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Anacahuita Tree Mountains in the Dominican Republic

The story is set in the Dominican Republic, because it is a work of historical fiction. The Mirabal sisters lived in Dominican Republic and so did Trujillo. The island is also fairly small therefore there is more of a community among the people causing extending family to stay in the same area. For example, Jaimito is the cousin of the sisters and he lives fairly close to the family before he marries Dede. The size of the island also makes it fairly hard for privacy, which makes information travel faster allowing the work of the resistance to travel to almost everyone in the Dominican Republic.
 * Why is the story set in the Dominican Republic, and how does the climate of the land affect/mirror the events of the story?**

The novel begins in the Mirabal family’s hometown of Ojo de Agua, at the family home and farm in the Dominican Republic. The novel is mostly set in the 1940s, at the time of both the rise of Trujillo in Dominican Republic, and Hitler in Germany. At this time in the Dominican Republic, women had limited roles in the patriarchal society. Enrique, the head of the family, shows his dominance over women by having an affair with another woman, and Trujillo also shows his dominance over women, as well as others in the country. The Mirabal’s are a relatively wealthy family, and therefore can afford to send their daughters to Immaculada Conception, allowing them to have a good education. It is at this convent school when they start to learn the truth about Trujillo and his regime, and realize their ignorance to what is really happening their country. They are also able to continue their education, after much pleading to their parents and Trujillo, in the capital of the Dominican Republic, which is also the cultural center of the country and the center of the rebellion and modern thinking in the country. Lio, a Communist, is a radical opponent of the current regime, and influences the sisters to become more active about what they believe in and more involved in the fight for freedom.
 * How do the social expectations and the setting of the novel affect the sisters and form their beliefs?**

Rafaél Leonides Trujillo Molina, overthrew Horacio Vásquez in 1930 and established a dictatorship that lasted until his assassination in 1961, 31 years later. In 1962, Juan Bosch of the leftist Dominican Revolutionary Party, became the first democratically elected president in four decades. []
 * History of the Dominican Republic**