Critical Analysis on Edwidge Danticat’s A Wall of Fire Rising

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“A Wall of Fire Rising”, short story written by Edwidge Danticat, presents one man’s desire for the freedom and also, the gap between reality and fantasy which is created by the desire. Two different perspectives of evaluating the life bring the conflict between the Guy and Lili who are parents to the little guy. Throughout the story, the Guy implies that he wants to do something that people will remind of him, but Lili who is opposing to the Guy, tries to settle the Guy down and keep up with the normal life that they are belong to. The Guy is aggressive, adventurous and reckless while Lili is realistic and responsible. The wall of fire is the metaphorical expression of the boundary where divides two different types of people. One is for the people who accept their position and try to do the best out of it, and the other for the people who are not satisfied with the circumstances and desires to turn the table. Through this essay, I am going to reveal how the contradiction in an unwise idealist’s attitude and his speech, and also how it drove the whole family into a horrible tragedy as well. The little Guy is in the play and his role is Boukman, who was the leader of Haiti revolution in late 1700’s. Celucien Joseph describes: In the night of August 22, 1791, which initiated the Haitian Revolution, Dutty Boukman, a slave and religious leader gathered a gang of slaves and uttered one of the most important prayers in the Black Atlantic religious thought.1 The prayer embodies the historical tyranny of oppression and suffering, and the collective cry for justice, freedom, and human dignity of the enslaved Africans at Saint-Domingue. The Guy who is not happy with the situation tha... ... middle of paper ... ...rson and he knows that she will take care of the little guy even if the Guy is not around. A distort desire to be free of the situation drive the whole family into tragedy and leave them grieves Works Cited Danticat, Edward. “A Wall of Fire Rising”(2009). The Norton Introduction to Literature, Portable 10th ed. Alison Booth and Kelly J.Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. Pg.232-244 Higgins, Tory. “Self-Discrepancy Theory: What Patterns of Self-Beliefs Cause People to Suffer?”(1989). Advances in Experimental Social psychology, Vol.22 (1989):93-136. Academic Press Inc. Joseph, Celucien. “The Rhetoric of Prayer: Dutty Boukman, the Discourse of “Freedom from Below,” and the Politics of God”(2011). Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. Vol.2 Issue 9 June 2011. Michaelson, Peter. “A Hidden Reason for Suicidal Thoughts”(2013). Why We Suffer. n.pag. Web. 2 Apr. 2014 ”

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