Deeper Meanings

After finishing the novel, I came to realize deeper meanings and points Edwidge Danticat was trying to express to her readers. Throughout the novel, Amabelle was searching for answers. Amabelle was trying to piece together the reasons for everything that has happened to her. It seems as if she always lose the people who are closets to her. She was looking for answers to why she lost them. In my opinion, I think that’s why Danticat had many scenes of Amabelle replaying the moments of her parent’s death. Even at the end of the book, Amabelle was still searching and looking for answers for Sebastien’s disappearance.

As I revisit the novel, I think about the first and last lines of the book and what they are symbolizing. “His name is Sebastien Onius.” Why does Danticat start off with this sentence? In my opinion it shows how significant this character is and who he really represents. Danitcat also starts off with Amabelle remembering her parent’s death at the beginning of the book as well. This also makes me believe that although her parents weren’t significant characters in the novel, they are extremely important to the deeper meaning. The book ends with “He, like me, was looking for the dawn.” I think Amabelle was searching for answers about the massacre.

Amabelle described that she wanted to be “carried into the river, into Sebastien’s cave, my father’s laughter, my mother’s eternity”. Sebastien and her parents represent Haiti!!