Guy longs for more than his meager opportunities in Haiti. He understands that the only way to earn a decent living is to gain employment at the sugar mill, and this is fairly impossible because competition is fierce. He is thus forced to scrape by, barely making enough here and there to feed his wife and Little Guy, leaving no room to hope for a better life, including material comforts, such as a nice house. Although his wife is content with their life, she longs for more for their son, not wanting him to clean latrines like his father. She thus sends conflicting messages to Guy, who eventually arrives at a point of complete hopelessness that life will ever offer him more than his current position of constant struggle. The hot-air balloon becomes a symbol of freedom, offering Guy an escape from the poverty that plagues him. He wants to be more than his father was and longs to be remembered as more than simply a poor, struggling man. Guy thus finds a way to a greater destiny via the only path available to him: a seemingly suicidal quest to launch a balloon into the sky, freeing himself from the hardships that have always weighed him down. It is significant that not once in the story does Guy mention his skill in landing a balloon; he speaks only of his belief in his ability to get it—and himself—off the ground. He accomplishes this dream, and as he reaches heights that few in Haiti are ever able to fathom, the townspeople cheer for him on the ground below. In that moment, Guy is recognized as a man who has broken open the realms of possibility. Guy, however, sees only one possible ending to this journey; his dream never included a safe landing. Longing to be remembered as a great man, he leaps from the balloon to his death. With no hope of ever improving his station in life, Guy is driven to commit suicide in a dramatic attempt to die as a man unconstrained by poverty and struggle.

From the opening line of the story, Guy is a man who wants to be heard, yet he struggles to maintain his wife’s attention over the boisterous energy of their son. Guy enters his home wanting to share the news of his employment at the sugar mill with his wife, but his desires are pushed aside as Little Guy takes center stage with news of his school accomplishments. Later, outside the mill, Guy and his wife share a tender moment alone, and again he tells Lili that he needs to talk to her. Again, Little Guy interrupts, this time physically inserting himself between the couple. Guy is affectionate with his son and seems to bear no ill will against him for the interruptions; still, there is a sense of defeat in his being constantly forced to step aside, burying his own needs as he provides the nurturing attention that his son craves. It is also clear that Lili prioritizes the needs of Little Guy over her husband, and only when Little Guy is asleep can Guy finally share the news about his job with her. While cleaning latrines is not the employment Guy envisioned for himself, he accepts the work because he needs to provide for his son. Guy sacrifices his own life because he wants his son to remember him differently than Guy remembers his own father. Guy’s death shows that parents can make impossible personal sacrifices in order to do what they believe will improve the lives of their...

Guy is excluded from permanent employment at the sugar mill, his only hope of ever reliably improving his family’s source of income as there are no other stable employment opportunities in their area. He visits the sugar mill, which is the location of the object that represents ultimate freedom; however, the balloon is kept behind a barbed wire fence, effectively excluding Guy from tangibly experiencing it in any form. This hot-air balloon is both a symbol of freedom and of exclusion; only the very wealthy could afford such a luxury, and this is a lifestyle that Guy can never hope for. Guy is even fairly excluded from the endearing relationship that Little Guy and Lili share; he is always the last to hear Little Guy’s news, and his son often pulls his mother’s attentions toward himself and away from Guy. There is a sense of pervading loneliness in Guy’s life and even in his death. He climbs into the basket alone and without mentioning his plans to anyone. He leaps to the ground alone, and when he dies, the balloon’s owner is more concerned with chasing down his balloon than in caring for Guy’s body. The pain that is generated from constant exclusion proves to be catastrophic for a man with dreams of a better life.