CSEC ENGLISH
Hello there! Some of you may find our notes on Danticat’s novel very fascinating even though you perhaps are not preparing to write English B in May/June. If that’s the case, do try and get hold of a copy; you will enjoy it immensely! We hope too that you find today’s language exercises helpful and informative. Read on now, and enjoy!
ENGLISH B—Breath, Eyes, Memory In Part 1 of this novel we are introduced to the two main characters: Sophie Caco and her mother, Martine. The narrative begins in Haiti, but moves to New York The contrast between these two settings is significant in understanding the struggles of the two women. We also meet Marc, Sophie’s boyfriend, and we are taken on a tour of the neighbourhood in New York where Haitians hang out, so we see a little of Haitian culture. Finally, we watch as Sophie tears herself away from her beloved aunt, Atie, and we observe how she tries to relate to her mother, Martine. Martine, for her part, tries to help Sophie feel at home in New York, but is not very successful. In Chapter 9, Martine has a serious talk with Sophie in which she tells her two very important things: first, Martine reveals that she was raped back in Haiti when she was only a little older than Sophie. She is not surprised that Sophie does not resemble her because, as she says, ‘a child out of wedlock always looks like its father’. Secondly, she informs Sophie about the practice of ‘testing’, when the mother checks her daughter to see if she is still virgin. Aunt Atie, she admits, used to ‘scream like a pig in a slaughter-house’ when the ‘testing’ took place. Sophie, then, can expect Martine to carry out the same ‘testing’ on her.
Haiti and New York Notice how delightful life in Haiti seems to be, despite the political oppression. The people are poor and live in tiny homes for the most part, but their community life is warm and friendly, and Sophie feels very secure in the love of her aunt and her grandmother. Sophie (the narrator) tells us that her aunt welcomes her with her arms ‘just wide enough for my body to fit into them’—a sweet way of saying how much she is loved. Our impression of Haiti has to be adjusted when Atie takes Sophie to the airport to send her up to her mother in New York. We now see the violence and political unrest when the taxi they are in is delayed by a student demonstration.
But New York is definitely not the ‘Promised Land’ either. Notice (in Chapter 6) the description of Martine’s car, with its cracked windshield, peeling paint and tattered cushions. Notice the loose spring that sticks into Sophie’s leg, and the ‘loud grating noise’ as the engine starts up. Sophie discovers that Martine works very hard, doing two shifts a day to make ends meet, and as she looks at her mother’s work-worn hands, she thinks to herself: “It was as though she had never stopped working in the cane fields after all”. The apartment Martine lives in is in a poor, rough neighbourhood, with graffiti, musty stairwells, and littered streets. Sophie is appalled.
Symbolism, folk traditions, and patois. Symbolism and folklore are two important narrative strategies in this novel, along with the frequent use of patois (Haitian creole). In Part One, an important symbol we come across is the doll that Martine still plays with (Chapter 6). Sophie comments, ‘There was not enough room for both me and the doll on the bed.’ The doll is literally there in the room, but it also symbolizes the feelings that Martine has towards her daughter: she wants to be in control; she wants Sophie to be as submissive as the doll is. But of course Sophie is a real girl with a mind of her own, and she will not want to be as passive as a doll. Already we suspect that conflict will soon mark their relationship.
The narrative is rich in Haitian folklore, so you should be aware of the beliefs and stories that you encounter as you read. We realise that Sophie is the child born of that dreadful rape that Martine endured, but Atie has always told her a beautiful story about how she happens to have a mother but no father. (You will find that story in Chapter 6.) Reference to Haitian customs and cuisine can be found in the novel, along with mention of Erzulie, an African goddess worshipped alongside the Virgin Mary.
Finally, although the novel is written in English, the reader frequently comes across phrases in French creole. The shifts in language remind us that Sophie is straddling two worlds: she is not fully at home in New York. Metaphorically she ‘speaks a different language’ to the people she meets there. Citizens of New York can never fully understand this girl whose cultural background is so different from theirs—and she will never fully understand them. Danticat celebrates the ‘otherness’ of Haitian immigrants, and asserts the richness of Haitian culture.
TOPIC SENTENCES
In the English B segment above, you will find these two topic sen tences:
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Notice how delightful life in Haiti seems to be despite the political oppression. But New York is definitely not the ‘Promised Land’ either.
Read each topic sentence carefully, and then read on to see how each topic is developed as the paragraph proceeds. You should find half a dozen points in each paragraph supporting the key idea expressed in the topic sentence. This is how you must develop your own paragraphs if you want to be a good writer.