Breath, Eyes, Memory

by Edwidge Danticat

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Historical Context

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Political Terror in Haiti

In the early 1980s, Haiti was under the rule of Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, the son of the notorious dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Papa Doc's regime, the longest in Haiti's history, was marked by the execution of his opponents without trial and the deployment of unpaid volunteer troops known as Tontons Macoutes. These troops were given free rein to torture, rape, and kill at will. Under his rule, the Haitian economy worsened, and literacy rates plummeted, with only 10 percent of the population able to read. Papa Doc cultivated a fearsome reputation, encouraging the belief that he was a skilled practitioner of voudon (voodoo) with supernatural powers; rebellion against him meant certain death. After Papa Doc's death in 1971, his son continued this brutal legacy until he was overthrown in 1986. Even post-overthrow, the Tontons Macoutes continued to terrorize the population, despite no longer being officially sanctioned.

The Tontons Macoutes play a significant role in the book, as Sophie is born from the rape of her mother by one of these men when she was just sixteen. Martine, Sophie's mother, is haunted by nightmares of the event and the rapist throughout her life, even after moving to Brooklyn. This trauma is passed on to Sophie, who is believed to resemble the rapist since she does not resemble anyone in her family. As a child, Sophie is aware of the turmoil and violence beyond her small town and witnesses it firsthand on her journey to the airport to leave for the United States. Outside the airport, they encounter a car in flames, students protesting, and soldiers firing bullets and tear gas. They helplessly watch as a soldier brutally beats a girl's head with his gun. On the plane, Sophie sits next to a young boy whose father was killed in the demonstration, and who is now traveling alone because he has no remaining family in Haiti.

Poverty and illiteracy are prevalent themes in the book. Sophie's Tante Atie, who is illiterate, tells her, "We are a family with dirt under our fingernails," signifying their long history as poor agricultural laborers. Atie emphasizes that education is Sophie's only path to a better life. She recounts how the entire family had to work in the sugar cane fields when she was young, and when Sophie's grandfather died in the field, they had to bury him quickly and resume work. Martine also stresses the importance of education, saying, "Your schooling is the only thing that will make people respect you. If you make something of yourself, we will all succeed. You can raise our heads."

Traditional Role of Women

In Haiti, a long-standing belief dictates that a woman's rightful place is within the home. Tante Atie recalls how, as a young girl, Grandma Ife would tell her that each of her ten fingers had a specific role: Mothering, Boiling, Loving, Baking, Nursing, Frying, Healing, Washing, Ironing, and Scrubbing. Atie wistfully adds that she sometimes wished she had twelve fingers, so she could have two just for herself.

Despite their numerous contributions, women are not valued as highly as men. When Sophie returns to Haiti with her baby daughter, she and her grandmother observe a light moving back and forth on a distant hill one evening. Her grandmother explains that the light means someone is giving birth, and the midwife is walking with a lantern in the yard where a pot of water is boiling. They can also determine the baby's gender based on the light's actions. If it is a boy, the lantern will be placed...

(This entire section contains 1162 words.)

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outside the shack, and if the father is present, he will stay up all night with the new baby boy. When Sophie inquires what happens if the baby is a girl, her grandmother replies, "If it is a girl, the midwife will cut the child's cord and go home. Only the mother will be left in the darkness to hold her child. There will be no lamps, no candles, no more light."

In Haiti, it is crucial for a girl to remain a virgin until marriage, as her chastity impacts the family's reputation. Because of this, Martine takes extensive measures to keep Sophie away from men, encourages her to wear conservative clothing that hides her figure, and prohibits her from dating until she turns eighteen. As Sophie puts it, "Men were as mysterious to me as white people, who in Haiti we had only known as missionaries." Additionally, despite moving to America, Martine adheres to an old Haitian custom of "testing" Sophie's virginity by inserting a finger into her vagina to check if her hymen is intact. This "testing" was done to Martine and Atie by Sophie's grandmother, and presumably to her grandmother as well. Although it has caused significant emotional pain across generations, women continue this practice with their daughters because, as Martine explains, it was done to them and they were told it was the right thing to do.

