Friday, September 17, 2010
"Epilogue: Women Like Us" Blog
Now that we've read several pieces by Edwidge Danticat, (Behind the Mountains, "Caroline's Wedding," "Women Like Us"), what similarities do you see in the three pieces? Focus on at least one significant similarity between all three stories. What examples from each piece provide evidence of the similarity you've chosen to write about?
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In all three stories ("Behind the Mountains", "Caroline's Wedding", and "Women Like us")we are presented with overbearing, traditionalist mothers and their young daughter's who tend to have differing views. In "Caroline's Wedding", Caroline's mother would prefer a Haitian man to Eric, the man Caroline is getting married to.
In "Women Like Us", the mother is disturbed by the fact that her daughter wants to be a writer instead of a woman in the kitchen, "There are nine hundred and ninety-nine women who went beofre you and worked their fingers to coconut rind so you can stand here before me holding that torn old notebook that you cradle against your breast like your prettiest Sunday braids. I would rather you had spit in my face."
I cannot provide a direct quote from "Behind the Mountains" because I do not have the book, but Celiane's mother, I believe, was traditional and very protective of her family. I hope this is accurate.
In these three stories, Behind the Mountains, Caroline's Wedding, and Women Like Us there are many connections between these three stories many obvious facts, like that all these charecters are woman. one fact which is specific is that all these stories of struggling to change.
In "Behind the Mountains" Celiane has difficulty of fitting in in New York. Celiane does not make it official but she begins to change once she is living in New York. Celiane becomes a different person in school to make more friends, and to please her family she also changes. Most of Celianes changes can be interperated for the better. After a while a pattern is developed, Celiane never changes for herself, she is always changing for someone/something else. I think that even though she is happy when the people she loves are happy she should also be thinking about her own happiness.
In "Woman like Us", the Mom is always trying to change her daughters mind about writing. Instead of supporting her decsion to not become a housewife, her daughter has decided to become a writer. Throughout the story, the mother keeps offering reasons why her daughter should not become a writer. The mother also makes the daughter feel guilty by asking " And with what do you repay me? With scribbles on paper that are not worth the scratch of a pig's snout." meaning that for all the mom's hard work, the daughter would only give her words that, in her opinion, are not worth a cent. Her second argument is that "In Our world, if you write, you are a politician and we know what happens to politiicians. They end up in a prison dungeon where their bodies are covered in scalding tar befre they're forced to eat their own waste." Meaning that writers can never live a peaceful life. The mother goes on and on but every time her daughter's opinion does not change, showing that the mothers effort to change her daughter's ways have no effect.
In the story of "Caroline's wedding," Grace is always trying to pursuade her mother to change. Her mom has a very strong opinion about who Caroline should marry. Caroline just wants to marry the man she loves, while her mother wants her to marry a Haitian man. Grace sees that as long as Caroline is happy with the man she wants to marry, then Caroline can marry him. Grace is the one who feels responsible to change her mother's opinion of Caroline's mother. Her mother keeps trying to get Caroline to realize the "mistake" she is making by doing all she can to stop it, while still keeping her dignity for example "She even hoped that it would preform the miracle of detaching Caroline from Eric, her Bahamian fiance. Science Caroline had announced that she was engaged, we'd had bone soup with our supper every single night." Grace tries every where to make her mother understand that it is alright not to marry a Haitian. In the end of the story, Grace gets the best of her and her mom finally accepts that Caroline is marrying a Bahamian (though she accepts it with a lot of reluctance). In this case, the change the mom experiences is a good type of change.
