From the start of the novel, it is evident the main external struggle is against the tyrannical dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, also known as "El Jefe", and how he controls the people. Having all the power in Dominican Republic, he knows he can get anything and anyone, especially women. El Jefe likes young women whose lives he ruins by using them for sex until he gets tired of them. This conflict is present when he dances with Minerva and draws her in "so close that she can feel the hardness at his groin pressing against her dress" (Alvarez, 100). By doing that, he reveals what he wants, but Minerva refuses to give in.
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| Minerva's reaction when Trujillo touched her. |
Besides external conflict, internal conflict is also present in this novel and is most notable in Patria. For a while she had been torn between becoming a nun and becoming a woman focused on earthly matters. A good example of this was when her miscarriage happened and made her question her faith, eventually losing it for a small period of time. However, seeing how this affected her husband made her regain it back and move on because it was tearing them apart.
