Who are the Marassas in Breath, Eyes, Memory?
The Marassa are mythical lovers who are so close as to share the same soul. They are first mentioned by Martine, trying to distract Sophie as she tests her for the first time.
What was testing in Breath, Eyes, Memory?
This quote, from the middle of Chapter 23, is part of Sophie’s longest meditation on the practice of testing, in which a mother verifies her daughter’s virginity by making sure that her little finger cannot pass the girl’s hymen.
What is the significance of the title Breath, Eyes, Memory?
The title Breath, Eyes, Memory comes from the main protagonist’s last reflection on the country and culture of Haiti in the novel: “I come from a place where breath, eyes, and memory are one, a place from which you carry your past like the hair on your head. ” (Chapter 35) Sophie Caco will always be part of her country …
What does the color red symbolize in Breath, Eyes, Memory?
After Martine’s death, Sophie takes her mother’s love of the color red one step further, identifying her with Erzulie Dantor, the protective and fierce aspect of the Vodou goddess of love and beauty. Red is this goddess’ main color, representing passion, love, violence and power.
What is the significance of the daffodil in breath eyes memory?
Daffodils are, throughout the novel, a symbol of the strength and sacrifice it takes to thrive in a place in which one is not meant to be.
What did Sophie do after she broke her hymen with the pestle?
Sophie impales herself on the pestle, breaking her hymen, and then hides the pestle and her bloody sheet in a bag. That night she fails Martine’s test. Martine begins crying and throwing Sophie’s clothes at her saying, “You just go to him and see what he can do for you.”
What does doubling mean in breath eyes memory?
When Sophie doubles during sex, she allows the act of two people becoming one to manifest as one person becoming two. Doubling is an ambiguous process, variously a tool of safety, compassion and violence. It can be a way of escaping a painful present, as when Sophie doubles during sex or testing.
What place is associated with trauma in breath eyes memory?
Haiti
Despite her many requests, Danticat was not allowed to see her uncle before he passed away (“Island Memories”). In Breath, Eyes, Memory a Haitian woman, Sophie, tells her life story, which begins from her childhood in Haiti, where she lives in a small village with her aunt, Atie.
What does Daffodils symbolize in breath eyes memory?
How is Erzulie the perfect mother?
The Haitian goddess of love and power, Erzulie is invoked as a symbol of female courage, desirability and strength. She is Sophie’s ideal mother, the comforter of women and the desire of men. She is a complex goddess, a loa (vaudou spirit) affiliated both with the Virgin Mary and with an opulent, abundant sexuality.
Why does Sophie think Erzulie will be the perfect mother?
She saw her mother as a paragon of desire and healing, one who had unlimited wealth. For the Caco women, Erzulie is both an ideal of perfect woman and a comforting goddess who looks after them. This vision of her mother as someone always with her is reflective of an idealized goddess-like image resembling Erzulie.