A butterfly does not start out as a colorful flying creature. They begin as a chrysalis contained in a cocoon and then undergo a transformation into something we consider beautiful and intelligent. So are the Mirabal sisters really butterflies? Maria Teresa/Mate, the youngest sister, was at that time a young girl who possessed the characteristics of a “martyr” because she seemed to recognize the more realistic things that were happening in other aspects of her life as she grew up. She was both an ordinary girl and a martyr in disguise. MT was an everyday child growing up in her generation. . She had many features that resembled a normal child. One of the additional characteristics that adds to the innocent and youthful personality that Mate displays is admiring one of his older sisters, Minerva. He talks about Minerva repeatedly in his diary, no matter if it's good or bad. “Minerva is so smart” (35). One clue that Maria Theresa is beginning to acquire the traits of a martyr is when she states, “It's so strange now that I know something I don't know.”. ...