In Edwidge Danticat’s novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, the reader follows the life of young Haitian girl Sophie Caco. Living with her aunt and later her mother, Sophie grows up with mostly the influence of women in her family. Growing older, though, she learns what a heavy burden she carries being a woman, and the strict traditions she must conform to. Sophie spends her life split between Haiti and New York City, where her mother, Martine, lives. Back in her home country of Haiti, she lives with her
In The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat, Bienaimé was a Tonton Macoute during the regime of the Haitian dictator, President Francois Duvalier, also known as “Papa Doc.” Tonton Macoutes are also known as dew breakers and their job is to arrest Haitians who rebel against the government. The dew breakers arrive early in the morning before the sunrise to capture the traitors and torture them. When Bienaimé failed to complete his orders properly from the president, he plans to escape Haiti to avoid his
forces to take its place that is under their control. As in the case of the Tonton Macoutes; whose name is derived from the Creole term ‘bogeyman’, who were loyal to Fancies Duvalier and was given free regime to do what they wish through violence that reduce the Haitian people to compliant terms. Danticat in her book Brother I am Dying states, “He [Papa Doc] had created a countrywide militia called the Tonton Macoutes, a battalion of brutal men and women” (Danticat,
on a small boat, we are unsure of the exact reason he leaves, though we are told that the current events in Haiti are filled with war and famine; he states, “The putrid mangos, emblems of diarrhea and famine, the war cries of the macoutes,..” the macoutes or Tonton macoutes were a paramilitary group, essentially death squads who systemically killed innocent people and the opposition leaders for the dictator Francois Duvalier during the 70s to mid-80s. As time passes Antenor almost falls asleep, but
Breathe, Eyes, Memory stems from Haitian history, particularly the rape of Martine by a Tonton Macoute soldier and the trauma of slavery that the older generation share. On the narrative level, as the story progresses we can see accurate historical events happening in the background such as when Sophie is leaving for New York and there are revolts happening against Francois Duvalier and when a Tonton Macoute kills market vendor Dessalines. Haiti is a nation formed by former slaves and was the first
MIAMI NOIR We have much to learn from Mike Davis, CITY OF QUARTZ (Vintage, 1992) who discusses the paradoxical effects that the representations of Los Angeles in hardboiled novels and their translation into film noir cinema had on the image and myth of that city. Together they radically reworked the metaphorical figure of the city, using the crisis of the middle class (rarely the workers or the poor) to expose how the dream had become nightmare. . . . It is hard to exaggerate the damage which
The Dominican Republic and Haiti Imagine yourself as a businessperson on a trip to the island of Hispaniola to check on how production is faring. You land in Santo Domingo to transfer to a short commuter flight to Port-au-Prince. During the flight, you gaze outside your window to admire the breathtaking view of the Sierra de Baoruco, with its luscious forests. As the plane approaches the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, you notice that the land has been completely denuded of trees directly
The Duvalier regime is said to be one of the worst administrations in Haiti killing more than 30,000 people. The regimes of Francois Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier who ruled Haiti lasted from September 22nd 1957 to February 6th 1986. Francois was trained as a physician and known to his people as "Papa Doc". Duvalier ruled his country as no other Haitian chief executive had, using violence and phony elections to hold down any opposition. Francois made himself president for life and later
Haiti, regarded as the second most poverty stricken country on the globe, taken in its past there is little to no uncertainty this manifested throughout years of hardship and grief. Haiti being a very new independent country in the wake of the glorious revolution did not have the easiest time. This due in great part to the colonization of Hispaniola by the french in the 17th century, where most trees were harvested for natural fuel and resources. This mass deforestation from the colonial age made
In 2010, Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The country was in no way prepared for such a devastating event. But this was not a new situation for Haiti. The country has had a long history with natural disasters. There are a number of reasons that Haiti has had and continues to have so many troubles with natural disasters. These troubles are based on a number of different things, including a rocky political and environmental history, government instability, the economy and overwhelming
In dictatorships throughout history violence has been used as a tool to control and oppress people. Examples of this include violence seen in Cuba, Iran, and North Korea. A more in depth example comes from the Haitian dictator François Duvalier, who controlled Haiti from 1957 to 1971. Duvalier was known as a brutal dictator who was not shy when it came to the use of violence and torture to control people. In the novel, The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat, violence is a recurring theme that appears
Haiti was once the first black independent republic in the world and the richest island in the Caribbean. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world. What could have happened to Haiti in almost two hundred years of history? The country experienced repeated civil war and foreign intervention. Haiti is not isolated from the international world. Thus, it was not out of concern for ordinary Haitians that the United States intervened in