Breath, Eyes, Memory | Themes
The endeavor to reconcile two realities is a theme which pervades Breath, Eyes, Memory. Each character struggles to preserve something of his or her past while trying to banish the memories of trauma. This desire even affects Joseph who holds on to American slave spirituals in the music he plays for a living. For him, these testaments to a past of slavery are a means of celebrating present freedom. For Sophie and Martine, however, mixing up the past and present is neither so easy nor so peaceful. For them, the world is divided in half—the Haitian past and the American present....
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