"Night Women" Analysis



Haiti has never really been on the right side of lady fortune. The country's history can best be described by this meme:




BACKGROUND

Things were especially bad during the reign of François Duvalier. Also referred to as "Papa Doc" by the natives, Duvalier was a tyrannical and ruthless president. He silenced his critics with the help of his personal, secret police, the tonton macoutes. Those who chose to speak out were punished through harassment, arrest, or even death. He became increasingly unpopular as his political power and wealth grew while the natives of the country suffered from severe poverty. Growing up during the country's most tumultuous times, Danticat composed 9 stories and an epilogue embedded with several of her traumatizing memories from her childhood. Her parents having left for the United States when she was only four, she learned several Haitian traditions having lived with her aunt and uncle in the Haitian city of Port Au Prince. The title originates from the Haitian story-telling tradition, in which the person who wants to tell a story says "Krik?" and those who want to listen respond with "Krak!"

NIGHT WOMEN

One of the most intriguing stories of the collection, "Night Women," provided a first person account of a 25 year-old mother who becomes a prostitute to provide for her son. The story features various themes such as division, love, and desire for the unattainable. The story revolves around this contrast between day women (mothers who run their household in a conventional manner) and night women (prostitutes). The narrator longs to be a day woman and provide for her son in more traditional ways, but she can't bring herself to change her ways. Division is shown repeatedly as she is divided from the day women and physically divided from her son by a mere curtain. A difficult decision looms, as her son, unaware that his mother is a prostitute, is getting too old to believe the mother's lies as to what happens at night when he goes to sleep. The theme of love is portrayed by the mother's affectionate gestures towards the child before she works at night, often brushing and kissing his cheeks while he sleeps. It also seems apparent that she does the job that she does out of love for her son and not out of enjoyment or by choice.
Ultimately, the story is a shocking and heart-breaking account of the difficulties of being a single mother in Haiti, showing how people will do whatever is necessary to provide for their families.


-AA

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 16, 2018 at 12:38 PM

    The meme is a good way of getting into the discussion, which is v. well done.

    ReplyDelete

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