Name :

Selina Fraser

Class :

Grade 11

Subject :

English Literature

Topic :

A Book Report on Breath, Eyes , Memory

Contents
Book Title :................................................................................................3
About the author......................................................................................4
Characters and analysis............................................................................5
Setting.......................................................................................................8
Plot............................................................................................................9
Themes....................................................................................................11
Reference................................................................................................13
Book Title :
Breath , Eyes , Memory
About the author
Edwidge Danticat was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 19, 1969. Her
father and mother emigrated to the States while Danticat was a child, leaving her
in Haiti to be raised by an aunt and uncle. At the age of twelve Danticat, like her
protagonist Sophie, was sent to New York to live with her parents. She went on to
receive a degree in French literature from Barnard College and a Master of Fine
Arts degree at Brown. Danticat began writing Breath , Eyes , Memory  her first
novel, while an undergraduate at Barnard. Finished as her MFA thesis, it was
published in 1994 to critical acclaim. In 1998,Breath,Eyes , Memory entered a
larger public consciousness when it was featured as Oprah's Reading Club
Selection.
Characters and analysis

Sophie  - The story's first-person narrator and its principal protagonist. Sophie is

Martine's daughter, Atie's niece , Grandmè Ifé's granddaughter, Joseph's wife and
Brigitte's mother. A child of rape, Sophie is raised in Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti, by her
maternal aunt Atie before being called to New York by her mother at the age of
twelve. Sophie does not look like her mother,it is assumed that her face is
reflecting the unseen face of Martine's attacker. As the child of a poor immigrant
in New York, Sophie must take on the full weight of her mother's and aunt's
dreams, spending six years doing nothing but studying and attending church. She
must also contend with her mother's trauma, insomnia and nightmares, and with
her own conflicting roles as independent woman, loving daughter, savior from
nightmares, and reminder of the past. As an adult, Sophie's insomnia, bulimia and
sexual phobia echo her mother's own problems and insecurities, even as her
loyalty, love, determination and strength reflect her mother's, aunt's and
grandmother's spirit. Yet Sophie's honest examination of herself and her
inheritance has perhaps paid off her daughter, Brigitte, is strong and implacable,
suggesting both Caco courage and a break with the more destructive patterns of
her maternal line.
Tante Atie  - Sophie's maternal aunt and first guardian, Martine's sister and
Grandmè Ifé's daughter. Atie is devastated by two great betrayals. In her youth,
Donald Augustin promises to marry her and then suddenly marries another
woman, and in her old age, Atie's best friend, Louise, leaves for Miami without so
much as a goodbye. She is a character of great perseverance, faithfully caring for
Sophie at the novel's beginning and for Grandmè Ifé at the novel's end. Yet as the
novel progresses, she becomes understandably bitter at a world that has given
her all the restraints of being a poor woman, a daughter, and a virgin, with none
of its rewards. Illiterate for much of Sophie's childhood, Atie is taught to read by
Louise shortly before she leaves. Bound to Dame Marie by duty to her mother,
Atie refuses to join Martine in New York and instead turns increasingly to alcohol.
Throughout, Atie remains deeply loyal to Martine and to her mother, and loves
Sophie greatly. Sophie, the beloved child, remains one of Atie's few consolations
against the cruel and indifferent march of fate.

Martine  - Sophie's mother, Atie's sister and Grandmè Ifé's daughter. Martine was
raped at the age of sixteen by a masked Macoute in a cane field on her way home
from school. The rape left Martine with a child, Sophie, and a lifetime of vivid
nightmares. Martine emigrated to New York after Sophie's birth, where she works
tirelessly at menial jobs.Sophie had a chance to leave Haiti and to get an American
education, a chance that Martine invests with all the power of what has been
denied her. Martine's continual struggle to be a good mother to Sophie and a
sexually adequate lover to Marc remain powerfully informed by the twin
violations of rape and of her own mother's practice of testing for virginity. She is a
deeply loving and deeply wounded character, hoping to show her daughter a way
beyond her own life even though she cannot help but perpetuate some of its
troubles.
Grandmè Ifé  - The matriarch of the Caco family. Grandmè Ifé lives alone in the
remote village of La Nouvelle Dame Marie, Haiti, until Sophie leaves for New York
and Atie comes to Dame Marie to be with her out of duty. In Martine's and Atie's
youth, Grandmè Ifé tested her daughters' virginity in keeping with what she look
at as a mother's duty, despite the tremendous pain it caused them. Later, seeing
the Macoutes begin to beat a coal-seller in the marketplace, Grandmè Ifé's first
thought is to hurry Sophie home. But while she does not consider it her place to
challenge the social order, Grandmè Ifé is intensely loyal to her children, loving
them against all of the world's pain so that a granddaughter or great-
granddaughter can see her way out from under the burden.