Culture Clash in Brooklyn

In Brooklyn, both women strive to navigate the intersection of Haitian and American cultures. Sophie attends a French-speaking school but despises it, feeling as though she's still in Haiti. Additionally, she faces ridicule from local American students who mock her, calling her "Frenchie" and "stinking Haitian," and making cruel remarks about Haitians and AIDS, insinuating she must be a carrier of the virus. Martine, who associates Haitian traditions with the trauma of a past rape, opts to prepare American dishes like lasagna. However, she still frequents Haitian shops to purchase castor oil for her hair, Haitian spices, and images of Erzulie, a Haitian goddess. Martine is acutely aware of the immigrant struggle and advises Sophie, "It is really hard for the new-generation girls. You will have to choose between the really old-fashioned Haitians and the new-generation Haitians. The old-fashioned ones are not exactly prize fruits. They make you cook plantains and rice and beans and never let you feed them lasagna. The problem with the new generation is that a lot of them have lost their sense of obligation to the family's honor. Rather than become doctors and engineers, they want to drive taxicabs to make quick cash."

When Sophie relocates to Brooklyn, despite living with her mother in a poor neighborhood, she recognizes that by Haitian standards, they are well-off. For instance, her mother's closet, which would be considered an entire room in Haiti, would be a coveted sleeping space for a child there, undisturbed by the hanging clothes. Both Sophie and her mother develop eating disorders upon arriving in the United States, overwhelmed by the vast array and abundance of food. In Haiti, scarcity means people eat as though there might be no food tomorrow—because there often isn't. In Brooklyn, they can't shake their ingrained fear of hunger. When they have food, they overeat. Martine gains sixty pounds in her first year in the U.S., while Sophie becomes bulimic, consuming large amounts of food only to purge afterward.

Literary Style

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Point of View

Sophie's narrative is presented in the first person and follows a mostly chronological order. However, certain events are not fully explained until later in the book, when other occurrences provide more depth and context. Sophie starts the story at twelve years old and concludes it at nineteen, with the perspective of her older self. Danticat adeptly captures a child's innocent view of the world in the earlier chapters and transitions to a more mature perspective in the later ones, as Sophie becomes increasingly aware of the suffering endured by other women in her family and its connection to her own emotional turmoil.

Setting

The novel is set in both Haiti and Brooklyn, richly imbued with Haitian culture, language, folklore, cuisine, and traditions. Danticat's depiction of Haiti is lush and vivid, filled with vibrant colors, scents, and sensory experiences, but also carries an undercurrent of fear due to political instability and severe poverty. As a child, Sophie is mostly shielded from this fear. The bright colors, tropical flavors, and warmth of Haiti starkly contrast with the cold, gray, graffiti-ridden, and dilapidated Brooklyn neighborhood she moves to. In Haiti, she is part of a close-knit community where everyone knows each other, and her grandmother and aunt share family stories and folktales. In Brooklyn, her life in her mother's small apartment still revolves around Haitian culture. Her mother shops at Haitian stores, sends money back to Haiti, insists Sophie avoid American teenagers, and enrolls her in a French-speaking school. American students tease her, and because she spends all her time at school, church, or home, she lacks friends and doesn't know her neighbors until she stealthily learns Joseph's name.

Use of Myth and Folklore

Danticat doesn't directly draw from myth for her story, but the book is deeply infused with Haitian folklore and the presence of Haitian deities, especially Erzulie. Erzulie, a goddess often associated with the Virgin Mary, is also seen as beautiful and sexually alluring. She is described as "the healer of all women and the desire of all men," and embodies one of the book's central themes: the need for sexual healing among the female characters.

Additionally, the book features many folktales, often used to impart lessons or deepen the characters' understanding of life. Sophie's grandmother explains that some people face more challenges because they are special, spiritually powerful individuals who metaphorically support the sky. Sophie's father, an unknown rapist, is likened to a cannibalistic bogeyman called a Tonton Macoute—a term also used for the real-life guerrilla vigilantes who terrorize the countryside.

Symbolism

Throughout the book, several recurring symbols stand out. Daffodils, which are not indigenous to Haiti, hold special significance for Martine, as they thrive in an environment where they are not naturally found. Brought to Haiti by Europeans, a robust variety of daffodil emerged that could endure the tropical climate. For Sophie and her mother Martine, these flowers symbolize resilience and survival—traits they need to overcome the sexual and emotional trauma they have experienced. Sophie writes a Mother's Day poem for her Tante Atie, likening her to a daffodil, "limber and strong." As a child, she feels distressed when Atie insists that she should give the poem to her biological mother, whom she has not seen since infancy. By the book's conclusion, Sophie understands that the poem is fitting for her mother as well.

Stories, exclusively narrated by women in the book, symbolize the bonds between generations of women, linking the past with the future. Later in the narrative, Sophie reflects, "I realized that it was neither my mother nor my Tante Atie who had given all the mother-and-daughter motifs to all the stories they told and all the songs they sang. It was something that was essentially Haitian. Somehow, early on, our song makers and tale weavers had decided that we were all daughters of the land."

