“Breath, Eyes, Memory” Edwidge Danticat’s Essay Example

when she could not sleep: “Tante Atie would stay up with me. The two of us would sit by the window and Tantie Atie would tell me stories about our lives, about the way things had been in the family, even before I was born. ” (Danticat, 47) Sophie learns about her mother and her Grandmothers’ Ife through stories. Sophie asks Tantie Atie about her child hood saying “I was born with a mother and no father” (Danticat, 47).

Atie replies with “the story of a little girl who as born out of petals of roses, water from the stream, and a chunk of the sky. That little girl, she said was me. ” (Danticat, 47) The stories provided answers to questions that Tantie Atie, Martine and Grandma Ife did not want to answer directly. The stories portrayed and exemplified thoughts that the women were not taught how to deal with. The stories sheltered the women and allowed them to hold on to their disappearing cultural traditions and religious anecdotes with which they were raised. These stories served as a coping mechanism for the women of the Caco clan.

Social instructions including parental guidance were learned through stories and folklore of the Haitian and African religions. The Haitian communities in the novel do not directly deal with the social dilemmas of the nation. The issues of alcoholism, poverty and sexual harassment are ignored while the nation’s economic and political situation disintegrates. The people of Haiti are left powerless and unable to change their current situation.

The tales provide hope and allow the people who hear the stories to hear stories of a better time.The Tonton Macoute aggressively police

and attack the Haitian subjects and implement the harsh rules of the dictatorship. The rape of Martine is not investigated and Ife does not seem capable of soothing her daughter’s frail state of mind after her traumatic ordeal. It is very unclear how Martine ends up in New York but it is suggested that perhaps Martine left Haiti for a better future. Martine left so that she would never have to face her rapist. After Martine’s rape her mental stability diminished and she could not face her demons, which tormented her in her dreams.

Martine develops attachment issues when Sophie arrives and completely controls Sophie. Martine continued to shelter Sophie when she arrived to New York: “I spent six years doing nothing but that. School, home and prayer. ” (Danticat, 67) Martine expected Sophie to assimilate outwardly: “My mother said it was important that I learn English quickly.

Otherwise, the American students would make fun of me or even worse, beat me. ” (Danticat, 51) However Danticat did not want Sophie to associate and befriend any other children in the neighborhood. Martine was excessively over protective of her daughter.Martine believed she had a right to make sure her daughter was safe.

Martine’s parental guidance and style was inherited from her mother who also employed similar techniques. “The way my mother was raised, a mother is supposed to do that to her daughter until the daughter is married. It is her responsibility to keep her pure. ” Sophie knows that her mother must continue to “test’ her to protect the honor and pride of the Caco clan. (Danticat, 61) Martine tells Sophie, before the testing, the legend of the

Marassas: “The Marassas were two inseparable lovers. They were the same person, duplicated in two.

They looked the same, talked the same, and walked the same. When they laughed, they even laughed the same and when they cried, their tears were identical. When one went to the stream, the other rushed under the water to get a better look. When one looked in the mirror, the other walked behind the glass to mimic her”. (Danticat, 84-85) Martine believed that they were the “Marassas” she always told Sophie that “The love between a mother and daughter is deeper than the sea.

“ (Danticat, 85) Just before the testing ended Martine made a declaration “there are secrets you cannot keep. Martine clearly wants to hold on to Sophie and protect her honor. The story of the Marassas is used to distract Sophie but it is also a way of Martine telling her that she had also been through this ordeal and could relate. The Marassa story also signifies that the bond between mother and daughter is a sacred bond. Sophie is literally part of Sophie but Martine takes this very literally.

Martine is emotionally detached but wants to have physical power over Sophie. She makes sure that Sophie remains pure unlike her unfortunate circumstances.The stories are intertwined with folklore and religion and the purpose of the stories are to entertain but to also teach religious duties and lessons on a morally upright way of life. The stories are open ended and not interpreted therefore the audience of the story must make the most of the story.

The stories were an ancient form of communication between the elder generations and the newer

generations. Sophie felt “alone and lost, like there was no longer any reason for me to live” (Danticat, 87) and so she made a decision that would torment her for the rest of her life.She remembered the story of the “woman who walked around with blood constantly out of her unbroken skin but after consultation with the Erzulie it became apparent if she wanted the bleeding to stop, she would have to give up her right to be a human. ” (Danticat 87) The Erzulie turned the woman into a beautiful butterfly. Sophie believed that she must sacrifice herself to have a better life.

Sophie wanted to escape her current life and she did so by physically breaking her hymen with a pestle so that the tests would no longer continue and she may finally be with Joseph.Sophie did not want to violate her religious duties and obligations by having sex with Joseph. The testing also made her self conscious and she later developed body dismorphic disorders and her symptoms included bulimia as a form of escape. She ran to Joseph and wanted to get married.