Joseph  - Sophie's first and only boyfriend and eventual husband. Joseph is a

professional musician who lives next door to the house where Sophie and Martine
move during Sophie's eighteenth year. He is an African-American from Louisiana
and can speak a form of Creole, giving him an immediate kinship with Sophie.
Though old enough to be Sophie's father, Joseph is honest, gentle and loving. He
is deeply supportive of Sophie and committed to helping her as best he can, and
very proud of their daughter.

Marc  - Martine's long-time lover in New York. Marc is a stocky, well-dressed

Haitian lawyer, in love with his mother's cooking and by his own full name, Marc
Jolibois Francis Legrand Moravien Chevalier (the last word meaning knight). He is
slightly patronizing of Sophie and treats her as a child throughout the book. He is
kind to Martine, though he does not deeply understand her, as he has ability to
sleep like a log during most of her nightmares.
Setting
The story took place in Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti from until Sohpie was twelve. it then
moved Brooklyn, New York when Sophie stayed with Martine. When Sophie was
eighteen it moved to Brooklyn, NY, Providence, RI and Port-au-Prince and La Nouvelle
Dame Marie, Haiti.
Plot
Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory is a heartbreaking yet hopeful tale of
the women of the Caco family; Danticat’s fictional characters and their
interactions and histories become windows for the reader into what must be the
Haiti of Danticat’s memory. (The author was born and spent the first 12 years of
her life in Port-au-Prince, Haiti). Told through the eyes of the story’s young
protagonist, Sophie Caco, the plot of Breath, Eyes, Memory unfolds around the
main theme of love and what we do in its name and what we allow ourselves to
endure and forgive because of it. The book opens in Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti.
Danticat’s description of the village and its inhabitants immediately brings to life
this small, impoverished town in a place which, for most readers, is most likely
foreign and obscure, a country and a culture about which most know very little. It
is not that, after reading the novel, one could speak as an authority about the
history of Haiti and its people, but then, this is most likely not the author’s
intention. Instead, by the time the reader finishes the book, it is certain that she
will have in her mind a clear and vivid picture of Croix-de-Rosets, of its typical
smells, how oppressively hot it can be, and how the dirt on the roads feels
beneath bare feet. By the time the reader finishes this book she will know its
characters inside and out, be able to describe with unbelievable detail the color of
Sophie’s skin, the way that Tante Atie walks, and the number of wrinkles on
Grandme Ife’s wizened old face. Throughout the work, the author implements her
capacity to write with what seems to be a sort of effortless ability to pay close
attention to even the most minute of details. The author makes it impossible for
the reader to deny that Sophie Caco is a living, breathing, suffering human, a
human with whom one cannot help but sympathize, and perhaps even
empathize. Breath, Eyes, Memory is broken into four distinct yet flowing sections
which parallel with a specific time period and coming-of-age moment in Sophie’s
life. Early on in part one, the reader is made aware of the fact that Sophie, the
narrator, lives in Croix-des-Rosets with her mother’s sister; this woman, her Tante
Atie, is the woman who has raised Sophie since she was an infant. It is not
immediately clear why Sophie’s mother is not living in Haiti with her daughter,
but the reader soon discovers that Martine, Sophie’s mom, is living in New York
City and has requested that her daughter, at the innocent and naive age of 12,
finally join her there. So it is that young Sophie finds herself in a new and foreign
land with a mother whom she has never met. Martine’s car is old and run-down;
its many shortcomings and faults include a cracked windshield, peeling paint, and
tattered cushions. Sophie is hesitant to enter the car, just as she is hesitant to
enter this new life and world which also is full of shortcomings and faults. In the
end, Sophie is forced to enter the car, just as she is forced to adapt to her new
way of life. And it is here in America that Sophie discovers her past. It is here that
she will uncover truths about herself and her mother that will leave her forever
changed-for better or for worse. The novel progresses as Sophie emerges from
childhood into life as a young woman. Our main character finds love, but
simultaneously discovers that “there are secrets you can’t keep”. She is
introduced to the painstaking ritual of “testing”, which in some Haitian families is
a tradition mothers keep in order to ensure that their daughters are kept pure
and chaste. It is, by all accounts, a traumatizing experience, but one done out of
love, and it is because of love that the tested daughters can forgive. In order to
“empty out her head” (184), and to find some sort of escape from the things that
have come to torment her in her new life with a husband and a baby girl of her
own, Sophie returns to her native Haiti to visit her Grandme Ife and her Tante
Atie. Here, instead of escaping as she might have hoped, she is confronted by her
past and made to deal with her present problems in more ways than she could
have imagined. And it is at this point in the novel when all four generations of the
Caco women are together that the depth and breadth of their bond is undeniably
apparent. When Sophie’s grandmother sees for the first time her great-
granddaughter she speaks volumes to this bond when she says: “The tree has not
split one mite. Isn’t it a miracle that we can visit with all our kin, simply by looking
into this face” (105).The Caco women are bonded by love and history; these are
what connect them, Danticat writes: “To the brave women of Haiti,
grandmothers, mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, daughters, and friends, on this
shore and other shores. We have stumbled but we will not fall” (v). If it does
nothing else, the novel broadens the mind of its reader and allows her to know
intimately the lives of Sophie and those “brave women” who have shaped her,
which, in turn, in some small way perhaps, brings to light the lives and struggles of
Haitian women everywhere.