I agree with Brittney. I feel each story is based on children who have become accustomed to the American world against protective, traditional parents. On the surface, the parents appear to be mean and intolerant of the younger generation and their children’s desires. However, they are not trying to act this way, it’s just their intense love for their kids that causes them to react in the only way they know, to fall back on their old traditions to keep them and their family safe. For example: in Women Like Us, the mother is angered when she finds out her daughter wants to be a writer. She says things like “They end up in a prison dungeon where their bodies are covered in scolding tar before they are forced to eat their own waste.” This just proves that she is hopelessly lost in the past. In Caroline’s wedding, her mother does not want her to marry Eric because of her fear that he does not really love her, but that he is just marrying her to be noble (because of her having one arm.) She is probably afraid of her daughter making the same mistake she did, marrying someone who doesn’t truly love her. In Behind the Mountains, Celiane’s life in America was full of rules and restrictions imposed by her parents because they were fearful in this new environment, but when in Haiti, she was pretty much allowed anywhere at any time.
One thing in common with all the stories is that they have a life lesson. The mothers are all for their culture and worry about that instead of other big things. The girls all have a lesson to learn, and the writer puts the lesson into the story that also helps the reader learn the lesson. In Caroline's Wedding the mother really did not want her daughter to marry that guy because he was not from Haiti. She worried to much on that that she did not see how happy her daughter was which was the important part of her daughter's wedding. I agree with Brittney about the quote "I would rather you had spit in my face." i agree with Brittney because this was a very strong quote. The quote shows how strong her mother feels about her daughter wanting to be a writer instead of a cook like all the women before her did. In Behind The Mountains Celiane's mother was very open minded about her daughter but then she also was on the watch in case some thing bad happened. All the stories we read have a lesson to hold, nut the stories have one thing different from each other. The difference between them all is that the lesson changes and proves many points about life.
In Edwidge Danticat’s stories one similarity is the strain of the relationships between parents and their children. In Behind The Mountains there are a few scenes where you can see the difficulty of Celiane, her brother and their father. She believes he is disappointed in her family after fantasizing about them for so long and their father and Moy fight constantly and terribly.
In Caroline’s Wedding the two sisters have dreams about their late father. Their relationship, though their father is dead, still lives on in their memories and dreams. In the sisters’ dreams there is strain because many of the dreams are nightmares or disorienting dreams about their papa.
In Epilog: Women like us you see the intensity of the narrator’s parents, and others around her, disapproval of her ability to write. It is forbidden, a taboo. The narrator braves this in order to write. All of these stories highlight a strain in a relationship between parents or elders and children or youths.
I think one similarity between "Behind the Mountains," "Carolines Wedding," and "Epilogue: Women Like Us," is the difference between American life and Hation life. In "Behind the Mountains," Cailene goes from a place where transportation is using donkeys, to a place with busses and taxi's. In "Caroline's wedding," Grace and Caroline's mother goes on about how Caroline should be marrying someone Hation, and she is always making a Hation soup that she believes can cure any ill. She also said, "You are Americans and you have no taste buds. A double tragady." I think she says this because she is used to Hation traditions and not american ones.Last but not least, in "Epilogue: Eomen Like Us," the author explains how when you are Hation, it's not good to be a writer, but better to be a cook or a cleaner.
I very much agree with Isaiah about the fact that they all care about keeping their culture in the family. That's their main priority, and since the children are being raised in different places and being exposed to new things the parents have not yet fully adjusted to the new life and still want to keep their culture in the family, and want their children to stay Haitian. However, the children have their own plans for their life in America, and the parents don't want them to become American, and want them to keep their culture in the family and never let it die.
In Behind the Mountains, Celaine's mother does not want Moy out on his own, and wants to keep him under her wing, despite that at 19 you go off on your own. Even though she wants him to learn the American ways and learn English, she also worries about him keeping the culture of Haiti alive.
In Women Like Us, the mother wants her daughter to carry on their legacy of working in the family, and want their Haitian roots to stay 100% in the family. But her daughter has other plans, and wants to be a writer.
In Caroline's Wedding, Ma fears of Caroline marrying an american, and wants her to marry a Haitian, since she wants to keep the culture in the family, and doesn't want it to break.
