During the beginning chapters of Danticat’s novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory we meet the protagonist, Sophie Caco and her aunt, Tante Atie. The two of them have just received word that Sophie’s mother who is residing in New York City has requested that Sophie be sent to her from Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti. Sophie’s mother, Martine sent a cassette tape that stated, “I want my daughter”(16). Seeing as her mother did not raise her, Sophie views Tante Atie as a mother figure. She composes a poem and makes a Mother’s Day card for her aunt. The poem reads, “My mother is a daffodil,/ limber and strong as one./ My mother is a daffodil,/ but the wind, iron strong.”(29) The two share a very close bond. Sophie’s grandmother says, “You must never forget this…your mother is your first friend”(24); however, Danticat suggests that Tante Atie will always be Sophie’s first friend. It is evident that Tante Atie cares deeply for the girl because she has watched over her and reared her while her mother had to abandoned her. Moreover, Tante Atie goes to great lengths to make Sophie’s departure memorable by using her fine china to serve breakfast in, special linens to cover the table with and even open her box of white towels that she had been saving for a “special occasion”(28). According to Danticat, Sophie “only knew [her] mother from the picture on the night table by Tante Atie’s pillow”(8). Sophie repeatedly describes nightmares about her mother chasing her down and trying to take her away. The dream is resolved when Tante Atie rescues Sophie from Martine’s “grasp”(8). The young girl’s nightmares and her maternal-child relationship with Tante Atie communicate the sense that Sophie’s departure to New York City to live with her mother may not be “the best thing that is ever going to happen to [her]”(14), as Madame Augustin claims. Sophie’s nightmares foreshadow the experiences that she will have to face once she begins a new phase in her life with Martine. Are there any other symbols or events, which intimate that Sophie may be like the people whose creator “gives them the sky to carry because they are strong”(25); the ones that are destined to “see a lot of trouble in [their lives]”(25)?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sophie's Nightmares
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am unsure whether or not I agree with Cris regarding Sophie's nightmares foreshadowing the experiences she will have to face in New York City. After all, I do think that Sophie's mentality is understandable being that her mother appears to be a stranger to her. Most children need to feel protected and comfortable, and removing a child from their home seems to be the farthest thing that someone could do to ensure protection and comfort.
ReplyDeleteI am unsure whether or not I agree with Cris regarding Sophie's nightmares foreshadowing the experiences she will have to face in New York City. After all, I do think that Sophie's mentality is understandable being that her mother appears to be a stranger to her. Most children need to feel protected and comfortable, and removing a child from their home seems to be the farthest thing that someone could do to ensure protection and comfort.
I was actually thinking about our recent class discussion about Asian mothers giving up their children to other people because they could not supply their children with basic necessities. Though not from an Asian culture, I wonder if Sophie's mother is looked down on for giving her sister custody of her child. Instead, is Sophie's mother possibly praised for settling in New York City in attempt to create a better life for her child? I think that as the story goes on, if we learn more about why Sophie's mother moved to New York City in the first place, then it will be easier for us to make a judgement and form our opinions.
I don't agree with Chris where the dream Sophie has of her mother chasing her is foreshadowing what she will face in New York, but foreshadows what will happen in the next few chapters where Sophie is summoned by her mother to come to New York. We learn early on that Sophie is separated from her mother not because she was abandoned, but because her mother wanted a better life for herself and Sophie. In chapter two, Tante Atie tells Sohpie that she was left to her care because her mother didn't want to risk anything upon Sophie when traveling to New York, a place not yet explored by any one in that family.
ReplyDeleteDid Tante Atie and Monsieur Augustin have a previous relationship? I am eager to find out what happens when Sophie is reunited with her mother in New York.
While most of the previous posts on “Breath, Eyes, Memory” focused on what Sophie is feeling I’m curious what Martine, the mother of Sophie must be feeling. It could not have been easy for her to leave behind her home, and her daughter. Tante Atie gets Sophie’s love and affection, while her mother must work in another country without her daughter in order to support their comfortable lifestyle. In turn, she does not get her daughter’s love but her daughter’s resentment. Like Lisa, I was also reminded of our class discussion of Parched Tongue. We discussed the Korean women who had to give up their children for adoption, and how they eventually met up with them when they were grown. These mothers cried, and wanted their children to absolve them of the guilt and shame they feel for having given them up. It’s interesting that Martine, and these Korean women (many of who were forced into the sexual slavery that created these children) blame themselves instead of recognizing themselves as victims. By blaming themselves, these women are not asking certain questions, such as, “What kind of power structure is in play that would force a mother to give up their child.” Nyai, from “The Earth of Mankind” was someone who asked these questions, but it’s a shame that more women don’t question their victimization.
ReplyDelete