Themes

The theme of family –

Sophie prides herself on the strength of the women in her family. They endure
the most difficult human trials: violence/violation, abandonment, poverty, mental
illness. They don't always survive gracefully very often, pain is often passed on
from one generation to the next.
But Sophie and Martine find that although the mother-daughter relationship can
be torn apart by these complications, it will always be and will always need to be
reclaimed before the family can move forward.
Danticat makes a similar observation about the bond between Haiti and her
people. She believes that the land is their mother and every Haitian a daughter.
Danticat uses the image of the goddess Erzulie Sophie's ideal mother to give us
hope that the Caco women will endure because of their strength, beauty, and
passion.

The theme of suffering –

Their suffering lingers because letting go of pain is difficult, especially when fears
can't be faced. Suffering is also the result of inherited, abusive behaviors. Sophie
works hard to forgive her family for the humiliation of the "virginity tests" and
vows that she won't become part of the problem. Ultimately, Sophie and the
women of her family have to put their collective feet down to declare that they
will have no more pain from the past, despite their grief.
The theme of love –
We see this especially in the relationship between Sophie and Martine, which is
riddled with difficulty from the start. Martine feels anxiety whenever she looks at
Sophie's unfamiliar face, and Sophie suffers from her mother's protective
impulses.
But we do get a glimpse of perfect love in this story. Atie shows an uncomplicated
and adoring motherly love for Sophie. She never says a word that vexes the little
girl and only has words of love for Martine. While Ifé is guilty of violating her
daughters by testing them, she has a whole-hearted and direct love for Sophie
and Brigitte that can't be denied.
Despite the difficulties over time and across borders, the Caco women know they
can't really thrive without each other.
The theme of forgivness-
Sophie does not know who she is. She has two countries, two mothers ,Atie and
Martine, confusing traumas that are both her own and inherited from her
mother, and an inability to speak up for what she wants. What makes her
situation particularly difficult is that two of the women in her life whom she loves
are responsible for the most scarring thing that happens to her—the testing.
Sophie has to figure out if she can understand why Grandme and Martine carried
out testing on their daughters and if there is a way she can forgive them. By the
end of the novel, Sophie has achieved that through speaking openly and honestly
about how the testing affected her, asking straightforward questions about why
they did it, attending therapy, and understanding that their reasons were
culturally motivated and near impossible to deviate from. Thus, Sophie forgives
her family and moves toward making her own life and that of her daughter more
manageable and healthy.
Reference
Edwidge Danticat, Breath, Eyes , Memory – pages mentioned.