Genre
Memoir
Setting and Context
The memoir is set in the bustling city of Port-au-Prince.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Sad, disheartening, optimistic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Edwidge Danticat is the protagonist of the story.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is when Denticat’s leave for the USA, leaving their young kids behind under the care of their uncle. When her parents leave, Denticat is only four years old.
Climax
The climax comes when Denticat and her brother travel to the USA to meet their parents. The situation is awkward because the children have forgotten their parents, but they catch up with time.
Foreshadowing
The hard life in Haiti foreshadowed Denticat’s parents’ decision to migrate to the United States of America.
Understatement
Life in the United States of America is underrated. Despite the notion that America is the land of opportunities, it is not easy for immigrants. Denticat’s parents struggled to make a living, and they took eight years to save enough to allow the children to come and live with them.
Allusions
The story alludes to the hard life, and challenges immigrants go through in the United States of America.
Imagery
The imagery of poverty plays a significant role in aiding readers to see how difficult life was in Haiti. Dentican’s parents left for the USA to find a better life because the economy of Haiti was very bad during that time.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Denticat’s parents promised the children that they would come for them. The children are waiting hopefully for the day their parents will come back. Ironically, after eight years, the parents send for the children. Therefore, Denticat’s parents broke the very promise they made to their children before leaving for the US.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Poverty is a metonymy for suffering and unsatisfactory life.
Personification
N/A