Literary Heritage

Haiti has long been characterized by political instability and economic hardship, stemming from years of dictatorship, governmental corruption, and a significant disparity between the affluent elite in profitable cities and the impoverished rural areas.

Documented literature has not been a priority in Haitian culture, resulting in a limited number of internationally recognized Haitian authors. Furthermore, Haitian women writers are particularly scarce due to their traditionally subordinate roles in society, often confined to the home or non-professional occupations.

Despite its economic challenges, Haiti is culturally rich in language, folktales, customs, and community. The Haitian people frequently turn to their families and friends for both support and entertainment. In many ways, the impacts of poverty and illiteracy have made storytelling a cherished and enduring tradition, preserving the nation's culture and history through generations.

Haitian literature remained largely unknown outside of Haiti until the 1960s, when the Civil Rights and Women's movements spurred social reforms and encouraged the Haitian people to seek and express their voices. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that Haiti and its literature began receiving the recognition they deserved. As more nations became aware of Haiti's oppression and the violence faced by its people under the Duvalier regime, the demand for information about the country and its inhabitants grew. Emerging writers rose to meet this demand by depicting both the horrors and the treasures of this beleaguered nation. These authors crafted a literature of social consciousness that sought acknowledgment from the global community. Their work also served as a reflection, allowing them to examine their own heritage and culture.

When Haitian-born author Edwidge Danticat began writing and recording her memories of Haiti, fictionalizing them in her books, her work became an extension of her culture's oral tradition, capturing in print what was familiar to her from a young age. Danticat's writing portrays Haiti's painful history while also highlighting its uniqueness and beauty. This cultural richness and beauty are making people more receptive to Haitian literature, contributing to its growing presence and proliferation.

Literary Techniques

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Breath, Eyes, Memory belongs to a long-standing tradition of novels centered on a protagonist's journey to adulthood. The Bildungsroman, a genre focused on education and personal growth, is both ancient and widely embraced. Danticat connects her novel to this tradition by charting Sophie's development from early adolescence to young motherhood. Throughout the story, key events mark Sophie's life journey: her emigration and reunion with her mother in Part One, her self-discovery as a woman in Part Two, her return to Haiti to reconcile her past and present in Part Three, and her mother's tragic death in Part Four. Danticat enhances the narrative by having Sophie serve as the narrator, allowing Breath, Eyes, Memory to be told in her own voice.

The novel's alternating settings between Haiti and New York underscore the critical role the island nation plays in Sophie's growth. It suggests that the story is as much about the evolving nature of Haitian culture and identity as it is about Sophie's personal transformation. Through Sophie, Danticat explores what aspects of Haitian culture she wishes to preserve and what she rejects. This changing backdrop is essential to Danticat's theme of reconciling different worlds. The shifting locations also enable Danticat to contrast the past and present lives of Sophie and Martine, while highlighting their interconnectedness. For instance, Sophie's gift of an "I Love New York" sweatshirt to Atie reflects Danticat's belief that people can bridge lands and intertwine cultures. Atie's adoption of American cultural tokens signifies her connection to American identity through her sister and niece living there.

Ideas for Group Discussions

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In Breath, Eyes, Memory, Danticat illustrates that the bond between a mother and her daughter is complex, never purely harmful nor entirely benevolent. Her vivid depiction of her homeland, Haiti, suggests she harbors similarly mixed feelings about it. The storytelling tradition, the landscape, and even the cuisine are described with abundant detail, just as are the brutal Macoutes and the stringent emphasis on a young girl’s chastity. Ultimately, Danticat’s book delves into the contrasts between time, place, gender, and perceptions of love.

1. Both Sophie and Martine struggle to grow close to their male partners, Joseph and Marc. Sophie's journey ends on a positive note as she embraces motherhood, while Martine, tragically, cannot. What enables Sophie to better handle her emotional wounds?

2. The Haitian landscape is depicted with meticulous detail. Why does Danticat focus so intently on elements such as Ife’s bean recipe or the types of flowers that bloom?

3. All three women descended from Ife are marked by the "tests" they must undergo. Sophie's efforts to persuade her grandmother that this practice is inhumane fall on deaf ears. By subjecting her daughters to this degrading ritual, does Ife continue a male-dominated tradition? Is it fair to say that in this way, she acts as the family's patriarch?

4. The colors yellow and red are frequently and prominently featured throughout the novel. In the opening chapter, Sophie gives Atie a yellow daffodil; at the end, she decides to bury her mother in a bright red dress. What symbolic roles do these colors play throughout the book?