She concluded that she would be happy because Providence provided a hope and a dream. “I was bond to be happy in a place that destiny was calling me to. Fate! A town names after the Creator, the Almighty. Who would not want to live there? Sophie is convinced that Providence must be her fate. Sophie is attracted to Providence because it seems picturesque and carefree. Sophie imagines Providence as a perfect setting in one of her romantic stories.

Sophie returns to Haiti with her daughter Brigitte to find some answers, to

find closure, to see her Tante Atie and her grandmother Ife. Haiti has not changed. The Tonton Macoute still run the streets and the nation has become impoverished. Surrounded by Tante Atie and Grandmother Ife Sophie began to realize that the Caco women are “strong. (Danticat, 102) Sophie recalls the stories that Tante Atie would tell her when she couldn’t sleep and suddenly Sophie felt the sudden urge to tell Brigitte a story. Sophie tells her a love story of the fishermen and mermaids and drifts into deep sleep.

Sophie and her grandmother talk about the difficulty she had performing marital duties and Ife replies “secrets remain secret only if we keep our silence. ” Sophie then confesses that “I hate my body. I am ashamed to show it to anybody, including my husband. Sometimes I feel like I should be off somewhere by myself.That is why I am here” (Danticat, 123) Grandmother Ife responds with a tale about a Lark and a little girl, the girl is allured by the pomegranates the lark offers and in return the lark asked just to look at her face, and then after a while the Lark advanced and asked to be kissed.

Later the Lark asked if he could take the girl away to a king in the faraway land who wanted little girl’s hearts. The girl cunningly surpassed the Lark and escaped. Grandmother Ife never clarifies the meaning of the story letting Sophie interpret her own implications.The little girl in the story shows her strength and “cleverness” and her ability to cherish and save herself from destruction. (Danticat, 125) Sophie’s time in Haiti proves valuable when she realizes

that her grandmother too is tormented by demons.

Grandmother Ife possessed certain supernatural abilities. She was able to feel and understand things without being told. Ife describes an encounter with a girl in the nearby village whom is about to get tested by her mother: “My grandmother wrapped her arms around her body, rocking and cradling herself. (Danticat, 154) Sophie asks Ife “The testing? Why do mother do that? ” and Ife replies “If a child dies, you do not die.

But if your child is disgraced, you are disgraced. ” (Danticat, 156) Sophie declares that the testing was “the most horrible thing that ever happened to me. ” (Danticat, 156) Ife affirmed that the testing was done to preserve and honor the family’s good name. Grandmother Ife cries “My heart, it weeps like a river, for the pain we have caused you. ” (Danticat, 157) Martine arrived in Haiti to arrange Grandmother Ife’s funeral and to settle her feud with Sophie.Martine and Sophie confronted the issue that unraveled the bond between the two if them: “Why did you put me through the test? ” Martine answered: “I did it because my mother had done it to me.

I have no greater excuse. I realize standing here that the two greatest pains of my life are very much related. The one good thing about being raped was that it made the testing stop. The testing and the rape. I live both everyday. ” (Danticat, 170) Sophie has developed a nurturing and healthy environment for her daughter.

Sophie is constantly bonding with her daughter and cares for her affectionately. Sophie spends much of her time with Brigitte and carefully calculating

all the steps to assure that Brigitte ages to be strong and wise. The destructive circle of violence and ignorance ends with Sophie who get psychological counseling and with the support of her husband is able to cope with her emotional and physical ailments and live “freely. ” In recollection Sophie reveals that “Joseph would never understand why I had done something so horrible to myself.I could not explain to him that it was like braking manacles, an act of freedom. ” After the death of her mother Sophie returns to the sugar cane field where she was conceived and destroys the canes in rage and anger.

Grandmother Ife and Tante Atie watch and wait for Sophie to free herself from the torment and destruction that has haunted her. Grandmother Ife grasps Sophie’s shoulder and tells her the first significant story, a story which is about Sophie herself: “Listen. Listen before it passes… There is a lace where, if you listen closely in the night, you will here a mother telling a story and at the end of the tale she will ask you this question: Are you free, my daughter? ” (Danticat, 234) Sophie doesn’t reply but the answer is within her.

The women of the Caco family rely on stories to portray their feelings and to educate their children. The stories and myths are short lived as they do not apply to the American social value system and the daughters reject the mother’s wisdom. The daughter attempts to hide from their cultural and ancestral backgrounds lead to a life of emotional turmoil and confusion.

Through the stories the daughters gain a sense of identity and eventually

are able to live freely. The use of stories to explicate traditional values and to relay advice is lost in translation once the daughters arrive in America. The daughters heed the knowledge when they are able to understand the purpose of their mothers’ intentions. The effective use of storytelling strengthens the bonds between mother and daughters.

Works Cited

1. Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, Eyes, Memory. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.