In all the stories we have read by Edwidge Danticat I think the similar theme is mother daughter relationships that withstand time and change. In “Behind the Mountains” Celiane and her mother deal with their father/husband leaving them to go work in the United States. They are strong even when they are thrust into a completely new world where neither feels at home. In “Caroline’s Wedding”, Caroline and her mother both are longing for their late father/husband’s love. Caroline’s mother doesn’t express to her daughter that she loves her and is beginning to understand her choice in husband until her daughter moves out. Finally in “Women Like Us” the main character is pressured by her mother to live up to all her ancestors’ expectations and be a housewife and a cook when all the main character wants to do is write. In each story we see a bond between the mothers and daughters that is strained often, but never broken.
The stories “Behind the Mountains”, “Caroline’s Wedding” and Woman Like Us all have a similar theme of longing for something. In “Woman Like Us” that “something” is the approval of the narrator’s parents. In “Behind the Mountains” it is the longing for a simple, naive life (like childhood). And in “Caroline’s Wedding” It is the sense of being empathized with. It is this overall sense of longing for something that sets the plot in motion. This is because the feeling of longing causes stress, which in turn generates a whole cast of negative emotions. For instance,
Celiane’s longing for the father she remembered so fondly of caused her to forget how hard her father was working provide for them. Because of this her father though she was thought she was being ungrateful by not acknowledging the sacrifices he made for his family. Also in “Caroline’s Wedding” Caroline’s decision to marry in order to fulfill her own goals caused Grace and her mother to become fearful of losing her.
In the three stories we read a similarity is the mothers. They’re all very tradtional and have very different expectations and goals for there daughters then the daughters would have set for themselves.
In "Caroline’s wedding" the mother is very upset that Caroline is not marrying a hation man. I think part of the reason she is upset by it is because it’s not what she did. Caroline’s mother married a hation man but also in a very tradtional way. He had a letter asking her father if he had permission to marry her. In Caroline’s case they wanted to marry each other and it was Caroline’s choice and her mothers opinion didn’t count.
In "women like us" the mother is very disappointed that her daughter would rather be a writer then be a stay at home mom and clean and take care of the children. She is upset because 999 women have been doing that in their family and now her daughter wants to break the tradition.
In "behind the mountains" Celiane was more of an adventurous type while her mother was a very protective person. Celaine has different ways of looking at the world. Celaine wants to explore and go beyond her comfort level as her mom is perfectly comfortable in her own little house and town. But in ways Celaine and her mother are alike for example, when Celaine got lost coming home from school she was extremely scared. If her mother was in her place she would have been to.
Each story entertains the similar idea that family provides strength. In "Behind the Mountains," Celiane is close with her whole family: her relationship with her father later becomes a symbol of journies, and how much hard work they require. the proverb, "Behind the mountains, there are more mountains," seems to be the description of her father. He it was a journey to get to him, and it is a journey to continue to continue to satisfy him.
"Women Like Us," begins with the image of braiding hair, and how much this reminds us of how much we look like our mothers, or our grandmothers, ect. It leads to the description of working as a "Kitchen Poet," and the pros and cons of that. Braiding hair is a symbol of roots, and their strength. The repetativeness of this image shows how important connections to family are.
Like the two other stories, Caroline's wedding is also a great example of the importance of family. During the wedding-lunch, Grace's speech summarizes up what her mother had been meaning to say at the wedding. Though she did not approve of the non-traditional wedding and couple, the speech was an example of the connections between family members and their signifigance: not only do they provide strength, but they also give a sense of trust and safety.
The three stories answers the question: What is family? Edwidge Danticat shows family as a safe haven: within difficult times of new places and relationships, family provides not only strength, but a positive well-being.
Each of these three stories have the same idea, change. In "Behind the Mountains" Celiane has to deal with the change by moving to the city annd living with her father. She faced many problems on the way, but in the end they figured out a way for them to work their problems out and live together. "I think this is the proper way of saying good-bye, telling someone you will see her soon. This takes a lot of sadness out of it." (77) Celiane had faced a lot of change good and bad, but she got to where she wanted to go in the end.
