Opening of doors
The imagery of doors being opened is present throughout the novel, and it represents choices Fabiola has to make and things she has to leave behind. Papa Legba is shown directly guiding her, leaving signs and doors to open for her, and every one of her choices leads to another sacrifice. Fabiola is described as a link to the spiritual world and the one who will open the doors to it.
“Death parked itself on that corner of American and Joy, some days as still as stone, other days singing cautionary songs and delivering telltale riddles, waiting for the day when one girl would ask to open the gates to the other side.”
Papa Legba’s song
Papa Legba or Bad Leg is a constant presence in the lives of Fabiola’s family. The reveal to her that he was outside their home signing as long as they can remember. Papa Legba is a spirit guide protecting the home and waiting for Fabiola to give her guidance to save the family. His songs are shown from the beginning, and they are a driving force of the novel, showing hints, revealing the conflicts Fabiola will find herself in and choices she will have to make.
“Word on the block is word in that house
Word in that house is word on that door
Word on that door is word on his soul
Word on his soul is word on my tomb
Word on my tomb does not spell doom.”
Death
The imagery of death is present from the very beginning, from the physical to spiritual aspect of it. Papa Legba’s presence in front of the house is a consequence of death that looms over it, with Fabiola’s uncle dying, and unbeknownst to the family his killer, Dray, torturing the family, threatening their safety. Fabiola enters as a character that walks close to the spirit world, one who had close encounters with death and doesn’t fear it, and the one who will end the cycle of death in her family. “Death has always walked close-an earthquake, a hurricane, a disease, a thief and his knife. If Death owns half of my aunt, then I will sell my whole self to it.”
The presence of Fabiola’s mom
If Papa Legba is Fabiola’s spirit guide that will open the door into this new world for her, it is her mother, or the thought of her mother, that represents her previous life in Haiti-the life she has to leave behind. Fabiola gets separated from her mother at the beginning and they never through to the very end. Fabiola’s mother represents her consciousness, reminding her to not leave her previous self behind and succumb to the vices of her new life. Leaving her mother behind, Fabiola leaves her innocence and naivety behind.
“It feels like I’m leaving part of me behind-a leg, an arm. My whole heart.”
