Read the next 2 stories in KK. Write a blog post in response to the first 3 stories. Choose a theme that you see to be common in all 3 and explore what Danticat is showing us or asking us to think about this theme. Analyze 2 direct quotes. 500 words
516 WORDS
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While there are endless possibilities to chose from it became apparent to me while I was reading that a common theme between all three stories was that of theft. This is clear to me because in Children of the Sea the couple had their love stolen from them by the Haitian government. The split due to the fear of the man being caught and destroying them both, in this was the Haitian government stole their future together and eventually the boy's life, regardless if they actually killed him on their own shores. "They were going to peg me as a member of the youth federation and then take me away" (21) This quote while not directly speaking about the stolen future the lovers would have shared it touches upon the taking of a life. A theft that can never be justified, and the government's desire to kill and steal lives from people is common throughout. The government is posed as a constant terrorist to the people and displaying just how much they can take from you in even the smallest of ways. In 1934 this 'stealing of life' is not death but imprisonment that these Haitians face, "She was being pulled along by two policemen, each tugging at one of her arms as she dragged her feet."(35) This passage speaks about the mother being taken after the accusations of Voodo and witchcraft were made because a child had died in the same house as her. Danticat shows us this in a very visual way by describing it not from the mother or some bystander but rather straight from the child's mouth making the passage all that more impactful. Using just these two stories it is fairly evident that Danticat is showing how much the Haitian population suffered and what the government takes from them by implementing harsh rules and their execution. Having some knowledge about Haiti's past it helps to form the opinion that the constant battle in Haiti around this time period especially the massacres that occurred, namely 1937 one, is a constant impact for her own identity and the formation of who she is and her viewpoints. It's important to note that while the third story in this book doesn't have the same theft connotations it is still very prominent in the theft of lives by Guy jumping out of the hot air balloon and the list that little guy was going to be but on. With Haiti's constant battles lives are always in the balance and many of these lives that are ended are that of civilians with no purpose to the war efforts and their punishment is death for their uninvolved innocents. Danticat is trying to get outside people to understand the turmoil that Haiti faces in the present as much as int eh past and how often lives were ended and why it is so important to understand a nation's past. Danticat is focused a lot on trying to get the knowlage of Haiti across and what the lives of these civilians, freedom fighters, and families that happened to be Haitian.
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