The story “In the time of the butterflies” by Julia Alvarez shows the struggles that four sisters had to endure in their lives. They fight for their freedom and join the revolution which put their families at risk of going to prison and ending up dead. This story shows all the hardships that four sisters had to endure in times when women didn't have much rights or freedom of speech and how they fought for them. With several literary devices, Julia Alvarez was able to show the Dominican Republic people's culture, history, traditions, and how they fought for their freedom of speech in this captivating story. There are many themes in this story which one of which is courage. Courage is portrayed by the characters but mostly by Minerva. At the beginning of the story she shows an act of courage by slapping Trujillo for his inappropriate behavior. As she grew, she became the leader of a group that is determined to be against Trujillo and destroy him. She is the one who transported the weapons and the one who encouraged others to join her group. She faces a lot of torture and even gets her sisters imprisoned but she never gives up. Another theme of the story could be entrapment because the Dominican Republic is all imprisoned by Trujillo's police state. Also, the sisters face entrapment because of their home lives. They have to get permission from their dad to do anything and also they must face the expectation of the whole society because they expect them to get married and have kids. One example of this is by Minerva “Sometimes watching the rabbits in their pens, I’d think, I’m no different from you, poor things. One time, I opened a cage to set a half-grown doe free. I even gave her a slap to get her going. But she wouldn’t budge! She was so used to her little pen.....I was the one hurting her, insisting she be free. " (Page 11) In this quote she is comparing herself to the rabbits in the cage and says that she is no different from them. She does not feel free and feels trapped. The theme of religion is also shown by all the family but mainly by Patria. She faces the most