In "Caroline's Wedding" there was the change of Caroline getting married and leaving Grace and Ma. The change was big for them, because they had lived together for so long, and were now forced to live apart. I think the biggest change was for Ma, because Ma was against the marriage, and never wanted Caroline to leave her side. "It was very hard for Ma to watch Caroline prepare to leave us, knowing there was nothing she could do but feed her." (160) This quote is talking about how Ma was upset with the fact that Caroline was leaving and getting married, that she would make bone soup that was supposed to have Caroline change her mind about the wedding, but it didn't.
In "Women Like Us" the daughter, instead of cooking in the kitchen would write. The mother did not like the change, because the women usually cook, and it felt wrong for the daughter to write. In the mother's world, writers weren't accepted in society, and were tortured, whereas the daughter would rather write than cook. "You remember thinking while braiding your hair that you look a lot like your mother. You remember her silence when you laid your first notebook in front of her. Her disappointment when you told her that words would be your life's work, like the kitchen had always been hers. She was angry at you for not understanding. And with what do you repay me? With scribbles on paper that are not worth the scratch of a pigs snout. The sacrifices had been too great." This quote was describing what the mother had thought of writing instead of cooking, and the change in society from women only allowed to do housework, and now where they are allowed to run for president was a big change for her.
I all three stories there is this similar theme of clashing. Clashing comes to mind because in "Caroline's Wedding" when caroline wanted the untraditional American wedding, where they see a judge and sign papers versus the beautiful traditional Haitian wedding in a church with a priest. the mother thinks the main reason behind that is the fact that Caroline was born in New York versus Haiti so she didn't get to see what it meant to be traditional. the sister of Caroline, the main character, is kinda in the middle believing and hoping that everyone should be happy. this is the same in behind the mountain where the mother wants to stay traditional and the now americanized father, who just moved to the states butt heads when they are all living in New York. Also in Women like us when the classic housewife conflicts with the up and coming kitchen poets. it talks of how hard it really is to do something that is looked down on and to be called a disgrace in the name of the women before you. all of the stories relate really well with this common theme of rebellion against tradition.
In each story (“Caroline’s Wedding,” “Behind the Mountains,” “Women Like Us”) are all based on women’s lives. Part of each story was about the privileges a women has. I think the main point was about the choices people have to make and the challenges they have to face in life. In the story Caroline’s Wedding, Caroline’s mother does want her to marry a man who is Haitian and have a wedding in a church but Caroline wants to do it differently. Her mother chooses to lets her daughter marry the man she loves. In the story Behind the Mountains, Moy who is nineteen, does not want to go to school so he quits and his father kicks him out of the house. Moy then goes to live with a girl from his class. His mother does not approve of him living somewhere else. After a consult with the whole family he decides to live with his family until he has enough money to start his own living. In the story Women Like Us, women are imaginable thoughts and worlds. They thought that if they did not tell the stories, the sky would fall on their heads. If there were not any trees the sky would all onto your head.
Helena
A similarity in all three stories is that they all focus on the conflicts of the daughter, or a family member, who is either born in America, or have been americanized, and the traditional mother, or a different group of family members from their homeland. They all show how different two cultures can be, and how the difference could cause the kids to break major rules or be
disrespectful to their parents.
In Behind the Mountains, Celiane plays the role of an "analyzer", a storyteller, who could make the reader understand the conflicts of the family in an unbiased way, as she takes little part in the conflicts. The americanized father, who got used to the hectic city, and believes in studying well, getting a good job, and to one day become a CEO in one of the many skyscrapers. While Moy, who have been living in Haiti since he was born, believes in nature, where there is no pressure, no enforcer, and is allowed to divert all his attention to showing his love for it: his paintings. After the conflicts, the father would be free from the iron fist of the city, and learn a new dimension to living. Valuing your life, and valuing your surroundings is also a prime priority of being human.
