Choice on performing Krik Krak.

TOP 1 choice :

Number 6 Kevin, Children of The Sea. I want to be the father and the reason why I want to play this role because I am interested in showing the contrast between a father who really loves his daughter and faces a young man who only provides him the dream, the idealistic. So realistic vs idealistic that is the main argument in this performance.

TOP 2 choice :

Number 9 Johnny, Children of The Sea. I liked to play the role of Eric who helped the young character to join into the American society and helped him to find job in America. I am interested in expressing this character’s personality of obliging. Also as the only friend of the young man, there must be some part in the story when young man talked with Eric about the conflict between two girls. So as an American, Eric’s view toward on this problem must be different with Young man’s.

TOP 3 choice :

Number 3 Betty, Caroline’s Wedding. I would like to play the role of dead father because in this version of the story, two daughters are not the main characters, father became the most important character in this play to relate the story, so I like to participate a performance that uses a different version to interpret the story.

TOP 4 choice :

Number 8 Chantelle, Caroline’s wedding. I would be interested on playing the role of the young boy because this is a great idea to put the character in Children of the Sea and Caroline’s wedding together. Because of this dream, Mom found out that she experienced the despair of separation, so she can not stop the marriage between her daughter and Eric. And because I love to interpret the scene of Children of the Sea, which I may show a different perspective on the performance.  

TOP 5 choice :

Number 9 Johnny, Children of the Sea. The role of the young boy. The reason I want to play this one is that I am not an American, too. With the young man, both of us experienced the time when we first arrived America and someone helped us when we really needed help. However, one thing I am not sure is on interpreting the part when he was stressed on choosing legal identity or promise. That part I am worried about I can not perform that part really realistic. 

The review of The Endgame

The Endgame

In the end reviewing part, the woman asked the audience a question, which is that using a word to define this whole play. At that time some people answered a reflection to the society, others said that this is a physical and emotional pain. These answers seem corresponding with the main idea of The Endgame. However, under my mind, when it comes to the question asking me about this whole play’s central idea, I have a topic in my mind, which is the real desperation under this tragedy.

The reason why I describe this whole play as the real desperation because of two main reasons. The first one is the combination of my background information searching and the whole play setting. Because before I went to see the show, I did some background information search on the author, Samuel Becket, he was born in Paris and experienced the World War II, his writing style was influenced by that and thus under his mind, he always liked to make the setting as the characters are waiting for a death in a world without hope. Moreover, from the setting of the characters, Hamm as a man who can not see and stand up. Hamm’s parents, who lived in the weird boxes, both can not see. And Hamm’s servant or son, Clov, who can not sit down. Even though compared each character by other characters, Hamm’s situation is better than his father, which he even can live on a wheel and someone can take care of him. But Clov’s situation is also better than Hamm’s. Clov even can walk and see the outside scene. But from this setting part, I could feel a deep desperation that author passed to us. Try to imagine one situation where you were putted into a place where outside of this place, all the other places are much dangerous and you can not even see a person outside of this safe place. Then you figure out there apart from you there also are three blind people lived with you. Will you feel better because there are three of them can accompany with you when you feel boring. I would not feel that way because when you know you are the only one can see and walk, but you can not go outside of this place. You may feel desperation because your situation is same as those three people, but they are blind, they are familiar with the dark and they are not afraid for staying in darkness. But you will, as Clov, you will feel hope that you are not died but after several days, you will find out that you have nowhere to go, you are waiting for a death in a world without hope. Which in the whole play, this is the real central idea I feel from the author through the characters’ personalities and the background information.

Moreover, there are one scene that impressed me the most, which was the last scene where Clov had already packing up, but he went back to the room where Hamm lived and stay silently, but Hamm did not know that because he was blind. For that part, it really stimulated me because of that situation. Hamm is blind, he can not see where is his servant Clov and before Clov went, he said that he will leave him and never go back. Then after Hamm called his dad, no respond, and he used his whistle to call Clov, no respond, I feel really desperation because of this part, in the before, when Hamm blowing his whistle, Clov will immediately come to the room, in front of Hamm. However, at this time, whatever how many time he blowing the whistle, how loudly the soundness is. Clov will not respond him, even as the audience I know that Clov was standing next to Hamm and always payed his attention on him. At that time someone were laughing but I did not think that part should laugh because two players performed so realistic and truly. I do not know what happened after the Clov gone, but I know one thing is that Hamm was really experiencing the desperation in that small room. As a blind person who can not stand, he can not take care of himself at that situation, so talking becomes the only way to express his feeling to others. Unfortunately, Clov was gone, no one can accompany with him in the future. So he did one action was to throw the dog toy away because he did not need that to support himself, he really gave up, he really find the desperation. So that is why in the end, when he did is monologue, I found out that the light became darker and darker, like his mind toward to the future.  

