March 10, 2011

Initial Reactions

In the Times of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

This novel seems like a slow and bumpy read. Reason being is because the plot jumps around a lot. In the first chapter we see a sister Dede is celebrating the anniversary of some event that she is upset about her surviving. Abruptly the author jumps from present day to 1943. There is not too much going on in the first chapter. The next few chapters are where the plot thickens up. We learn that the dictator is a creep who will kill anybody who gets in his way to keep him from doing whatever he wants when he wants.

This chapter is being voiced by Minerva, who to me seems like she is going to be trouble throughout the novel. She meets some girls at the boarding school and they put on a play called Viva Trujillo. She and the girls get an opportunity to put this play on for Trujillo in person and the girls plan to change their play’s theme so Sinita can attempt to murder Trujillo in the name of her family all of who Trujillo had murdered.

I can only imagine what the next few chapters have in store.