Radical Liberation

At first with the discussion of the class that Martine was crazy, I didnt agree with what was said.  Then after finishing the novel, I see where these inferences where coming from.  The act of committing suicide can definitely be tied to insanity but we must try to look deeper into the reasons behind this tragedy.  The rape is definitely the cause of all of the trauma that Martine went through because her life was never the same after that.  She was often trying to escape her past memories by leaving the area that she grew up in and where the incident took place but it would always haunt her in the form of nightmares.  The fact that she couldn't comfortably have sexual relations with her boyfriend Marc also shows evidence of being deeply scarred by the incident.  Other forms of trauma are the voices that she hears when she discovers that she is pregnant with another child.  She tries to cope with this stress by escaping physically and also mentally by suppressing it by not showing it through her exterior interactions with others such as Joseph, Sophie's husband.  All of these forms of dealing with the stress is not enough because after so many years, it still resonates in the same intensity within her.  So by taking her life, she finds the most radical type of liberation that a person could find.  But i just wanted to justify that Martine was not just crazy.  I think she was severely emotionally damaged by the incident.   

Death

When Sophie was younger and living in Haiti with her aunt she had a more care-free attitude. This may be due to the fact that her mother was not physically present in her life in Haiti. She knew of her mother through her aunt, but was not aware of her ways and traditions that would later on influence her life. Once moving to New York with her mother Sophie did not like all of the values that her mother mentally and physically instilled in her. She associates her mothers impositions to a sort of bondage. Her mother's does not just advise her how to carry herself, but physically makes sure she is following her rules. We see this when she starts the testing. Sophie is totally violated when this is done to her. Even though Sophie hurts herself in order to stop the testing she is still not "free" from the bondage in which came from her mother. It seems like it is not until her third trip, to Haiti, that is her mother's death that makes a difference in her life. Her mothers death may have truely signified the separation from her mother. It may not have only been the literally death of her mother, but the death of the old things that happened to not only her mother, but Sophie as well.

The Color Red

The color red is used at a few different points in the book in order to show the details like the inside of Martine and Sophie’s house, the testing, and Martine’s favorite color, which also is the reason for her burial in a red dress.

Furthermore, red is always compared with bleeding which is mentioned by menstruation and Sophie losing her virginity. There is a difference between bleeding from a wound and having the period. The menstruation happens once a month, which is a necessity for the woman’s body to function properly. Blood plays a role once Martine starts testing Sophie because she was afraid that she might have lost her virginity to a man. This happens when Sophie returns home late one night. Martine wants to make sure she is a virgin and thus pure, since this affects the marriage. The testing is a very annoying, embarrassing and painful act for Sophie.
And also, I think that the red dress for Martine’s burial shows the anger Martine had kept for herself, due to the disappointment she had towards Sophie.

ONLY ONE WAY TO END

There was only one way Martine was able to get away from her trama and sorrows. The only ways she was able to escape was to take the ultimate escape, death. She moved from Haiti to the United States, yet still she was not able to accomplish an safe-heaven for herself. She tried to confront her rapist indirectly by facing Sophia yet still she was not able to overcome. Things only became only worse with her nightmares haunting her everynight. Martine was not able to outrun the past or even hide from it. Martine's life binded to the tramatic event, she was never able to suppress the horrible events. It is interesting how before dieing Martine says she could not carry the baby. This raises the question, if Martine had done a abortion with Sophia would she have been able to overcome the horrific event overtime or would it have been the same. Sophia to Martine was a constant reminder of the rape, maybe if the the reminder was not there she would have been able to BREATH !

Purity

In the novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, female purity seems to be a big concern. In the chapters that follow chapter ten, we see Sophie really pushing the envelope by going out with Joseph. The fact that she comes home so late is a reason for her mother to be concerned about her purity. She “tests” her to see if she is still a virgin. These examinations are ongoing and eventually Sophie is sick of them. The fact that she is willing to take her own virginity is appalling to say the least.
Purity is something that many cultures find to be sacred. For a woman to not be ‘pure’ any longer is a symbol of rebellion. Sophie is rebelling against her mother. The fact that her mother tests her to see if she is still pure is excruciating. She says her mother tells her stories while she is testing her to take her mind off of what is happening. I feel that Sophie taking her own virginity by a motor pestle is pent up aggression. Sophie wants to marry Joseph the Jazz musician; she can’t tell her mother so instead she does one thing that she knows would blow her mother’s mind. Sophie’s actions do not make her un-pure but desperate to be with the man she loves and if that means putting herself through pain she is willing to do so.

An empowering journey

In Edwidge Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory begins in Haiti in the early 1980s. Danticat's heroine is Sophie Caco, who has spent a happy childhood in rural Haiti with her grandmother and her beloved aunt Atie, who raised her as her own child. Sophie's mother, Martine, lives in New York City and supports the family with the money she sends home. When Sophie is twelve years old, Martine sends for her, and Sophie must leave the only home and family she knows and begin a new life in a strange country with a mother she hardly remembers. As Sophie overcomes her initial fears and becomes closer to her mother, she learns that Martine has for many years been tormented by memories of the anonymous man (Sophie's father) who violently raped her when she was a teenager. Martine's move to Brooklyn was a form of escape, since she was raped at age sixteen by a Tonton Macoute, or guerrilla, one of many allowed by the government to kill, torture, and rape anyone he wanted to. This rape resulted in Sophie's birth, but Martine, unable to bear the painful memories of her past, Martine brings her feelings of terror and guilt to bear upon her daughter. Even though Sophie has to deal with such emotional problems, she continues to empower herself to keep going in life.

Talking Letters

I find it amazing how Atie communicates over great distances with her sister Martine with the clever technique they have devised of recording their messages on cassettes and sending them via mail. This replaces writing letters which Atie maybe capable of, if she was willing to learn. Its is obvious Atie neither is movtavatived or willing to learn how to read and write, this is evident when Sophie asks Atie to go to the reading classes and she denies because she believes she is to old to learn. I find this way of communication ironic to the story line in that there are many missing voices in this novel. Sophie mother Martine wants Sophie to be a doctor when it is obvious that Sophie would prefer not to even insisting during there dinner with Marc. Another time was when Sophie was not able to truly disclose the characteristics or name of the guy she liked because her mother would disapprove of him. Even Martine voice is missing, it manifests inside of her and she has nightmares which haunt her everynight. A Cassette can be played in public without the voice having any hesitation, as opposed to one being able to communicate in a person where fear of taboo or shame is present.