Transformation Scene

Toward the transformation scene, I had an idea about talking about the story between female character’s father and male character in the Children of the Sea. And also I like to put the background of the Children of the Sea into my transformation scene because of following reasons. Because Children of the Sea is the first story I read in Krik? Krak!, and it talked about the escaping, the chaos and the conflict between parents and children. I am in the age of the adolescence, so I can understand the feeling from both male and female characters in the story. So I want to express this understanding in my performance. However, I did not want to play the role of the male character, instead of playing male character, I would be more interested in playing the role of father of the female character. Last performance I played the role of Friar Lawrence, which Juliet found me when she needed help, but this time, I want to try playing a new role who is under men dominated society, a dad who used his own way to protect his daughter. I did not want to copy the plot totally in Children of the Sea, but I will use its background setting and characters’ personalities as basic idea to build my own setting of the play. In my performance, I want to pay more attention on two main characters development, I will start the performance by a monologue from dad who cursed his daughter’s lover, and then suddenly he would find out the radio tape, and began showing his angry toward the radio tape and he changed my mind to not telling this thing to his daughter, instead of doing that, he went on the street to find the young man, and from the young man’s monologue, he got the information that the young man will leave the Haiti in next two days, so he thought it is time to have a conversation between he and this young man in order to let the young man give up this love forever. Then the father had a soliloquy, like a scene when the father is writing a letter to the young man to tell him the place and time when they will meet and ask the young man must come. Then the scene change to young man’s soliloquy when he is reading the letter and preparing to go to the meeting. Then the biggest scene comes to the meeting between dad and young man in the harbour. Where dad is waiting for the young man, but he comes late, then they begin their talk and finally did not make the agreement and then dad asked the young man to leave and left the line: “ Young man, you will never make it.” More and more, if the time is enough, I want to add another scene where young man stands on the boat, when boat is staring leaving Haiti, but he stands facing the direction of Haiti and said that, “ My love, this sea is endless, like my love for you. Please promise me you will be safe, I will work hard, I will get green card, I will love you forever, hope you be safe. Farewell.”  In my interpretation of the personalities of dad and young man in the Children of the Sea, father will never agree the marriage between young man and his daughter, so the first monologue will correspond with dad’s personality, then the second monologue I had a little confused because from the Children of the Sea, I can not get much information about the young man, is he really infatuated toward that girl or he is only a play boy. I do not know it very clearly, but from interpretation of his letter to the girl, I believe he is really a good man so I add that soliloquy to infer his love toward that girl and I believe this monologue can let audience feel this love clearly.

I think my transformation scene would be a good idea because in Children of the Sea, it evolves the problems between parents to children, men to women and protection to domination. I believe in my transformation scene, I can show these three conflict directly. Moreover, I did not use the book’s story just copies down. I change my main characters from female and male characters to dad and male character, which in the story, two main characters only talked little about the dad, but I think because of the conflict between dad and female character, two main characters can not get marriage and live together, so I would be very interested to show this procedure to the audience. Also, I think playing my story is a good idea also because in the first performance Romeo and Juliet, I played a role of priest to comfort Juliet, even though in this story I need to show my aggressive character on playing my personality as a dad. But both of those two characters’ starting point is due to the love to the other character, if they do not love them, they will not protect them by their best. So due to these two main reasons, I believe my transformation scene would be great.  

The interpretation on lines in Children of the Sea

This time I worked with Johnny to perform a conversation between female’s father from Children of the Sea and also the young man character. This conversation did not exist in the story Krik? Krak. However, when Johnny and I read Children of the Sea, we read about female and male characters’ letters, from them we know what characteristics young man character and female character’s father have. We found out that it is interesting to perform a conversation that involves these two characters. Because father was angry and dislike the male character in the story. So when they meet, what will they say to other and what reaction father will take. These questions are very interesting for us to solve and perform in the play.

First of all, me and Johnny did not write our lines, instead of that, we begin to write down these two people’s characteristics. During last performance from Romeo and Juliet, Sam taught me that before performance, one good thing that I need to do is to know what characteristics the characters had, so when I perform them, I will play exactly what they are. So into the play, we put our main argument is on the conflict of the marriage between male character and female character. Because male character did not have a good job, he was only a radio host, which was anti government. From a father’s perspective, I totally can not accept this man to be my daughter’s husband. So in the beginning I spoke that, “ Little guy, I heard that my daughter loves you and you said you want to marry with my daughter, don’t you.” In the begging part, from chatted with Johnny, we both agreed that as a father I could not show that I am pendulum or not confident on the decision that I made. From a father’s perspective to this thing, I should clearly and strongly show my attitude, so in the end I ask him, “ don’t you?” Then in our own script we wrote down our actions but maybe we hold our ipad so may be not obvious. For Johnny, after he spoke out the second line, he will lye on the chair and I will sit very formally because we want to use this action to show our attitude on the marriage. For me, I think my daughter’s marriage is very important and I can not accept this young man as my son in law. However, for the young man, he will show that this is not a big thing, so lying on the chair will show his personality that he did not pay attention on anything, even he said that the sea is endless, like my love for you to female character, but that is only from the letters, as the readers, we do not know what is his feeling when he is writing the letters. Then next ten lines are all involved with the marriage and I am asking young man about his future plan. But he did not answer me specifically because in his mind, going to America is a way to show his love to the girl, but that is only a dream, he did not even start to decide what he will do in America. Then in the end, after I said farewell to him and he walked on the boat. After that it is my monologue that I said “ Young boy, you will never make it.” toward the boat. The meaning of this line I chatted with Johnny a lot because before this line, my attitude toward this marriage is that I can not accept you to marry my daughter expect you become success and legal citizen in America. However after he went, I said that “ You will never make it.” My interpretation on this line is that Father never accept this guy, today’s conversation is only used to testify father’s guess on this young man, after talking, father believed that young man was not a good person to marry his daughter, so he said that you never can marry with my daughter. But Johnny’s interpretation on this line is that apart from never accepting marriage, father also wanted to convey that you will never reach America. But it is too dark and negative, but also this line is corresponding with father’s personality that he can do anything for his daughter, which we keep this line in the end. 

