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.

Symbolism of Daffodils

In Breath, Eyes, Memory, Danticat uses the daffodil to symbolize strength and perseverance in the face of hardship. These flowers “grew in a place that they were not supposed to” (Danticat 21). Although daffodils were originally European flowers adapted to growing in cold climates, they were brought to Croiz-des Rosets and a strain had developed which could withstand the heat. This symbolism is applicable to Sophie, who must move from her village to New York, as well as her mother, whose story is still unknown to readers. Moreover, Danticat seems to be foreshadowing Sophie’s successful adaptation to her new life apart from Tante Atie.

Interestingly, Danticat also introduces the story about the people of Creation to readers. Although these individuals do not know who they are, they are “chosen to carry part of the sky on [their] head[s]” (25) because of their strength. Through this passage, there is further emphasis made on the fruition of Sophie’s conquest of adversity later in the novel.