In Caroline's Wedding, Grace, like Celiane, plays the role of storyteller. Caroline, as an American citizen, is more used to the "free" lifestyle, where everything is casual. Her mother, being traditional, favors formal weddings, and all the symbols of luck and health. in the story, I did not really think Caroline's mom disliked Erik, it is just the fact that he did not have a formal proposal. In the end, the mom would realize that Erik was good after all, and love is greater than having everything formal.
In Women like Us, the daughter, as I interpret it, is getting more and more influenced by the modern world where education is the key to success. While her mother, being traditional, is used to the role of being a "housewife", where she only "does what women do", like cooking, sewing, etc. I am sure that in the story, the mother would change her opinion about education and writing.
One significant similarity that stands out to me the most from all the stories are the cultural differences they show. Edwidge Danticat specifically focuses on the theme of being an immigrant of having foreign backgrounds. She talks about the importance of remembering you true cultural background and at the same time likes to describe what becoming American is like as an immigrant or child of an immigrant. In "Behind the Mountains", for example was about a Haitian families journey to America to unite with their father. This book focuses on the cultural difference of Haiti vs. America and how the son, daughter, and mother have to make a significant transition of life. "Caroline's Wedding" focused more on remembering their Haitian background since they were more Americanized. "Woman Like Us" focused on the characteristics a girl in Haiti and what they're expected to be like or are forbidden to be like. The three stories focus on very different sides of a Haitian story. Danticat seems to have a special connection with Haiti and the idea of the culture there and moving away to American culture.
Like previous others have said, the three stories connect because the main character(s) are/is female. Also, the mothers or fathers (Behind the Mountains) are trying to get something across to their offspring, but for some reason, that does not work.
In "Behind the Mountians", we are introduced to Celiane and Moy as the children of two hardworking parents. Celiane isn't necessarily
a bad child, but Moy is rebelling against his father who is perhaps trying to get closer to him.
In "Caroline's Wedding", Caroline and her mother have two different perspectives. Caroline's mother wants her to marry a Haitian man, but Caroline shows other interest. Once again, this is a struggling mother trying to get a point across to her offspring, but can not.
In "Women Like Us", we meet a strong young woman who wants to persue a carrer of being a writer, instead of going in the direction that her mother wants her to go in, which in working in the kitchen. Working in the kitchen is also a very common thing taht women do, so this also shows themes of indepence (so do the other two stories).
What is interesting about these stories is that a different character is telling the stort instead of the one(s) that it may be revolving around.
In "Woman Like Us" mom wants her daughter to carry on working like all the other women in the family and stay true to her Haitian culture. However the daughter wants to be a writer.
In Caroline's Wedding, ma also wants Caroline to stay true to her haitian roots, and marry a Haitian man, and have all haitian children but Caroline is in love, and her husband is not Haitian, yet she's not thinking about culture, she's only thinking about what she wants to do.
In "Behind the mountains" , Celiane finds fitting into New York difficult. There is an obvious change in her personality, some for the better, a some for the worse.
In all three stories, the theme of trying to fit in with the crazy and different culture of americans with out completely losing who you and your family truly are occurs a lot. Another theme is having mothers who want to be traditional and do everything the way it was exactly in Haiti, when they have their daughters who would like to explore more with change.
In all three of the pieces that we have read by Edwidge Danticat, the main theme has been immigration and the parts of your society that you keep with you in contrasts to what is left behind. A recurring theme is always the opinion of an authority figure (mother or father) on what a society does correctly. It is always a question of how a parent recollects an old society, even as the parent him or herself has to make sacrifices to accommodate to America by giving up on some of there traditions and principles. In Edwidge Danticat’s stories, the “sacrifice” is subtle but still the same underline theme is there.