Background information of Endgame

The author of this endgame is called Samuel Beckett. Who was bron in 1906 and died in 1989. He believes that in theatre stories are told by real people in real time before a live audience. Each performance of a play is different to any other. So each one is very dependent on time, actors, technical equipment and the audience. From the public, they view the Beckett’s play and says that he is an Absurdist because he wrote down that human condition was absurdity. Every performance is unique so is this show Endgame. In Endgame, the main characters Hamn, who is unable to stand, blind. Clov, who is son of Hamn, unable to sit. Nagg and Nell, who are Hamn’s parents without legs and lives in a dustbin. They sheltering in an underground room. The background information of the play is that during World War II, the period that the United States is against Axis enemy. From the author Samuel Beckett, because his writing style was influenced by the World War II and under his mind, he always liked to make the setting as the characters are waiting for a death in a world without hope.In the end of the Endgame, the Hamm, who acts as the main character, he was alone and other people disappeared. Which also correspond with the main idea that Samuel wanted audience to feel.

Endgame was written in French in 1957, it pains a bleak portrait but mix both the comedy and tragedy, humanity and despair. Endgame is a play in one act, it is a scripted work. Beginning and end to the play is very clear. During the show, it mainly uses the dialogues and musings of four characters to pass the information to the audience.

For the performance of the play, it performed in a proscenium arch configuration in The Sumner. This place is a very contemporary proscenium arch theatre, quite different in design and aesthetic to other proscenium arch theatres. For this show, the Endgame, it uses the width, depth and height of the Sumner, this design allows an idea of the large bunker-like structure to be placed on stage. 

Importance of storytelling

The storytelling part in Krik? Krak! and to Danticat, both are very important. Through the whole book, by storytelling, readers could experience much emotional changes in the book, from normal to desperate, from hopeful to desperate, stay in desperation, confusion to released and also happiness. I remember that Danticat in the episode wrote down that the reason why she chose to become a writer in a very chaos time because she wanted to use the pen as a weapon to attack murders and also to tell the world that what happened in Haiti and how much pain Haitians endured during the chaos. Also for Danticat, Krik? Krak! was also a book that records what happened on her family.  Many small stories in it are having connections with others, which let the storytelling be more convincing and logically to readers.  Moreover, from a reader’s perspective, storytelling can help you understanding the plot and relationship between characters more deeply.

The story gave me the most feeling is the story Wall of the Fire Rising. After I finished reading this story, it gave me a feeling of both desperation and freedom. When I read the line “ Do you want to close the eyes?” “ No, leave them open, my husband, he likes to look at the sky.” From this small dialogue, I can even feel the desperation that Lili experienced, as reading the proceed of the death part, I can feel Lili’s confusion on her husband’s impulsive behavior and also a will of protection on her son at the same time. For Lili, the death of Guy means not only the family lost one member but also means in that men-dominated society, she can hardly feed her son under the harsh situation. After the line “ He likes to look at the sky.” I almost cried because, for a woman, she needed to perform strongly in front of her son, also after her husband died she still cared about her husband. But I believed behind this strong, she must feel oscillation and lost. From the storytelling, I can clearly know what makes Guy choose to go to the hot air balloon and also what Lili and Little Guy experienced after the death, even this story did not happen to Danticat’s family, however, it still reflected truth in the period when Haitian revolution took place, about men-domination and the oscillation women faced.

Also, the storytelling shows its importance in the episode. From the title of the episode: Women Like Us. I can directly get the information that this article is talking about her or the writer group that female chose to speak out their harsh situation. From the main character’s explaining, she explained from the writing to the daughter’s dream to become a writing.  This hardly makes me think that the main character in this episode was not Danticat. She talked about the harshness that writers faced in that time period and the motivation she had in order to ask herself to persist writing path. If there’s no storytelling, we, as the readers, can not get the vivid description of the story and thus hardly for us to feel the same way that author wanted us to feel. 

Setting

Setting
In Haiti, father's home, near harbor.
This is like a informal meeting between Male character and female character's dad. Even though Male character wanted to convince dad, however, he did not complete this mission.

Characters
Female's father
Male character

Type out dialogue
F means father
B means the male character in the children of the sea.


F: Little brat, I heard that my daughter loves you and you said you want to marry my Daughter. aren't you?
B: yeah, we love each other. I promise I will take a good care of her after we married.
F:  You are too naive. No, no way, you can not marry with her. You are only a radio host, you can't give my daughter a better life.
B: For her, I will do my best to earn money and give her a better life. She is my motivation to work hard. Maybe now you think it sound crazy and ridiculous, but one day I will change your mind.
F: what a preposterous idea. Your radio tapes are anti government, you even can not come back to live in Haiti after the chaos ends.
B: We are all adults, we have the right to choose who we love and who want to stay with. I am going to the United State now, and one day I will succeed in there. She will have a better life in there with me. Trust me, my love to your daughter is the same as you.
F: How can you and even my daughter live in America, the way you go there is illegal. How can I believe you?
B: I swear to the goddess of love, I will make it.  The sea is endless, but my love is wider than the ocean. Trust me, I even can sacrifice myself for her. In order to make me legal in America, I will work hard and save my money for her.
F: well, young boy, the boat is coming. I don't know what will happen in the future. But one thing I know is that I do not want to give my daughter to you. But if you really can do it, I would consider about this thing. But remember, you can trick on my daughter, if you do that I will beat you wherever you are.
B: Oh, really. Don't worried, once I get to United State, I will work hard and prepared the best life condition for her in United State as soon as possible.
F: ok. Young man,  safe journey!
B: Fairwell

After boy went on the boat,
F: Youngboy, you will never make it..

