I have just started this book, yet I have found several strong themes in it. One of those themes is family. The main character, Amabelle, was a Haitian orphan, taken home by wealthy Dominicans. They saw her sitting by the river where her parents had both drowned before her eyes. They raised her, and she worked as their maid. As Amabelle grew older, she saw a conflicting loyalty for her own people and for those who raised her.
At the time of this book, 1937, Haitians often moved to the Dominican Republic to work for wealthier Dominicans. They would be maids, cut cane, or help farm other crops. Amabelle was only 8 when she went to live with the family she thought of as her own. I noticed the conflicting loyalty when Sebastien, Amabelle's boyfriend said, "Who are these people to you?"........."Do you think they're family?" (110). It seems that Sebastien felt that these Dominicans shouldn't be "family" to Amabelle.
I find this interesting, how people want to be "owned", whether it's by a family name, a race, a culture, a religion. People are forever profiling themselves, put themselves into a category. Amabelle was stuck in the middle. She loved her people, Haitians, and she also loved her "family", and those in that household. This quote from the book also shows this, '"Papi paid one of the boys at the riverside to interpret for him while he asked you who you belonged to. And you pointed to yourself. Do you remember?" I remembered."' (91). Amabelle belonged to herself.
This is very descriptive and detailed. Really nice elaboration on the quotes!
ReplyDelete