Children of the Sea Analysis

          Danticat presents two narratives of events occurring analogously during the take over of a new regime in Haiti. A male character writes from a boat, escaping Haiti to Miami, as he was a wanted youth rebel. While his lover, writes to him sharing the events that occurred in mainland Haiti, including the atrocities committed by the regime’s soldiers and the suffering of the Haitian people. Both characters present a motif of impotence throughout their narratives, brought about the cleansing of their people, culture and history. They attempt to salvage the story of their people and retain hope by keeping diaries of the events, knowing they won’t ever be read.

            Throughout the many catastrophes occurring in his boat ride, the male character comes to acknowledge the cleansing of his people. This is seen when he states, “I must throw my book out now. It goes own to them, Celianne and her daughter and all those children of the sea who might soon be claiming me” (Danticat 27).  He acknowledges the impotence of the situation through this statement. He can’t do anything to save his people, as they just disappear one by one. The history of his people is forgotten as well, they are figuratively vanishing into the ocean, specifically the future generation of children that was supposed to carry the legacy of their ancestors. The last opportunity he had to save his people’s story was the notebook, yet that too has to be swallowed by the ocean.  This sheds light on a theme prevalent throughout Danticat’s short stories, a physical structure, specifically water is seen as a source of death and the erasure of history, contrary to the hope and life it represents.

Danticat, Edwidge. “Children of the Sea." Krik? Krak! New York: Vintage, 1996. 3-29. Print.