Dunticat Speech in MLK day

In Dunticat's speech on Martin Luther King day, the biggest topic she talked was the struggle and survival of the black people in the before, which her topic also correspond with the topic of Martin Luther King day's topic. Even though this topic was very big but she used her own experience and her understanding to tell us what black people experienced in the chaos, especially in Haiti, the reason why she became a writer because she wanted to use her power to raise people's attention on Haiti and make contribution, she wanted to speak other people's experience and told the world. Moreover, she used herself as example to tell us that everyone should contribute to this world, even you're little and just a tiny part in this world, but you need to contribute to this world, because many small powers join together would change surprisingly. That is the reason why she made a lot of speech to illustrate Haiti's condition, nowadays many people pay attention on there which they got many help. Apart from talking struggling of Haitian people, also she talked about immigration, why Haiti and black people wanted to escape from Haiti, not only because of chaos, to escape from the war, but also the Haitians wanted to give their offspring a better future. In Haitian people's eyes, success means the children can immigrate to America because American is stabler and richer than Haitian. This point also helped me to understand Krik Krak a lot, especially helped me in understanding in New York Day women and Caroline's wedding.
I thought her speech was interesting and attractive for me because she did not only talk about Martin Luther King, he is a legend but was far away from us. But as Dunticat,who lived in the same period with us, she experienced a lot of bad things but she did not want to become silence, she decided to become a writer to speak out these stories to the world. For a student who read Krik Krak in the before, from her speech I understood a lot and discovered new aspect of the Haitian revolution. Also, even though it was a speech but I thought she did not talk about big things, so as a listener I believed she expressed her emotion in this speech rather than only reading the draft.

Blog 7 Connection and difference

Freedom and equality are two perpetual topics in our times. A defining characteristics of people is the degree to which they are always willing to pursue better life standards, which include New York women and Haitian women. So in order to talk about the similarities and differences between Haitian women and New York women, the first thing I did was to collect all the Haitian women’s name in Krik? Krak in order to know their life condition. They are the female character in Children of The Sea, Josephine’s mom who believed Voodoo, the Night women, New York Day women and also the Caroline who got married to Eric, and Caroline’s mom. And then I separated those women in two groups. One group is the women who lived in Haiti and sacrificed themselves for their family. And the other group was the women who lived in U.S and had fewer life pressure on them. But. whatever these women had different background information, but their common element was that most of them showed their love to their children and they could sacrifice themselves for their children with no reason.

For the female character in Children of the Sea, I should say that she was fortunate but also tragic. The reason why she was fortunate because she had a father who loves her and willing to protect her. However, because of this love, female character’s dad had already decided everything for her, included her boyfriend and her future. Because she stayed in a man dominated world, so she had no choice to against her dad. In the end, even though she understood her father’s mind of protecting her, but sadly she stayed in a world that women struggled about freedom and equality. Also, for Josephine’ s mom, Defile, who experienced the Massacre in Haiti and she practiced Voodoo in her daily life, sudden because of her mistreatment, a girl died and government arrested her as killer,  her life was painful. At that time period, because it was the man dominated world, so  the government was afraid of those Voodoo women to stay together in order to against government, so everyday night the guard would throw tin cups of cold water at one another so that their bodies would not be able to store enough heat to grow flame wings. Josephine mom’s life was destroyed by Haitian culture and politician, but hopefully she had a daughter, Josephine and she already understood her mom will of processing her dream.  This story talked about the difficulties that Haitian women faced in order to free themselves from the tradition. This phenomenon also showed in the Night women, the woman had no choice because she had a son, in order to help him grow healthily, she chose to sacrifice herself to become a prostitute to earn money. But however, one thing the Danticat wrote so ironically was that the men came for this prostitute were all in higher position, like a doctor and an accordion player. Oppositely, the women was only a prostitute who made money from those men, the women in this men-dominated world can only depend on men for survive. In general, due to the unstable condition in Haiti, Haitian women sacrificed a lot from themselves in order to exchange a better life in the future. Which I think this is called love, even they were in prison or became a prostitute, but their original purpose was to sacrifice themselves and give their offspring a better life condition.  

Compared with Haiti Women, the women in U.S did not have so much pressure on their daily life. However, they also contribute their love for their children. From The New York Day Women, author’s mom did not need to do a caring baby job but maybe I think because of love, or some regret from her daughter’s childhood. Also in another aspect,  readers can directly see that author had a stable job and can spend time on tracing her mom during her meal time. Also her mom can go shopping on the street, their lifestyle was very relaxed. Mom’s job was only to take care of other people’s baby. For the women who lived in U.S, they did not need to spend much time on sacrificing themselves for their family. They can do more things for their selves. For example, the Caroline’s life in Caroline’ s wedding, this story totally reflected an independent American. Caroline was born in America and grew in America, so many things she was influenced by American culture more than Haitian culture. In the story Caroline’s Wedding, the author talked mainly on the culture conflict between traditional Haitian culture and American culture rather than the marriage of Caroline. Due to the fact that she argued with her mom about the bone soup, she chose which man she can marry with without asking mom. She could even go to school to accept education and have date with Eric by herself, this was totally opposite with the female character in the Children of The Sea. Which I could describe this fact as an evidence to show the difference between American women and Haitian women. However, Caroline’s mom, a totally traditional Haitian women, was refused to accept new culture, she keep all the old things in her bedroom without change in ten years. Also she believed in the bone soup can cure all illness, which is a symbol of the Haitian culture. Moreover, mom hold a mind that a Haitian woman needed to marry with a Haitian man, this was the biggest problem she talked with Caroline. But Caroline stayed in American, she was influenced on the culture of freedom and independence. In America, there’s no war and conflict, people’s life and job is stable,  as a modern woman, she showed more acceptance on new things.

All of the Haitian women’ s life are different, some of them still stayed in Haiti and suffered from the wars, others chose to escape from Haiti and live in America to start a new life. However, if there’s no war and government face each religion equally, would the women who lived in U.S willing to move from Haiti to America. Obviously, they won’t, but due to the war and in order to give their offspring a better life, they chose to immigrate. But as some women lived in U.S, like Caroline, they would feel that America was better because of the equality and freedom, but due to their acceptance of education, they would have a strong willing of going back to Haiti to change the thinking there.