5. Is Joseph a well-rounded character, or does he come across as one-dimensional? Does he seem almost too perfect? What about Marc?

6. Martine’s suicide is somewhat unexpected. Does this plot twist feel justified, or does Danticat inject drama into the novel’s final pages?

Social Concerns

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Oprah Winfrey's choice of Edwidge Danticat's debut novel for her Book Club in May 1998 highlights the young, Haitian-born author's exploration of the challenges and joys of womanhood. Similar to Beloved, one of Oprah's earlier selections, Breath, Eyes, Memory delves into the intricate relationships between mothers and daughters. Danticat narrates the tale of four women: Sophie Caco, the storyteller; Martine, her mother; Atie, the aunt who raises Sophie until she is twelve; and Ife, Sophie's grandmother. Although Sophie moves from Haiti to join her mother in New York in the book's early chapters, both she and Martine remain bound by the love, violence, and traditions of their homeland. Danticat merges universal themes with local nuances in a story about characters whose dual identities as women and Haitians give them a mix of sorrow and hope.

Danticat's main social focus in Breath, Eyes, Memory and her later works is the struggle of women with their own identities, their families, and their cultures. These external pressures exacerbate internal conflicts for Sophie and Martine, both of whom grapple with self-loathing. The story revolves around a family devoid of men: Ife mourns her late husband by always wearing black; Atie, an old maid, laments the love she nearly had; Martine, a rape survivor from her teenage years, cannot fully commit to her lover, Marc; and Sophie, haunted by her past, struggles to connect with her husband, Joseph. These four women both support and undermine each other. Sophie and Atie flourish together, but when Martine summons her daughter to New York, Atie's life becomes empty. All lean on Ife as the family's anchor, yet Atie and Martine fear their mother, often hiding secrets from her even in their middle age. Martine offers Sophie opportunities unavailable in Haiti but also instills in her a distrust of men, hindering her sexual development.

Through Martine, Danticat portrays an immigrant's fervor for seizing new opportunities. When Sophie arrives in New York, Martine is fiercely protective, still influenced by Haitian customs. She strictly enforces Sophie's chastity, forbidding her to date until she turns eighteen. Martine's intention is not to cling to old-world values but to keep Sophie focused on the goal of medical school. Given Haiti's limited opportunities, Martine believes anything less than the highest achievements would be disgraceful. Thus, Danticat illustrates the first-generation immigrant's drive to achieve the American Dream, no matter the cost.

Martine's effort to shield Sophie leads to their estrangement. Love finds a way past Martine's vigilant eye in the form of Joseph, a jazz musician living next door to their Brooklyn home. Tensions rise as Martine disapproves of the relationship and subjects Sophie to the same humiliating "tests" of virginity that her own mother, Ife, once imposed on her. The harmful impact of this "cult of virginity" is a recurring theme in the novel. Sophie is the only one who defies this tradition by eloping with Joseph, mirroring her mother's escape from Haiti. In essence, she seeks to break free from the oppressive and patriarchal customs that her mother brought with her from Haiti. Through this narrative, Danticat illustrates how a mother's attempt to protect her daughter can inadvertently cause pain.

Danticat also explores mother-daughter dynamics through the interactions between Atie and Ife. As the eldest daughter, Atie bears the heavy burden of caring for Ife in her old age. Unlike the other women in the family, Atie does not have a daughter of her own, leading to a seemingly empty life. Although she is part of a family, she lacks a family of her own. When Sophie leaves to join her mother in New York, Atie's idyllic world falls apart, and she turns to rum to fill the void. Alcohol becomes her coping mechanism in a homeland rife with violence and a domineering mother, despite her advanced age.

In the backdrop of Danticat's portrayal of familial relationships is a nation plagued by violence. The novel's most pressing social issue is the impact of Haiti's oppressive government on its citizens. The book was published shortly before the U.S./U.N. occupation ended decades of dictatorship and military rule, leading to the reinstatement of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and a period of relative peace. However, during the time in which Danticat's novel is set, the Macoutes enforced a reign of terror, suppressing political dissent and committing seemingly random acts of violence. Thousands lost their lives at the hands of these so-called police during both the Duvalier regime and the subsequent military governments. The presence of these violent regimes is felt throughout the novel: Martine suspects her attacker was a Macoute, there is a scene of rioting outside the airport from which Sophie departs as a child, children's stories depict Macoutes as monsters that devour bad children, and Danticat's narrative includes senseless, cruel acts of violence.

