Will Sophie Break the Tradition?

In Breath, Eyes and Memory Martine tests Sophie for "traditional" purposes. However, Martine reveals to Sophie later on in the novel that testing was on of the two "greatest pains" in her life. The other greatest pain was rape. To put rape and testing in the same category is huge. It must of been very tramatic. How can you put your daughter through something that was so tramatic for you? Martine is then living in New York when she is raising Sophie. She was not in Haiti. Although she was born into the tradition, there would be no one around to scold her or look down on her for breaking it. She did not necessarily have to test Sophie, and I think she did it to gain some control in her life. She does not know who raped her and thinks that Sophie looks like the man who did, so if she has some control over Sophie, she may have some control over the man in a sense. She tells Sophie she is following tradition, but what leads her to follow the tradition is what she is leaving out. My mother grew up in Italy and had many memories of the way her parents raised her and hated, so in result she raised me the complete opposite way because she wanted to make a better life for me and break bad habbits. It is easier to do that once you move to another country. Martine was in New York but chose to keep old traditions because of all she went through. Sophie I believe will most likely be the first in their family to break the tradition because it seems like there is a sense of hope for her by the time the novel ends. She asks a lot of questions to her grandmother and her mother about the testing which shows she is eager to learn more about it. Sophie even goes to see a therapist and we can see that she wants to make a positive change in her life. Although she has nightmares about her mother's rape, she was not actually the one being raped and although it effects her it is easier to overcome, understand and accept. I think Sophie will most likely end the testing tradition when she comes to that point with her daughter, especially since she divirginized herself to escape it when she was in the situation.