  

Night women analysis in class writing

This is a little weird story that I read in the stories Krik Krak because in this story, the narrator's writing, or her thinking jumped so quickly from one object to another. Like our dream, randomly jump from one object to other. For example in the story, the women talks about a firefly on her son and then changed to a flesh wounds then talked about love. This three things does not relate with each other but narrator make their connections. Narrator's attitude on her life is that she was not satisfied about her nowadays situation, mainly she thought she needed to give her son the best, but now she did not have that ability. Because she loved her son, so she hide her night events toward him, and wanted him to be innocent forever. If the boy woke up, woman was prepared to tell him that the man came was his dad from heaven. Which I thought the son's dad, woman's husband, already died and woman afford the whole things in family just because of love. The importance was that even though she had sex with unfamiliar people in order to earn money but she still wanted to hide this truth, whatever use curtain to separate and preparation of the fabrication. Because of love, so that's the main reason why this story NightWomen different with other stories in KrikKrak, this story is the first story used mom as the speaker to speak the story and it was like a commitment to her son.

Three reading notes.

Night Women

Woman 25 years old.

Son, who is slipping into bed. Look from young to mature. Poor, one room house, use fabric to split into two spaces, two mats, two worlds.

Ghost father, her husband. An old lover who disappeared with the night shadows a long time ago.

Long blood red scarf. Woman used to tempt her suitors. Firefly found son not woman. Mosquitoes as kiss a woman with wide open flesh wounds.

No talking love. He did not need to know, love is one of those lessons that you grow to learn, the way one learns that one shoe is made to fit a certain foot, lest it cause discomfort.

Two kinds of women: day women and night women. She is stuck between the day and night in a golden amber bronze. Eyes are dirt. Copper. Standing in the sun. Night time worker.

Star. Ghost women. Son is like a butterfly fluttering on a rock that stands out naked in the middle of a stream. Like faraway lovers, lying to one another, under different moons. Tested he;s in sleeping by caressing his nose and jblowing his long eyelashes to see he is truly asleep. Living in a place where nothing lasts. Mom judges one people by the whiteness of the teeth.

In order to help him sink deeper into sleep, she applied another alyer of Egyptian rouge to her cheeks. Sparks in powder, easier for visitors to find her in the dark.

Emmanuel come, a doctor who likes big buttocks on women， women has small one. Come on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Bearing flowers. Bougainvillea. Surpise. Marriaged.

On Mondays and Thursdays, an accordion player name Alexandre. Likes to make the sound of the accordion with his mouth in her ear.

If son discovered the things, woman will tell him that the naked man is his father, angel brought him back.

Man left, called her avalanche and a waterfall. Smoke tobacco leaf. Thank the star that at least she had the days to herself. Angles have themselves a lifetime to come to us.

New York Day Women

Seeing mom on the street, strolling with a happy gait, her body thrust toward the don’t walk sign and yellow taxicabs . Madison and Fifty seventh Street. Mom never shops outside of Brooklyn, never seen advertising office where I work. Mom is afriad to take the subway, curse.

Mom: dont give your seat to a pregnant lady.

Mom is often right about that, the situation always depends on how pregnant the woman is, is or not with her boyfriend or husband. Mom showed patience.

Mom: In Haiti when you get hit by a car, own will kicks you for getting blood on his bumper.

Mom is at 59, say dentures are ok.

Followed mom, mesmerized by the possibilities of her journey. Mom saw many pinstripes, gray suits, high heels and elegant short skirts, reebok sneakers, dashing from building to building.

Mom: If they want to eat with me, let them come to my house, even if I boil water and give it to them.

Mom: Fat and cholesterol killed aunt Hermine.

She stopped against a wall to rest, mom keep on walking as though she owns the sidewalks under he feet. Plaza Hotel, messenger swings so close, stand, let him ride around and goes on.

Hot dog stand, ask, soda in bag. And anotehr vendor selling sundress for author, no, just another thing I would bury in the garage or give to goodwill.

Mom: No goodwill, so many people back home to need clothers. We save our clothers for the relatives in Haiti.

Stopped another hot dog vendor and buy frank further, eats in street. She should not eat anything with sodium.

Mom: No salt, salt is heavier than a hundred bags of shame.

Slowing pace, too close. To park, there’s a woman waiting her with child. Woman wearing a leotard with biker’s shorts and has samll weights in hands. Give child to mom. Running. Child, frizzy blond hair. Mom gives child the soda, both of them sit and watch the other children play in the sand box, child pulls a comic book. Mom read as a little girl. Mom now lose six of her seven sisters in Ville Rose and has never had the strength to return for funerals.

Mom: Many graves to kiss.

An hour late, woman back, mom gives back the children and continue walking. Author needs to go back to work, mom is standing in a circle, chatting with a group of women who are taking other people children on an afternoon outing. Third World Parent Teacher Association meeting.

Mom: Day women come out when nobody expects them.

On subway, stand up. Author called Suzette.  Dolls.

Mom: I will have all these little Suzettes in case you never have any babies, which looks more and more like it is going to happen.

Mom pregnants at 39, Christ died on the cross.

Mom: You are so good anyway, what are they going to tell me, I do not want to make you ashamed of this day woman. Shame is heavier than a hundreds bags of salt.

Between the Pool and the Gardenials.

Pretty, bright shiny hair and dark brown skin. Lips were wide and purple. Gift from heaven. Like baby moses in the Bible stories. Or baby Jesus, who was born in a barn and died on a cross, with no body’s lps to kiss before he went. Round face. Eyes closed as though she was dreaming of a far other place. Hands were bony, veins to the surface.