Danticat highlights the obstacles to peace faced by Haitians seeking to escape Macoute violence. One minor character, Louise, attempts to earn her passage on a small raft by selling cola and pigs. She is unaware of the inherent dangers of crossing the ocean in such a small vessel and desires only the relative peace of American sanctuary. The desperation with which Danticat's characters plan their escape from Haiti draws the reader's attention to a significant social issue of the time. With few exceptions, Haitian refugees attempting to enter the U.S. by boat (referred to as "boat people") were denied asylum and sent back to Haitian authorities. This policy of immediate deportation continued throughout the early nineties, despite widespread awareness of Haiti's oppressive and violent military-run government.

Beyond the violence, Danticat also addresses the country's poverty. In 1991, Haiti's Gross Domestic Product was merely twelve hundred U.S. dollars. Most peasants, however, considered themselves lucky if they earned cash incomes of three hundred dollars annually. Ife and Atie rely on financial support from Martine, who consistently sends checks to her mother and sister along with tapes containing news from New York. Danticat skillfully contrasts the abundance in New York (even in Martine's impoverished neighborhood) with the primitive conditions at the family's Haitian home: Ife cooks over an open fire, a mother gives birth by lantern light in a shed, and the women must pick pebbles out of their beans before cooking. While Danticat portrays Haiti as rich in tradition and folklore, she also underscores the severe poverty its people endure.

Literary Precedents

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Often, in the most frequently cited German examples of the genre, a Bildungsroman follows the artistic growth of a creative individual. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister and Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man are prime examples of this form. However, Breath, Eyes, Memory does not aim to portray the life of an exceptional creative genius. Instead, Danticat focuses on the coming-of-age challenges faced by an ordinary girl; Sophie is not an artist but a secretary. In doing so, Danticat aligns herself with authors like Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Zora Neale Hurston, who have depicted the lives of everyday African-American women throughout history. For instance, Morrison's Beloved shares similarities with Danticat's book as both explore the inescapable bonds between mothers and daughters, as well as the connections between the past and present.

Two other closely related works are Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy and Christina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban. Both are highly praised novels about new immigrants from the Caribbean. In Lucy, the protagonist moves from the West Indies to America at nineteen, where she discovers both her identity and the horrors of her past. Like Danticat, Kincaid is interested in her character's sexuality, her relationship with her mother, and her ties to her homeland. Garcia's novel spans generations in both America and Cuba, illustrating the unbreakable bonds within families. Similar to Danticat's characters, Garcia's characters both celebrate and mourn their immigration to the United States.

Sophie's battle with sexual and physical insecurities as a young girl brings to mind Sylvia Plath's landmark novel The Bell Jar. While Plath's autobiographical work centers on a girl dealing with clinical depression rather than cultural and familial issues, the focus on emotional pain and the recovery process is comparable. Ultimately, however, Danticat's work is imbued with a greater sense of hope than that found in Plath's novel or in works by imitators like Elizabeth Wurtzel.

Bibliography and Further Reading

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Sources

Charters, Mallay, "Edwidge Danticat: A Bitter Legacy Revisited," in Publishers Weekly, August 17, 1998, p. 42.

Gladstone, Jim, review of Breath, Eyes, Memory, in New York Times Book Review, July 10, 1994, p. 24.

Philpott, Joan, review of Breath, Eyes, Memory, in Ms., March/April, 1994, pp. 77-78.

Shea, Renee H., "An Interview between Edwidge Danticat and Renee H. Shea," in Belles Lettres, Summer, 1995, pp. 12-15.

Wilson, Calvin, "Edwidge Danticat's Prose Floats in Realm of Sadness and Eloquence," in Kansas City Star, September 22, 1999, p. K0779.

Further Reading

Acosta, Belinda, "The Farming of Bones," in Austin Chronicle, January 19, 1999.
This article analyzes Danticat's later book and offers insights into her overall writing style.

Gardiner, Beth, "Writer's Work Evokes Experience of Haitian Regime, Emigration," in Standard-Times, April 12, 1998.
Examines how Danticat's life in Haiti influences her storytelling.

Maryles, Daisy, "Oprah's Newest Pick," in Publishers Weekly, May 25, 1998, p. 20.
A short piece on the commercial success of Breath, Eyes, Memory after being chosen for Oprah Winfrey's book club.

Rooney, Megan, "Danticat MFA '94 Reads from The Farming of Bones," in Brown Daily Herald, October 5, 1998.
Focuses on Danticat's recent work and her thoughts on writing and the immigrant experience.

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