Farming of Bones Wrap-Up

            The Farming of Bones was a beautiful book that I truly loved having the chance to talk about and discuss in class. Breaking up into groups and covering the chapters was helpful in pulling apart each idea and character. The overall context was clearer because of our discussions.

I wanted to address some of the symbols in the book that I found and were opened up to in our class discussions.  The ending scene of Annabelle descending into the water shows that water is symbolic of life and death, but in this case readers are expected to come to their own conclusions regarding the river.  Water can be a symbol of baptism, starting a new with cleansing or it can mean drowning /suffocation, which is what Annabelle’s parents went through.

 The birth of the twins represents the neighboring nations of Haiti and The Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic was represented by the stronger, lighter skinned, male baby, and the weak, dark skinned, female child portrayed Haiti.  It was interesting when I got to the scene where the lighter baby had died. Senora had underestimated her daughter because she had darker skin and painted the picture that the lighter twin would be stronger. When, much to our surprise, the male child is the one that dies it symbolizes the underestimated strength of Haiti, and the uncertainly of the future ahead.

Lastly there is Sebastian he represents Haitian people.  He is a character who shows us the context of what the Haitian people were dealing with. The scars he bears his lost hope and voice gives the reader insight and a human connection to the people.

“His name is Sebastien Onius. Sometimes this is all I know. My back aches now in all those places that he claimed for himself, arches of bare skin that belonged to him, pockets where the flesh remains fragile, seared like unhealed burns where each fallen scab uncovers a deeper wound."