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The only Mirabal sister who does not join the resistance, Dedé is torn between loyalty to her family and paralyzing fear of the potential consequences of revolutionary action. Alvarez describes her as a docile child. As an adult, she is intimidated by her husband and cannot find the courage to disobey his orders by joining the revolution. Throughout the book, she struggles to support her sisters without risking her husband’s anger or losing her sons. Because she does not become a Mariposa and therefore is not killed with her sisters, it is Dedé who maintains their memory, building a monument to them, keeping the house as a shrine for visitors making a pilgrimage to honor them, and listening to the stories of those who come to tell what they know of the Mariposas’ final hours. Although her fear keeps her from showing loyalty by joining their cause while they live, her life after their death revolves around loyalty to her sisters. As Jaimito tells her, her martyrdom to the cause is to live without them. In this way, her loyalty to family ultimately leads her to loyalty to the cause she would not commit to during their lifetimes.