Probably belonged to someone, but street had no one in it. Did not want to disturb, but wanga, a charm sent to trap me. The girls who slept with my husband. This loveliness to blind me so never find her way back to the place that I yanked out my head when she got on that broken down.

Children wearing an embroidered little blue dress with the letters ROSE, little girl, her body could never hold. Killing on purpose. Give all the clothes that she had sewn for them. All these went unused.

Madame television poor city women throw out babies because they can not afford to feed them. Ville Rose you can not throw out the bloody clumps that shoot out of your body after your child is born. Crime. Doorsteps, garbage cans, gas pumps, sidewalk. Port-au-Prince. Not seens a child until now.  Rose, clean and warm. Tiny angel. Little cherub, sleeping after the wind had blown a lulaby into her ears. Picked up.

Rose did not stir or cry, she was like something that was thrown aside after she became useless to someone cruel. Mother’s prayer. There were many nights when I saw some old women leaning over my bed. Marie, she is now the last one of us left.

Grandmother Eveline who was killed by Dominican soldiers at the Massacre River. My grandmother Defile died with a bald head in a prison., because god had given her wings. My godmother Lili who killed herself in old age because her husband had jumped out of a flying ballon and her grown son left her to go to Miami.

Carried Rose to the outdoor market in Croix Bossale. Swayed her in arms, mine. People did not care.

In maid’s room, Petion Ville. Laid Rose on mat and rushed to prepare lunch. Monsieru and Madame sat on terrace and welcomed the coming afternoon by sipping the sweet out of you sour sop juice.

Manbos. Stupid people they have a spell to make themselves invisible and hut other people. Why not rich. Lay Rose down on the kitchen table as dried dishes. Sudden desire to explain to her my life. Loved Main, nice to her. Made her feel proper. Ten years with him. Dirty paper.

The Dominican and I made love on the grass once, but he never spoke to me again. Rose listened with closed eyes. Use apron to hide and eat plantains. No cry. Put back to room. Then to pool. Erzulie. Felt asleep rocking. Woke up next day she was still in arms. Looked the same.

Bathed baby more and more often, three or four times a day in pool. Perfume, not helping. Wanted to take her back to street where she had found her. But already disturbed her rest and had taken on her soul as her own personal responsibility.

She was left in a shack, Dominican kept his tools. Three times a day. Baby skin grow moist, cracked and sunken in some places, then ashy and dry in others. Attracking flies and keeping her spirit from moving on. Last bath and slipped on a little yellow dress that she had sewn while praying that one of her little girls would come along further than three months.

Took Rose down to a spot in the sun behind the big house. Dug a hold and wrapped her in the little pink blanket. Covering everything but her face. Smell so back.

A grip, not Monsieur or Madame. It was the Dominican. Deep Indian brown, but hands were bleached and wrinkled. Baby was sprinkled. No explanation. No time to answer.

Gendarmes, smell rotten flesh. She killed the child and keep it with you for evil. You eat a little children who havenot even had time to earn their souls. Kept hands on me in order to prevent escaping. We made a pretty picture standing there, Rose, me, and him. Between the pool and gardenias, waiting for the law. 

Blog 6 Common Theme

Love is a perpetual topic in our times. A defining characteristic of people is the degree to which they are always willing to protect their lovers. In three different stories that have three different background information. There’s one common theme around these three stories, which is love. In Children of The Sea, it showed both the love between a man to a woman and also a love between a father and his daughter. Then, in 1937, it showed readers the love between a mom and her daughter. Moreover, in the story The Fire Rising, it showed a theme of love around a family, especially between Guy and Lili. In different stories, the author used different elements to show the love between main characters. In Children of The Sea, the author used the butterfly and black butterfly as elements to show love. Also, in 1937 author used Madonna cry as an important element to represent love. Moreover, in The Fire Rising, the author used hot air balloon as the main element. Even though people is willing to pursue these important elements, they also lose their lives when they show their love. In these three different stories, three main characters died in three different ways, one died under water, second died on the ground, the third one jumped from the balloon. The author wanted to use this death to remind readers that even they donated their life on the way of showing love, but love still is the most important element in people’s live, whatever you are in the peaceful era or in chaos.
In the Children of The Sea, the author used two fonts to show the male lover and female lover. Even though they are been separated by female lover’s dad. However, it shows the readers that dad really loves his daughter. Because of the love, dad is willing to protect his daughter out of danger. Which in the scene where the macouts wanted to snatch his daughter away by force, dad gave all his money to soldiers in order to save her. From this scene, readers can get a feeling of love between dad and daughter even daughter always does not understand about this. Moreover, the love between female lover and the male lover. Male lover is in a boat to go to America, but in the end, he knew he can not arrive America, so he wrote down the line “ Maybe the sea is endless, like my love for you.” Also, for a female lover, she also continued writing letters even though she knew that maybe male lover could not see them in the future, but both of them did not stop, did not give up. So author used this story to tell the readers that even though there’s a big disaster in front you, you still can not give up, because the disaster may also kill you, lover, you need to do your best in order to protect you and your lover.
In 1937, the author explains the love between a mom and her daughter and also between mom and her belief. Mom is a character who believes in voodoo but it was banned from the Dominican Republic. Because of this, mom was imprisoned and Josephine came to prison in order to see her. But when she went to the prison, she also carried that Madonna, which is an important represent in mom’s belief. The author explained that because Josephine wanted to know the secret of Madonna cry, so she carried it, however, I believe the truth is that Josephine wanted to make her mom happy and even though this Madonna is a dangerous object at that time period. But she still took it and during her second and third visit, she wanted to hug with her mom to comfort her. But mom refused because she was afraid to pass this cough to her daughter. For the love between mom and Josephine, maybe Josephine can not feel how important this love is. Because for her mom, this love supports her to survive, because she believes in Voodoo, so she experienced that massacre on the Massacre River. She can not forget this experience but she did not want her daughter to involve in. The power of love gives her strength facing to the death peacefully, but also the love inspires Josephine, let her understand her mom that’s why in the end she said: “ Let her flight be joyful, and mine and yours too.” She began to understand her mom and love makes her have the encourage to face the past and began willing to know what happened in the past.
Moreover, in the story The Wall of Fire Rising, I did not figure out that is that the love gives Guy the courage to pursue his dream of driving hot air balloon or the love makes him do the choice so recklessly. Because Guy is a worker in the Assads so he knew how to drive the balloon, and because he did not want to be a person like his father who stayed in poverty in his whole life. At the same time, Little Guy’s line about liberation and pursuing dream encourages him to pursue his dream, at this point, I think because of the love from Guy to Lili and Little Guy, he wanted to pursue his dream. That is the reason he went on the balloon. Compared with other two stories in Krik Krak, I felt this story is different because another two stories used to love as an encouragement for main characters to face death peacefully. But for this one, I think the love became a catalyst for Guy to feel death quickly. Maybe at this point, author wanted to remind readers that even love is powerful and it can give people a support for them to do anything, but love can not really give all things you wanted, it is a double sided sword, when you wanted to jump out from reality, the first thing people should consider is your own ability to do this thing.
For all three stories in Krik? Krak! The author used three different types of love to represent the whole society structure, which she really did and made the readers feel about her feeling. One thing really interests me in the way the story presents this theme is about how people use to love to release pressure because even three of them contained love, but love holds different meaning for each character in the story.  Love can give people encourage but also it can let one person lose his ration.