In Behind the Mountains, a father is forced to leave his family for America for such a long time that it is as if they no longer know each other by the time the rest of the family arrives. In “Caroline’s Wedding,” the father had also left before the rest of the family and now Caroline’s widowed mother is forced to struggle to keep her family together and to make sure that her culture stays with her only to find her daughter marrying a non-Haitian man. She finds that it is impossible to be Haitian in America. “Women Like Us” is a little different because it is set in Haiti were the penalty for embracing the most basic human right, the right to freedom of speech, is punishable by death. In this context, a little girl’s desires to write and to find her own way by remember her ancestor’s voices is considered dangerous.
In all three stories most of the main characters are daughters and their mothers are very traditional. Another similarity is that about everyone in each story is Haitian. Also the mothers all want their daughters to do what ever the mothers want but the daughters refuse. For example in "Caroline's Wedding", Caroline's mom wants her to marry a Haitian man but Caroline refuses. And in "Woman Like Us", the mother wants her daughter to be a maid but the daughter wants to be a writer. But in "Behind The Mountains", Celiane's mother doesn't really want her to do anything specific but she does want Celiane to be successful in life.
The main similarity between the three stories by Edwidge Danticat that we have read are the freedom the main characters are able to express with words and paper.
In “Caroline’s wedding” when Caroline’s sister gets her passport she feels liberated. “ As I stood on the courthouse steps, I wanted to back to my mothers house waving the paper like the head of an enemy rightfully conquered.” To Caroline’s sister that piece of paper was the door to boundless possibilities. Getting her passport being set free.
In “epilogue: women like us” the main character talks about how she wants to be a writer even though that is not typical for women in her family. “You have nobody, nothing but this piece of paper, they told you. Only a notebook made out of discarded fish wrappers, panty-hose cardboard. They were the best confidantes for a lonely little girl.” The main character is able to find solace in her writing. Words are the place she finds freedom and can be herself without criticism from the people around her.
In “behind the mountains” when Celiane’s new life in Brooklyn is not as great as she had imagined she can always turn to the notebook her teacher gave her to write in. Throughout all the challenges of her new life Celiane can always confide in her notebook. Her words are her way of finding peace in all the mayhem.
Throughout the stories by Edwidge Danticat, they have a similar connection between them. That connection is family and culture. Family and culture is a really important thing in the stories.
In Caroline's Wedding, the mother is trying to keep her daughter from marrying a guy that she doesn't like because he isn't Haitian. she wants caroline to marry a nice haitian man so she could stay with her original family culture.
In Women Like Us, the mother also wants her daughter to follow in her family's footsteps by doing what the women in the family did. But instead, she wants to be something else, something different.
In Behind the Mountains, it starts off with a girl in Haiti living normally until she moves to New York. She realizes that she is loosing her culture by living in the big and crazy city.
So all these stories end up with the someone missing and leaving family and culture behind to do something different and unexpected .
-Brianna <3
I think one of the similarities is the strong cultures each in each story and how in each story some of the family members are trying to not louse their cultures even though they are in places that practice different cultures. In Caroline’s wedding, Caroline’s mother does not want her to marry a man that is not Haitian and she want her to have a traditional Haitian wedding but Caroline was born in the US so she does not want these things or know about these things. Her mother is very insistent on these things because she does not want to let go of her culture or have her children loose their roots. Another similarity is that in each story there is a strong mother that is very attached to her culture. In epilogue the girl wants to be a writer and she does not like being a housewife or “always use your fingers” as her mother says. Her mother is outraged at this and thinks it is ridiculous. In behind the mountains when they move to Brooklyn they often get into fights because certain family members want to do things the way they did them back home and some family members want to do things the way they do in Brooklyn. For their family it takes some adjustments to get used to not taking care of animals farm animal and not riding donkeys any more but they do overcome some of their challenges.
There are many of the same contrasting ideas in each of these stories. Some examples are that they all revolve around simplicity and complexity, old and new, one culture and another culture (immigration), easy and hard, and innocence and wisdom. They also all follow the same narrative perception of a young girl of Haitian background accustomed to the Haitian ways trying to adjust to the American ways and the hardship of making the change, and the price that comes with it.
