Butterflies and flight symbolize freedom and hope for the future. “The Butterflies” are the three sisters who started the resistance movement against the Dominican dictator El Jefe. They were murdered for this, and their legacy becomes a symbol of hope for Papi, inspiring him to become a leader in the resistance movement himself. Flying animals like butterflies and birds are well-known symbols of freedom—and in this context, the three Butterflies made it seem like freedom was something worth hoping and fighting for.
Meanwhile, throughout the novel, both Chucha and Papi tell Anita to be prepared to fly—that is, to flee the Dominican Republic. While this is terrifying for Anita, who doesn’t want to leave her family, Chucha and Papi recognize that Anita and the rest of the family will probably need to leave the country in order to find freedom. And indeed, Anita and Mami are eventually airlifted out of the Dominican Republic after Papi assassinates El Jefe and is executed as a result. In this sense, butterflies represent the abstract ideals that the sisters inspired the resistance to fight for, while flight represents a more pragmatic and practical way of achieving freedom.
At the end of the novel, having fled the Dominican Republic, Anita and Mami are living with their extended family in New York City. On Thanksgiving, Anita looks out the window at the snow angels that she and her cousins made and notices that they look a lot like butterflies. She interprets this as a sign from Papi, and she promises him that she’ll try to be free. Anita has literally flown away from the Dominican Republic and has begun to build a life in New York, but the butterfly-shaped figure in the snow symbolizes the freedom that Anita still must seize: the freedom to make herself happy and leave the demons from her previous life behind.
Butterflies and Flight Quotes in Before We Were Free
“One last big favor to ask you, mi amor. No more writing in your diary for the time being.
“That’s so unfair!” Mami gave me the diary for Christmas. Telling me not to write in it is like taking away my only present.
“I know it is, Anita.” Mami wipes away my tears with her thumbs. “For now, we have to be like the little worm in the cocoon of the butterfly. All closed up and secret until the day...” She spreads her arms as if they were wings.
I admit I feel mean participating in this scheme—but I also understand that our lives are in danger. A tip from Lorena could wipe us out. It’s so unfair to have to live in a country where you have to do stuff you feel bad about in order to save your life. It’s like Papi and Tío Toni planning to assassinate Mr. Smith when they know that murder is wrong. But what if your leader is evil and rapes young girls and kills loads of innocent people and makes your country a place where not even butterflies are safe?
I guess I finally understand what [Chucha] and Papi meant by wanting me to fly. It was like the metaphors Mrs. Brown was always talking about. To be free inside, like an uncaged bird. Then nothing, not even a dictatorship, can take away your liberty.
But now that Papi is dead, it doesn’t seem so scary to die. Sometimes, I think it’s scarier to be alive, especially when you feel that you’ll never be as happy and carefree as when you were a little kid. But I keep remembering Chucha’s dream. She saw us sprouting wings, flying up and away. It has to mean more than our coming to the United States. After all, as Chucha herself would say, what good is it to escape captivity only to be imprisoned in your own misery?
What I see as I look down aren’t angels but butterflies, the arm swings connecting to the leg swings like a pair of wings, our heads poking out in between! I’m sure if Chucha were here, she would say they are a sign. Four butterflies from Papi, reminding me to fly.
I close my eyes, but instead of making a wish, I think about Papi and Tío Toni and their friends who died to make us all free. The emptiness inside starts filling with a strong love and a brave pride.
Okay, Papi, I say, I promise I’ll try.
Butterflies and Flight Symbol Timeline in Before We Were Free
