Maria Teresa

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Maria Teresa is the youngest of the Mirabal sisters. When we are introduced to her in the first chapter she is only eight years old. She is described as being a beautiful little girl who longs for attention and presents, like all children do. "At eight years old, in her long braids and checkered blouse, the only future the baby wants is one that ill make her own mouth water, sweets and gifts in big boxes that clatter with something inside when she shakes them." I had no idea when I read this for the first time, how true the term "the baby" would be to describe Maria Teresa's personality for all of her life. It also tells us that she idolizes her older sister Minerva, this will also be a crucial trait that we will see reflected in her later life.


In the beginning I really enjoyed reading from the perspective of Mate's character. Julia Alvarez does an excellent job of writing from the perspective of a child in chapter three. At the time Mate is ten years old, and writing her thoughts down in a diary that Minerva had bought for her. Most of her entries are about simple little things that children would write about, such as how excited she was over her communion dress and new shoes, and her experiences at school. Most of her writing does not have much substance, but at the same time you do not expect it to. Her chapter is very light for the most part, and easy to read through. We also get to see glimpses into Minerva's life, and see how she is beginning to evolve into the political activist she is when she grows older. Mate can become upset very easily, she is often homesick and tells us that she is "writing to keep myself from crying." To make things worse she does not like Miverna's transformation, and is not old enough to comprehend all of the political issues that Minerva is becoming interested in. When Mate asks her why she has begun to do dangerous things such as sneak out to secret meetings, Minerva tells her that "she wanted me to grow up in a free country" Mate questions "And it isn't that already?" and becomes visibly upset and nearly has an asthma attack. 


I can easily understand a young child becoming very upset and crying frequently, but even as she grows older, Mate still cries at the slightest thing that upsets her. I feel that although her character is physically growing older, she is not really mentally maturing. I understand being upset but Mate never learns to suck her feelings up. With every instance that Mate cried in this book, the less I began to feel sorry for her; I just rolled my eyes, thinking of how literally she was the "baby" of the family. Mate is plagued with a reoccurring nightmare of opening a coffin and finding the dead inside. At first she see's her dead father, but as she ages and continues to have the nightmare, she sees more people inside the coffin. In chapter 12, when Mate is a grown woman in her twenties who is a mother and has survived through prison, is STILL sobbing over this nightmare. I can understand having this nightmare would be upsetting, but to be an adult and to still be crying over a dream just frustrates me about her. 


Another thing I disliked about Mate is that she only becomes involved with the revolutionaries when she meets a young man named Leandro who is also with the resistance. When he arrives at the house to deliver a package to Minerva's husband Manolo, she asks Mate if she is "Mariposa's little sister." When Mate tells him that she is Minerva's little sister (unaware of the codename) he  says to her "you aren't one of us, are you?" Mate then thinks "I didn't know that us he was talking about, but I knew right then and there, I wanted to be a part of whatever it was." If this young man had said something passionate about this group, I would have believed that she joined because she actually wanted to take part in politics, however her main motivation for joining was because she thought he was attractive. Mate tells us "I don't want to be babied anymore. I want to be worthy of Palomino." I find it incredibly naive, childish and just plain stupid that she would join a very dangerous movement just for a guy, and to make matters worse, he is not even someone she has had a real conversation with! They do get to know each other over time, when he finally kisses her for the first time, she says "Oh God- I am so deeply in love!" I'm sorry, but you cannot be "deeply in love" over one kiss. I understand that Mate is only a teenager when she says this...but she does not even know his real name yet! To Mate's credit, her and Leandro do get married and have a child together, and the book does not indicte that they had any major problems in thier relationship, at the same time, thier relationship had really barely started, they were not married for many years before she was killed, so we will never know how true this "love" really was, or if it could have lasted a life time. I view love as a very special word that should never be thrown around lightly, so as a reaction I am very turned off at how easily she uses it.


Mate's "baby" like character even displays itself when she is imprisoned with Minerva. While in prison they were offered pardons by the government, however Minerva told her that "We Mirabals had to set a good example" and "we couldn't be free unless everyone else was offered the same opportunity." Mate completely disagrees and wants nothing more than be be out, she tells us "I start to cry. I cant take it anymore, I tell Minerva. Every day, my little girl is growing up without me." I hate how Mate allows herself to be infulenced by Minerva's wishes. I respect Minerva's devotion to the movement, however Mate should have been free to make the decision to leave, instead she was so heavily influenced by her older sister who she has always idolized, that she obeys her wishes and stays in prison. Also while in prison, even all of the other women in the cell baby Mate. One day Mate was looking out of the cell window and begins to cry because she longed so much for freedom. When one girl tells her that its time to give someone else a turn, some of the others see that she is crying and offer her their turns at the window if she wants them. This was a very sweet thing for the other women to do, and Mate did not take their turns from them, however knowing Mate's character, all I saw was her cryign again, while others rush to her rescue, like she is a child. Also while in prison Mate suffers a from a miscarriage (possibly as a result of the torture she endured), and is nursed back to health by the other women. Again, this is a great act of compassion on their part, and since Mate was physically injured I do not begrudge her for this, however it is another example of Mate not being able to take care of herself, and having to rely on the charity of others.


In chapter 12, the events of November 25th 1960 seem to reflect everything about Mate's personality we have seen since the beginning of the book. When the sisters are in store and see the purses for the first time, "Mate mooned over one in red patent leather with a snap in the shape of a heart." There is so much that can be told about Mate in that statement. First of all, she is the first sister to take interest in the purses, she reflects her original childlike attitude of wanting pretty gifts. Also the design of the purse itself is very telling about her. The purse is red, which is not a practical color that could be worn with any outfit, the fact she would choose a red purse shows she is not putting much thought into it, and wants something pretty and bold, even though she might not even use it. Also the heart shaped snap on the purse is very child like, I half expect a Hello Kitty to be embroidered on it as well. This is the kind of purse that a little girl would want, which shows me that no matter how old Mate gets, she has not lost her childlike side of her. When the girls stop for drinks, Mate orders a lemonade, which she "was drinking...through a straw, dainty like a girl." The fact she orders lemonade, instead of water, or alcohol to me is another sign of her youth, and it literally states that she drinks her lemonade the way that a young girl would. When "Mate finished the last of her drink and sucked the sugar through the straw, making a rude sound." again I thought of how CHILDISH that is to do. The book then tells us " 'I promised Jaqui I'd tuck her in tonight.' Her voice had a whiny edge." WHY DOES A GROWN WOMAN NEED TO WHINE?!  


Overall, I disliked Julia Alvarez's depiction of Mate. I think she over simplified her character to be the perpetual "baby" of the family, who even as a grown woman and mother would still "cry" and "whine." The fact that Mate was the youngest was not an excuse, all of her sisters were mentally more mature than her when they were even younger than twenty. I do believe it is possible that the real Maria Teresa Mirabal was a less mature person than her older sisters, but in an attempt to create a young character, I think Mate was given fewer chances to develop to the readers. I thought she was very cute in the beginning but I came to be annoyed by her character at the end. I do not know whether to blame the character for being sheltered and babied by the other characters, or to blame the author for how she chose to depict her. Overall Mate is a sweet woman, who truly loved her child, and who took a stand in joining the revolution, but I also feel that Mate is sometimes lost amongst her older sisters, they all seem to be stronger and more determined than her. The only reason she stands out, is because of the style of writing her chapters are depicted in. I feel that much more could have been done with her character, if only she had the chance to grow up. Not just simply age, but to mentally grow up.