Massacre in Edwidge Danticats The Farming of Bones Essay -- Edwidge D

slaughter in Edwidge Danticats The Farming of bone upThe drubbing that Edwidge Danticat describes in The Farming of Bones is a historical event. In 1937, the Dominican Republics dictator, Rafael Trujillo, staged the slaughter of Haitians on the border of the two countries. Twelve thousand Haitians died during the massacre (Roorda 301). The Massacre River, which forms the northern portion of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, was named for a separate massacre in the nineteenth-century of French soldiers by revolting homegrown slaves. Although the river has been the state of affairs of much tragedy in the past, it shows no mark of the delirium that has taken place there (Van Boven par. 2). Danticat states that nature has no memory (qtd. in Holmes par. 5). On a visit to the Massacre River, Danticat observed that people were employ it, almost oblivious (Holmes par. 6). Even Haitians did not know the truth intimately the past of the river. One of Dantic ats reasons for writing The Farming of Bones was to rank the story of the 1937 massacre for the world to hear so that these things dont happen again (Holmes p. 12). The Massacre River was, in fact, Danticats inspiration to save the book (Wachtel 108). She sees the river as both sad and comforting in Hispaniolas history (Wechtel 107). The river is both a site of grief and a site of hope. Although so many people have died in the river, Haitians still practice session it to cleanse their labors residue off their bodies, reconnect with their community, and pay motor hotel to their dead (Shemak 96). Danticat also sees the river as dividing between torment and hope (Bell xi). This nous of water being both divisive and comforting is prominent throughout the novel.... ...e/issue_10.22.98/art/danticat22.html.Houlberg, Marilyn. Sirens and snakes. African Arts 29.2 (1996) 30+.Leyburn, James Graham. The Haitian People. new Haven Yale, 1966. Loederer, Richard A. Voodoo Fire in Haiti. New York Literary Guild, 1935. Ogungbile, David Olugbenga. body of water symbolism in African culture and Afro-Christian churches. Journal of Religious supposition 53.2 (1997) 21+.Roorda, Eric Paul. Genocide next door. Diplomatic History 20.3 (1996) 301+. Shemak, April. RE-MEMBERING HISPANIOLA EDWIDGE DANTICATS THE do work OF BONES. Modern Fiction Studies 48.1 (2002) 83+. Van Boven, Sarah. (1998, September 7). Massacre river. Newsweek, 132, 44.Wachtel, Eleanor. A Conversation with Edwidge Danticat. Brick 65 (2000) 106-119.Wesdake, Larry. Mystic Traveler. Ceramics Monthly Nov. 2000 53-57.