Two quotes relates with KK

Love is like the rain, it comes in a drizzle times. Then it starts pouring and if you are not careful it will drown you.
The fire fishing, the connections between Guy and Lili. They argue many times in the story but Lili did not pay attention on him, which is related with " it comes in a drizzle time"  But Lili only spend all times on her son, Little Guy. So without the understanding from his wife," if you are not careful it will drown you." Guy chose to go to the balloon in order to show Lili and Little Guy that he really knows how to drive balloon. But finally he suddenly died. Their love is like the rain, but Lilttle Guy is like the catalyst, the lines he spoke in the show is like the foreshadowing to show the development of the story. Because of Little Guy, Guy and Lili began to argue and finally the rain poured down.

It is the calm and silent waters that drown you.”
also in the fire fishing, Guy always silent, but sometimes Guy wanted to express his feelings with his wife, Lili. However, Lili only pay attention on Little Guy. Thus because of silence, Guy went to drive the balloon in order to achieve dream, but suddenly died, which relates with the quotation"that drown you." In fact, Guy did not realize how much desire he wanted to drive the hot air balloon, but in front of wife and baby, he did not act anything, but when the opportunity comes to him to drive the hot air balloon, he chose to do it. That is why silence killed him.

1937 and fire fishing

Nineteen Thirty-Seven

Sits with Madonna. Her mom died.  Bone ache does not matter of going to Port-au-Prince.
Saw a old woman carrying a jar full of leeches, asked to see the doll.
Author was from Ville Rose. The city of painters and poets, the coffee city with beaches where the sand is either black or white, but never mixed together, where the fields are endless and sometimes the cows are yellow like cornmeal.
Went to a small alley where a girl was selling fried pork and plantains wrapped in brown paper. Bought some meat for my mother after asking the cook to fry.
Yellow prison building was like a fort, large and strong as in the days when used by the American Marines. The prison was quiet as a cave.
Mom appeared, grown thinner since the last time I had seen her. Her face looked like gray of a late evening sky. Her skin clung to her bones, falling in layers, flaps, on her face and neck.
I said nothing, Sometimes I wanted to speak, yet I was not able to open my mouth or raise my tongue, I wondered if she saw my struggle in my eyes.
Mom wanted to hold the Madonna. I handed her the statue, she smiled, her teeth were dark red. Happier. She rubbed the space under the Madonna’s eyes, then tasted her finger tips,. Asked for cried. Mom sobbed.
Guard came and nudged her, poking the barrel of his rifle into her side. Brave smile. Treated not badly. Had cold water to wash.
Eat in silence. Normal ration of food in prison was bread and water. That is why she lose weight so rapidly.
All the women were here for the same reason, they were said to have been seen at night rising from the ground like birds on fire. A loved one, a friend, or a neighbor had accused them of causing the death of a child. A few other people agreeing with these stories was all that was needed to have them arrested. And sometimes even killed.
When mom was arrested, we were new to the city and had been sleeping on a cot at friend’s house. Mom was taken by a group of people away, her face was bleeding from the pounding blows of rocks and sticks and the fists of strangers. Two policemen.
Memory, five years old, Massacre River, Mom took my hand and pushed it into the river, no farther than my wrist, when we dipped our hands, I thought that the dead would reach out and haul us in, but only our own faces stared back at us. “ Here is my child, Josephine, we were saved from the tomb of this river when she was still my womb.” We went to the river many times as I was growing up. Every year my mother invited a few more women who had also lost their mom there. “ At least I gave my birth to my daughter on the night that my mom was taken from me.
Present. I get ready to leave the prison, mom said in the future she will tell her the secret of Madonna cried.  I know how to do it, she would put a thin layer of wax and oil in the hollow space of the Madonna’s eyes and when the wax melted, the oil would roll down the little face shedding a more perfect tear than either she or I could cry. Farewell.
Mom had a cough, she sat in a corner of the yard, and as she trembled in the sun, she clung to the Madonna. The sun can no longer warm god’s creatures. I wanted to wrap my body around hers but I knew she wouldn’t let me.
Second visit, I decided to talk, I would try to say something to her, but mom cried first, I handed her the Madonna, but she refused, Keep the Madonna when I am gone, when I am completely gone, maybe you will have someone to take my place. All the women who came with us to the river, they could go to the moon and back if that is what they wanted.
A women came, wearing the same white dress that women usually wore on their trips to dip their hands in the river.  Jacqueline, she had been to the river with you.  She was a child of that place, She was waling into the dawn, she was the first daughter of the first star, she drunk the tears from Madonna’s eyes, many questions to verify her identity.
I let Jacqueline into the house, I offered her a seat in the rocking chair, gave her a piece of hard bread and a cup of cold coffee. Mom died, your mom blood calls to me from the ground.
My blood frozen inside me, I lowered my head as the news sank in.
Six women in the cell, each woman was either wearing or holding something that had belonged to my mom,  Mom was beaten down in the middle of the yard. Prison did not cure her. The pillow, filled with mom’s hair.
Life is never lost, another one always comes up to replaces the last. Burn the body
In the year nineteen hundred and thirty- seven, in the Massacre River, my mother did fly. Weighted down by my body inside hers, she leaped from Dominican soil into the after and out again on the Haitain side of the river. In the prison yard, I held the Madonna tightly against my chest, so close that I can smell my mom’s scent on the statue. I raised my head toward the sun thinking, one day I may just see my mom there. “ Let her flight be joyful. And mine and yours too. “

