Some Thoughts on Edwige Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory

In Edwidge Danticat's novel Breath, Eyes, Memory, the speaker, Sophie, grows up in Haiti under the wing of her aunt Atie. Atie and her mother, Ife, live traditional Haitian lives. Both women have minds filled with folk tales and traditional stories of the supernatural. These stories influence the way in which they relate to the world. Their Haitian world is full of beauty, tradition, and close ties, but also poverty, political violence, constant change, and "chagrin".

Atie repeatedly tells Sophie that it is in her best interest to go to America to be with her mother, as Haitian (and American) reasoning is that mothers and daughters belong together. Atie's relationship with her own mother is based on her feelings of duty as her daughter, it is her duty to take care of the "old woman". Atie is the only mother Sophie has ever known, though, and it is understandably hard for her to leave her behind, despite Atie's refusal to accept the Mother's Day card from her and her insistence that Sophie be strong and face her fears of the foreign, unknown New York City, and her stranger mother.

Sophie soon discovers that her mother is tormented by nightmares. It becomes her routine to awaken her mother, which Martine sees as Sophie saving her from certain death, as her dreams are real to her. While Martine has been away from Haiti for many years, she is still very Haitian. Striving for purity continues to be an important part of her life. Her purity was stolen from her when she was raped. Sophie gradually falls in love with a man that is very good to her, and were it not for her mother's fears, and Joseph's age, perhaps Joseph would have been "approved" by Martine. Ironically, in order to ensure that Sophie remains pure when Martine discovers her relationship, she violates her with "tests", as Ife had tested her, and Ife's mother had tested Ife. The cycle of the testing continues, and it is the degradation from the testings that drive Sophie to physically damage herself with the pestle, to fake the loss of her virginity. As planned, Martine believes Sophie has been violated, and Sophie elopes with Joseph.