In Behind the Mountains, we look through Celiane’s eyes and seeing her life in Haiti in contrast with her life in America. There we already see many of the contrasts. Also, in this book, we see that both cultures are in disregard of one another. But even so, when Celiane is able to draw wisdom from both parts then she becomes a more mature and wise girl. “That Celiane and her mother and brother have such ease communicating with Victor in Brooklyn might have been startling when I was a child, however, it is less so now. It is also not so unusual for many “country” families to have better-off “city” relatives who make their transition to eventually living abroad much easier.”
In Caroline’s Wedding, we aren’t seeing the thick of the event through the observer’s eyes, but we are hearing it reported from a bystander; and yet the same contrasts and relations are still visible. We also again see the disregard of one culture for another because of the “overbearing, traditionalist mother” in the words of Brittney. We never see the life in Haiti as a reference point, but it is clear that the adaptation is being made. ““I am afraid she will never find a nice man to marry her,” Ma said. “I am afraid you won’t either.” “Caroline is already marrying a nice man,” I said. “She will never find someone Haitian,” she said.”
This contrasting can also be found in Women Like Us when she said, “When she was done [braiding her hair] she would as you to name each braid after those nine hundred and ninety-nine women who were boiling in your blood” This quote also represents another theme throughout each of the stories; which is preservation of one of the concepts into the contrasting concept; in this case, it is old into new. But there are also many others such as: traditions into other traditions, wisdom taken from the innocent as well, simplicity within complexity, and past into present.
A lot of people agree with other people and I agree with them too- these three stories are based of families and mostly between the mother and the daughter.
"Behind the Mountains" shows the relationship of the mother and the daughter when they travel. It shows how much Celiane's mother loves her- especially after the bombing.
I also now realize that these three stories are also about change. In "Behind the Mountains" Celiane moves to New York City and it's a huge difference from Haiti. It's a new place- bigger, crowded, and more confusing. Ceciane learns how to live in New York and you see how her life has changed by her family slowly fall apart and how she's changed by taking more responsibilities.
In "Caroline's Wedding" Ma is conected to both her daughters, but in different ways. With her eldest daughter she has more conversations- she feels more comfortable talking to her: "Later that night, Ma called me into her bedroom after she thought Caroline had gone to sleep...'She wants to make you happy in any small way she can.'
'If she wanted to make me happy, you know what she would do.'
'Shee has the right to choose who she wants to marry. That's none of our business.'
'I am afraid that she will never find a nice man to marry her,' Ma said. 'I am afraid you won't either.'
However the conversations she has with Caroline are so diffent. Caroline seems so different from her- because she was born in America instead of Haiti like her mother, sister, and father.
"Caroline's Wedding," "Women Like Us,"and "Behind the Mountains" show that the mothers are disapointed in their childrens disicions in some way. "Behind the mountains" the mother- actually the father- is disapointed with his son by taking art instead of learning english. In "Caroline's Wedding" the mother is mad that her daughter is marring someone is isn't Haitian and in "Women like us" the mother hates her daughter for choosing writing for a living.
In "Women like Us" it's the daughters point of veiw of how her mother was treating her and how it felt like. In the end the character changes. From being the little girl who looks like her mother, who looked like her mother, who looked like her mother etc. while braiding her hair looking in the mirror has now become the daughter how has brought a "dark rouge on the cheeks or a first date before 18."
I can't say a quote for "Behind the Mountains" because I don't have the book.
-Mikah
After reading all three stories, there major differences but even more similarities. For one thing, all three stories seem to connect back to where they're from, and they're language. They're Hatian and they all speak creole. Family also seems like its a big role in these stories. One thing I'm going to focus on, is the theme of death. In Behind the Mountains, when the bombings are going on, Celiane has difficulty absorbing the fact that innocent girls were killed. In Caroline and Grace wear black panties because they want to communicate with they're deceased father and let him know he is always welcome. In Women Like Us, it touches on how death is a way to become one with yourself.
