Rain is much more than weather in literature. In Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies, rain is used to symbolize a time of trouble and confusion that has washed over the country, but the destructive element of the weather is also used to symbolize the new start that is to come for the Dominican Republic. In Minerva’s chapter six, a large section of the chapter is titled “Rainy Spell.” When Minerva says “The rain comes down all morning, beating against the shutters, blurring the sounds inside the house. I stay in bed, not wanting to get up and face the dreary day” (102). Through this, the author demonstrates that the rain has already created misery, and foreshadows that there will be sadness and trouble in the day. After Papa has been
