Haitian-American Author of a Collection of Short Stories in Krik-Krak, Edwidge Danticat

As she passes the ruins she recreates the pleasant things that had been there. Despite the reasonable arguments that her goods belonged to God and whatever God does is just, there is in the poem an undercurrent of regret that the loss is not fully compensated for by the hope of the treasure that lies above. (84)

Hurricanes, earthquakes, war, riots, death, and economic problems. Haiti has experienced it all. Through the novel Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat shares stories of Haitians experiencing tragedy. She expresses how Haitians can find hope even in suffering. Danticat uses the motifs of generations and children to convey the idea that Haitians can discover hope even when experiencing pain and hardship.

"But it is my body crumbling , not the city. It can never be destroyed , I will grow and spread exactly as I have planned it. They will remember me. Oh yes , they will remember" p.15

There is a lot to know about Haiti when it comes to the conditions as well as the events witnessed in Haiti during the regime of the Duvaliers. However, little is know about this country because despite its proximity to the United States. The Duvaliers caused a lot of injustice that Haitian were subjected to. In Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!, originally published in 1991, she brings out the suffering and violence that were witnessed in Haiti through the resilience of strong women. Josephine’s mother in “ Nineteen Thirty-Seven” and Marie in “Between the Pool and the Gardenias” represent the strength of women, playing a significant part in most stories in her book; yet, their

On the hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation, James Baldwin writes a letter to his nephew regarding identity as a black man in 1960’s America. Using a wide range of rhetorical devices, the writer attempts to convince his vulnerable relative to believe he is forever loved. In “My Dungeon Shook” from The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, the author presents a unique rhetorical strategy which uses comparison and description to reach the main goal of helping the reader focus on the most important points of the writing. The grand design for this section of the novel allows Baldwin to accomplish the purpose by addressing the American citizens in 1963 in order to inform them how black and white people cannot have equal opportunities until the Caucasians recognize their crimes and African-Americans lovingly forgive their previous oppressors.

The reek of death hangs in the air throughout the land. Filling the mouths of those who lived in this abandoned land was the taste of burnt garlic. The screams and cries of terror undistinguishable between beast and human fill the ears of the last ones living. The sky, which was lit by the glow of fires, is grey and empty. Decaying bodies and

Freedom in Haiti for slaves was founded by a slave foreman, Boukman and he too has a symbolic significance in this story also. It was his speech in which the title of the story ‘Wall of fire rising’ appears first which represents what Boukman built to destruct the many slave plantations in Saint-Domingue that led to a massive revolution to end slavery in Haiti. He did this to begin the start of independent Haiti and ended up being successful because fourteen years later they were free. This makes him symbolic because even though Guy and Lili are free in terms of slavery, they are not necessarily free in terms of poverty. Them being poor causes Guy to feel like a failure to provide for his family like his father. He stated, “… I remember my father, who was a very poor struggling

The film reminds us that “slavery and its aftermath involved the emasculation-physical as well as psychological - of black men, the drive for black power was usually taken to mean a call for black male power, despite the needs of (and often with the complicity of) black women. That continues to result in the devaluing of black female contributions to the liberation struggle and in the subordination of black women in general.”4

“Thomas took the ashes and smiled, closed his eyes, and told this story: ‘I’m going to travel to Spokane Falls one last time and toss these ashes into the water. And your father will rise like a salmon, leap over the bridge, over me, and find his way home. It will be beautiful. His teeth will shine like silver, like a rainbow. He will rise, Victor, he will rise.

In one way it is symbolic of the African Americans' struggle for equality throughout our nation's history. The various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, are representative of the many hardships that the blacks went through in their fight for equality.

In one way it is symbolic of the African Americans’ struggle for equality throughout our nation’s history. The various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, are representative of the many hardships that the blacks went through in their fight for equality.

The book “Krik Krak” written by Edwidge Danticat contains a story of Danticat in the past and how could she became a famous author today. She was born Haiti and a survivor who escaped oversea to the United States. Danticat’s past is painful and horrible but it influenced her present. The Haitian politics repressed certain group of women and the fear surrounded them everyday. To find her own freedom and her rights, Danticat got on board then arrived at New York. The racist weighed on her but she didn’t give up on the path that she chose. She learned English and had a dream to become a writer but that also an issue for Danticat. The Haitian writer often killed but it didn’t quench Danticat’s desire to keep their history

We gather the bones of those who fell far afield. We bury these bones and cover the graves of all those fallen—so that we might keep grief and revenge from sight.

This quote displays how a majority of black people felt in relation to the Police's’ brutality and unjust arrests. Johannes’s father’s arrest is a monumental turning point of the novel and brings upon the family another harsh reality for a majority of those living under the rule of the

In 1791 revolution broke out in the French colony of Saint Domingue, later called Haiti. The Haitian Revolution resounded in communities surrounding the Atlantic Ocean. One of the wealthiest European outposts in the New World, the Caribbean island's western third had some of the largest and most brutal slave plantations. Slave laborers cultivated sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton, and they endured horrible death rates, requiring constant infusions of slaves from Africa. In 1789 roughly 465,000 black slaves lived in the French colony on the island, along with fewer than 31,000 whites. In addition, there were about 23,000 free blacks and mixed-race people called gens de couleur, who might own land and accrue wealth but had no political