One of the most prominent issues in Breath, Eyes, Memory is female sexuality in general, and more specifically, the rape and sexual assault of women. Sophie Caco’s mother, Martine, was raped when she was a young girl and became pregnant with Sophie. Martine’s entire life was plagued by the rape, and she was never truly able to get past it. It was not only the rape that caused strife in Martine’s life, however. She was also seemingly traumatized by the “testing” that her mother performed on her when she was young. This “testing” was an a examination during which Martine’s mother felt her hymen to make sure it was still intact, and that she was still a virgin. Martine, however, was not the only girl who was tested for virginity. It seemed to be a common practice in the Haitian culture. Martine’s sister was tested, her mother was tested before her, and she, herself, tested her own daughter. It was a practice that the women could not seem to stop, but that emotionally harmed each of them.
According the BBC News, rape is a common practice with little consequence (for those who perform the rape, anyway) in Haiti (BBC News). Rape is a common atrocity all over the world, but it is seen differently in Haiti than in places like the United States. For example, a 16-year old girl named Mary Jane was trapped in corridor by a man from her neighborhood while on her way to buy water. He raped her and would not let go when he was finished. He continued to hurt her by hitting. Mary Jane stabbed the man with a pair of scissors, and he later died. The 16-year old was imprisoned in an adult jail for two years for killing the man. (BBC News)
This is an example of the way in which men are favored over women in Haiti. Rape wasn’t made a crime until 2005, and, still, few men are prosecuted for the offense (BBC News). According the UN, almost half of all women under the age of 18, who are living in Haitian slums, have been raped (BBC News).
This use of sex as a weapon in Haiti affects women negatively in many ways, as is demonstrated by the women, especially Martine, in the novel. Virginity is obviously very important to the women, and it is extremely difficult for them when it is stolen from them. Martine is so traumatized by her rape that, while pregnant with her second child, she has delusions of hearing the rapist’s voice from her unborn child. She is so affected by this that she stabs herself in the stomach, killing her and her child.
It is obvious from the examples throughout the novel and the information from BBC News that women are very subjugated by sexual control. They are controlled through rape and through “testing” for virginity. It is important for them to stay pure, but it is made difficult for them by the many men who seem to see rape as a right of theirs.
“Rape looms large over Haiti slums”. BBC News. 2008.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7750568.stm
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Adah in "The Poisonwood Bible"
A character from The Poisonwood Bible who I liked more than the others was Adah Price. Throughout the novel, she was disconnected from the world and the other characters. She did not speak throughout her childhood, and very much kept to herself. This allowed her opinion to be uninfluenced by others, as she did not tell them what she thought of things. She also saw the world in a very different manner than the other characters did. This was partially due to the fact that she had a handicap, and partially due to her increased intelligence. Her opinions and perspectives also seemed to be more pure than he others’ because of the fact that she did not fully participate in the world as others did.
Adah chose not to speak when she was young because of her anger with the world and with God. She was more sensitive than the other members of her family to the hardships and unfair pain that many had to struggle through because she had to struggle through life due to her handicap. Because of her firsthand experience with adversity, Adah became aware, early in life, of the inequitable distribution of affliction in the world. She was wiser than the other Prices, because her living inside of herself and contemplating on the troubles of humanity. For instance, Adah question her Sunday school teacher when she said that African children were damned to hell because they were born in a place where Christianity was not regularly taught. The other children, at that age, seemed to simply accept what they were told as fact. Adah considered what she was told before accepting it. I liked Adah because of her individuality and ability to really think about things before believing them.
I also liked that Adah was so different from her family and from others in the book. Each of the characters perceived the worlds in their own way, and were different from one another, but Adah’s differences were more interesting than the rest because she seemed to live and think in a completely different manner than the others. This is because she grew up unlike her siblings. She was raised in the same environment, but almost lived in a different place, in a sense, because she built her own world inside herself rather than really living in the house with her family.
When Adah grew up, she almost completely overcame the disabilities that plagued her throughout her young life. She learned to walk normally, as she could not when she was young, and began to speak as though she had never been silent. She also went to medical school and became a doctor, before she was even able to walk well. This is another aspect of Adah that I really like. She did not let the world keep her down because she was different. Even though she did succeed in life, she never completely lost who she was. She became more logical and slightly more normal, but was still, essentially, the same person.
Adah chose not to speak when she was young because of her anger with the world and with God. She was more sensitive than the other members of her family to the hardships and unfair pain that many had to struggle through because she had to struggle through life due to her handicap. Because of her firsthand experience with adversity, Adah became aware, early in life, of the inequitable distribution of affliction in the world. She was wiser than the other Prices, because her living inside of herself and contemplating on the troubles of humanity. For instance, Adah question her Sunday school teacher when she said that African children were damned to hell because they were born in a place where Christianity was not regularly taught. The other children, at that age, seemed to simply accept what they were told as fact. Adah considered what she was told before accepting it. I liked Adah because of her individuality and ability to really think about things before believing them.
I also liked that Adah was so different from her family and from others in the book. Each of the characters perceived the worlds in their own way, and were different from one another, but Adah’s differences were more interesting than the rest because she seemed to live and think in a completely different manner than the others. This is because she grew up unlike her siblings. She was raised in the same environment, but almost lived in a different place, in a sense, because she built her own world inside herself rather than really living in the house with her family.
When Adah grew up, she almost completely overcame the disabilities that plagued her throughout her young life. She learned to walk normally, as she could not when she was young, and began to speak as though she had never been silent. She also went to medical school and became a doctor, before she was even able to walk well. This is another aspect of Adah that I really like. She did not let the world keep her down because she was different. Even though she did succeed in life, she never completely lost who she was. She became more logical and slightly more normal, but was still, essentially, the same person.
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