with tragedies cause people to become more radicalized. When Patria is younger, she bears the qualities of an innocent and faithful child, but once she …show more content…
When Mate is living with Minerva, she meets a boy named Leandro who works with the underground, and she immediately decides that she is going to join the revolution because she, “wants to be worthy of him” (142). The importance of finding a man to marry for Mate blinded her to the true grit that came with taking part in a revolution; Mate cared more about finding a husband than she did about saving her home. Once she is imprisoned because of her “revolutionary” ideals, Mate experiences a miscarriage due to the brutality of the prison guards (240). Because of Mate’s faith and basic morals, losing her baby has a monumental effect on bother her physical and mental conditions. She becomes more determined to upend Trujillo’s rule and acts upon these feeling by speaking to the AOS officers about the conditions in the prison (251). At first, Mate’s decision to become a revolutionary was for trivia matters, but once she endures the horrific treatment that Trujillo delivers, and after she experiences the aftermath of these treatments, she follows in her sister’s footsteps and becomes a true