A wall of fire fishing.
Guy, Lili and little guy in a one room home, spreading cornmeal mush on banana leaves for their supper. Guy came for news telling, Little guy was assigned one role in his school place. Lili wanted to know what role and lines, and the play is about the Haitian revolutionary Dutty Boukman, full of passionate, fiery language.  Lili cheered, pressing her son into the folds of her apron.
Boy kept his eyes on book and ate supper. The boy was still mumbling the same words as the three of them used the last of the rainwater trapped in old gasoline containers and sugarcane pulp from the nearby sugarcane mill to scrub the calabashes that they had eaten from. The boy was sitting in front of the shack on an old plastic bucket turned upside down, straining his eyes to find the words on the page.
They were playing a wet wind instrument as they slipped in and out of the puddles between the shacks in the shantytown, near the sugar mill was a large television screen in an iron grill cage that the government had installed so that the shantytown dwellers could watch the state sponsored news at eight o’clock every night.
Arabs, the family who owned the sugar mill were eccentric arabs, The Assad, the wealthy Haitian Lebanese family had a hot air balloon from America that they fly in the skies above the shantytown. While Lilik and Little guy continued looking at the balloon, Guy is obsessed with it, Lili is concerned about the fascination of the balloon from her husband.
Guy stayed outside in front of the shack as Lili undressed for bed, she loosened the ribbon that held the old light blue cotton skirt around her waist and let it drop past her knees. Guy came in just at that moment and saw her bare chest by the light of the smaller castor oil lamp that they used for the later hours of the night. Guy said that he had seen the man who owns it, he had seen him get in it and put it in the sky and went up there like it was some kind of kite and he was the kite master.  He was one of those men who were running anD actually guessed correctly.  Lili tried to string together what she could remember of her son’s lines, the words slowly came back to the boy, by the time he fell back to sleep, it was almost dawn.
Guy told a news to Lili, he was able to secure a few hours of work at sugar mill. But just scrubbing the latrines of the mil.  78 waiting lists.  If god wanted people to fly, he would have given us wings on our backs.
The light was slowly coming up behind the trees, Lili could hear the whispers of the market women. She tuned her back to her husband as she slipped out of her nightgown, quickly putting on her day clothes. Lili shut the door behind her, making her way out to the yard, the empty gasoline containers rested easily on her head as she walked a few miles to the public water fountains.
Guy and the boy were standing in the yard waiting for he when she got back. Lili watched Guy and Little guy walk down the footpath, her eyes following them until they disappeared, as soon as they were out of sight, she poured the water she had fetched into a a large calabash, letting it stand beside the house.
Little Guy got more lines, Guy is depressed, but still listen to son’s performance. freedom and liberation.
Little guy walked to the middle of the room and prepared to recite, he clared his throat,, raising his eyes toward the ceiling.
After supper, Lili took her son to the field where she knew her husband would be. She sat down on the grass next to little guy, for once feeling the sharp edges of the grass baldes against her ankles. Told a secret, sometimes I just wanted to take that big balloon and ride it up in the air, I would like to sail off somewhere and keep floating until I got to a really nice place with a nice plot of land were I could be something new. His father was struggling poor man his entire life, he remembered his dad as a man he would never want to be.
Lili got up with the break dawn next day, the light came up quickly above the trees. She found the boy standing alone in the yard with a terrified expression on his face. What happened,Baba is in the sky.  Guy was in the air hurtling down towards the crowd, Lili held her breath as she watched him fall, jump he crashed not far from where Lili and the boy standing, his blood immediately soaking the landing spot. The balloon kept floating free, drifting on its way to brighter shores. Lili tried to keep her son head pressed against her skirt as she move closer to the body. Little guy was breathing quickly as he looked at his father body on the ground. Let me look at him one last time.
Eye did not close, The boy continued reciting his lines, his voice rising to a man grieving roar, he kept his eyes closed, his fists balled at his side as he continued with his newest lines. No no closing, he likes to look at the sky.