Chapter 97 Butterfly's Day

November 25th is the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women". This day was chosen because the three Mirabel sisters from Dominican Republic were killed on this day many years ago. The three Mirabelle sisters were born in a well-to-do family in Dominica. There are three girls in the family. They are the eldest, the third and the fourth.Under the catalysis of the family and the Dominican reality, the third daughter, Minerva, awakened early, which in turn affected the elder sister and younger sister.However, Minerva, who was keen to appear in public affairs, was favored by the dictator Trujillo at the time. Apart from greed, tyranny, and militarism, he was also extremely lecherous. "He insisted on possessing every minister's wife, supposedly to let them know 'who is the real master. Not surprisingly, Minerva rejected Trujillo at the ball, and the family escaped in a shower of rain.But the next day, the Mirabells and Minerva were arrested. Two weeks later, they were released, but that was not the end. They went to jail several times after that, which eventually led to the death of Mr. Mirabell Sr.

The three sisters later married young people who opposed Trujillo's rule and became the spiritual leaders of the people, known as the "Sister Butterfly".Their organization even planned an assassination attempt against Trujillo in 1960, but the operation failed and members were imprisoned one after another. Trujillo was forced by international pressure to release the female members.At this time, Trujillo was seventy years old, and he was besieged and threatened on all sides.He rightfully blamed all this on the naysayers, especially the women who had rejected him and turned against him.

On November 25, 1960, the three sisters went to prison to visit their husbands. On the way home, they were hijacked and died under the baton.The murderer then faked a scene of a car accident, and the official newspaper also said that they died in a car accident and then fell into the sea.Trujillo went to the cliff where the three sisters died afterwards, and proudly said something that was later recorded in history: "The Mirabelle sisters died here. What a woman they are, but they It's so vulnerable." But it may not be these three weak women who are vulnerable. Half a year later, Trujillo was assassinated and his regime collapsed. Trujillo’s reign of terror, which had roasted Dominica in the flames of hell for 30 years, was finally over. .Although Trujillo's downfall was more due to the internal and external difficulties caused by his excessive tyranny (the United States took away his support and support), people prefer to understand that it was the death of the three sisters that added the last root to him. Straw, and rightly sees the deaths of the three sisters and his downfall as cause and effect.

The life of the three sisters was made into the movie "In The Time Of The Butterflies" (In The Time Of The Butterflies, also translated as "Butterfly Girl", or "Flying Butterflies") by Mariano Barroso in 2001, directed by Sal Starring Ma Hayek.The movie covers the life events of the three sisters, and the above-mentioned plots can be seen in the movie.In the last scene, Luan Bang and the three sisters dodged, and then a group of butterflies flew up on the screen, which may be a metaphor for the soul of Xiang being transformed into a butterfly, to comfort the resentful audience. The 2005 movie "The Goat's Feast" once again mentioned the story of the three sisters, but the protagonist of this movie is a woman who can be compared with the fate of the Mirabelle sisters. Would offer himself as a gift to those in power in the Trujillo regime.It can be seen that when things are difficult, women are the most difficult. In an atmosphere of tyranny and obscenity, the fate of women often converges.

Fate is so heavy and inevitable, but why are we happy to use the light, beautiful, and fragile butterfly as a symbol of all tough women?Perhaps it is because we can compare the filth of reality with the lightness of a butterfly, and the storm rolled up by the weak power of a butterfly shows that the heaviness of reality is not difficult to shake. The storm is still going on, but it is far from over.Since 1981, women's activists have designated November 25, the day the Mirabell sisters were killed, as a day against violence. In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to designate this day as the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women".

It's a butterfly day.