Discussion on Women's lives/#29
Women are crucial to the society. And they play an important role in taking care of and even educating the children. There is a huge amount of stories talking about women in the book Krik? Krak! based on different living areas. The stories in the two main locations, Haiti and the United States, differ from each other but still have some of the similarities.
In the Haitian-based stories, women look more like submissive, but inside they really have strong desire of freedom. In the story of Nineteen Thirty-Seven, manman is arrested because of the accusation of having the "wings of flames". They suffer from the torture like "the guards made them throw tin cups of cold water at one another so that their bodies would not be able to muster up enough heat to grow those wings made of flames" and other series of inhuman "punishments". Those women who are arrested in prison have to tolerate these, but still they eager to escape away. Manman even avoids to be touched when her daughter comes to visit her in prison, just because she does not want to scare the narrator. This also shows her care for the family. At last, manman dies and "glowed red when she came out, blood clinging to her skin, which at that moment looked as though it were in flames". This metaphor illustrates that the "wings of flames" actually refers to deadly struggle and ultimate freedom. In the other story, Night Women, it talks more about a woman's role in a family and how she sacrifices her own life in order to support her home as a widowed mother. In the story, the narrator is a "night woman", which means she is a prostitute. Being a prostitute seems like a "submissive" role because she provides sexual service to all kinds of men. However, only by doing this can she have a steady income and therefore support her little son. Because of her job, she is scorned by others; as a result, she has to keep her as a secret and let her son know nothing about this. She doesn't want her son to live under the shape of shame or guilt. Instead of being a "piece-worker", the narrator prefers to a job that has stability. Her sacrifice brings a better life for her family. It's clear that women in Haiti have a struggling life with limited freedom.
In American-based stories, women seem to be freer but also struggling in life. They gain their freedom by moving to the United States. But still their lives won't be easy at all. They have to try hard to get a legal naturalization certificate as an American citizen. In the story of New York Day Women, the narrator follows her mother for a whole day and figures out what her mother is doing during daytime. The mother is a babysitter, who takes care of others' child but has to neglect her own kid. This job is also a sacrifice since the narrator never knows what her mother does and why she does not even care about her when she was young. But in fact, the mother works in order to help her husband, who is a taxi driver. Just like the mother in Night Women, the mother in New York Day Woman gives up her own life so that the whole family can have a better life. The sacrifices are common both in Haiti and America for women. In the other story, Caroline's Wedding, the mother of the narrator is literally a stubborn and nostalgic woman who came to the United States many years ago but still kept her own traditions. She cares a lot on her Haitian traditions, whereas the daughters don't really care about them, since they are already Americanized. There are conflicts between the mother and the daughters. However, the bond of tradition and blood won't change, although the mother thinks the proposal and wedding are not formal enough, and Caroline thinks the bone soup drives her crazy, they are still the most familiar ones to each other. In the United States, women are relatively quite free than those who living in Haiti, but love never changes, and cultural bond also never ends. Women face different problems no matter they are in Haiti or America.
We can never tell whether the women who live in America will have better lives. There are always sacrifice and misunderstandings. Women work harder as they live hard.
In the Haitian-based stories, women look more like submissive, but inside they really have strong desire of freedom. In the story of Nineteen Thirty-Seven, manman is arrested because of the accusation of having the "wings of flames". They suffer from the torture like "the guards made them throw tin cups of cold water at one another so that their bodies would not be able to muster up enough heat to grow those wings made of flames" and other series of inhuman "punishments". Those women who are arrested in prison have to tolerate these, but still they eager to escape away. Manman even avoids to be touched when her daughter comes to visit her in prison, just because she does not want to scare the narrator. This also shows her care for the family. At last, manman dies and "glowed red when she came out, blood clinging to her skin, which at that moment looked as though it were in flames". This metaphor illustrates that the "wings of flames" actually refers to deadly struggle and ultimate freedom. In the other story, Night Women, it talks more about a woman's role in a family and how she sacrifices her own life in order to support her home as a widowed mother. In the story, the narrator is a "night woman", which means she is a prostitute. Being a prostitute seems like a "submissive" role because she provides sexual service to all kinds of men. However, only by doing this can she have a steady income and therefore support her little son. Because of her job, she is scorned by others; as a result, she has to keep her as a secret and let her son know nothing about this. She doesn't want her son to live under the shape of shame or guilt. Instead of being a "piece-worker", the narrator prefers to a job that has stability. Her sacrifice brings a better life for her family. It's clear that women in Haiti have a struggling life with limited freedom.
In American-based stories, women seem to be freer but also struggling in life. They gain their freedom by moving to the United States. But still their lives won't be easy at all. They have to try hard to get a legal naturalization certificate as an American citizen. In the story of New York Day Women, the narrator follows her mother for a whole day and figures out what her mother is doing during daytime. The mother is a babysitter, who takes care of others' child but has to neglect her own kid. This job is also a sacrifice since the narrator never knows what her mother does and why she does not even care about her when she was young. But in fact, the mother works in order to help her husband, who is a taxi driver. Just like the mother in Night Women, the mother in New York Day Woman gives up her own life so that the whole family can have a better life. The sacrifices are common both in Haiti and America for women. In the other story, Caroline's Wedding, the mother of the narrator is literally a stubborn and nostalgic woman who came to the United States many years ago but still kept her own traditions. She cares a lot on her Haitian traditions, whereas the daughters don't really care about them, since they are already Americanized. There are conflicts between the mother and the daughters. However, the bond of tradition and blood won't change, although the mother thinks the proposal and wedding are not formal enough, and Caroline thinks the bone soup drives her crazy, they are still the most familiar ones to each other. In the United States, women are relatively quite free than those who living in Haiti, but love never changes, and cultural bond also never ends. Women face different problems no matter they are in Haiti or America.
We can never tell whether the women who live in America will have better lives. There are always sacrifice and misunderstandings. Women work harder as they live hard.
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