In each story of "Behind the Mountains," "Caroline's Wedding," and "Women Like Us," there are young adults or children struggling to keep their relationships with what they love. In some cases it is their relationship with culture and in other cases it is about the relationships they have with their mother.
In "Caroline's Wedding," Caroline and her mother have been fighting about who she is marrying. Caroline's "Ma" feels that she should stay with her culture by marrying a Hatian man. "Ma wanted Eric to officially come and ask her permission to marry her daughter. She wanted him to bring his family to our house and have his father ask her blessing. She wanted Eric to kiss up to her, escort her around, buy her gifts, and shower her with compliments. Ma wanted a full-blown church wedding. She wanted Eric to be Haitian." Her mother is so used to seeing others marrying those within their culture and country so she feels Caroline should too. Because Caroline was born in America. She was raised in a different culture, though so the way she lives is different.
In "Women Like Us," the main character is being pressured by her mother. Her mother feels that she should live up to her 999 ancestors. The main character really likes to write also but her mother doesn't approve. Her mother thinks that this would separate her from her ancestors. "Your mother had two rules for living. Always use your ten fingers, which in parlance meant that you should be the best little cook and housekeeper who ever lived." Her mother would like her to honor her ancestors by following in their housekeeping footsteps.
In "Behind the Mountains," the main character Celiane is getting used to a new way of life. Just like Caroline's "Ma" getting used to her marrying somebody of a different culture. Haiti is very different from New York and Celiane has to get used to this. Celiane is also having trouble with her father just like Caroline with her mother and the narrator of "Women Like Us" and her mother.
These stories are very similar in the way each main characters interacts with others and how relationships change very easily. All of these characters face having to adjust.
In all the stories that we’ve read so far by Edwidge Danticat (Behind the Mountains, Caroline’s Wedding, and Epilogue: Women like Us) there seems to be a general plot. All three of these works are about disagreeing Haitian families that have consistent disputes about life. There always seems to be a very austere and traditional Haitian mother and a daughter or daughters who always seem to be different and more open-minded characters. Naturally these characters collide and give the story conflict.
In “Behind the Mountains”, Celiane and her mother “Manman” don’t seem to fight very often. However, “Manman” and Moy, Celiane’s older brother do seem to be somewhat incompatible. In the story, Moy is a young man; a grown up, but “Maman” insists on treating him like a child. She wants him to follow the path of life that she created for him as opposed to letting Moy create his own path. Moy dropped out of school to become an artist, he likes to paint. Both “Manman” and “Papa”, Moy and Celiane’s father don’t appreciate Moys painting abilities or his love for painting. Of course Moy defends himself by arguing with both his mother and father.
In “Caroline’s Wedding”, Hermine and her two daughters, Caroline and Gracina have quarrels too. It seems as though with every generation, traditions and conservativeness is lost. Caroline, the youngest daughter is the least traditional of her older sister and her mother. She has found the man that she loves, Eric, but because he is not Haitian her mother is not satisfied. Hermine’s disapproval takes a toll on Caroline, but that doesn’t make her love Eric any less. Hermine also doesn’t appreciate the fact that Caroline isn’t having an expensive Christian church wedding. Since Caroline is an adult, she doesn’t argue with her mother often, but she does disagree with her mother’s strict and narrow views of life.
In “Women Like Us”, the daughter enjoys writing and is a passionate writer. Her mother, a traditional Haitian woman, sees her daughter’s writing as an insult to her and all of the women that worked hard to get her to where she is now. The mother has a very simple view of the average woman’s role in life; to cook and to clean. She basically thinks women are indentured servants. It’s almost as if she doesn’t want her daughter to do anything constructive despite the daughter’s protest and continuation of writing. This story is similar to “Behind the Mountains” in that Moy and the daughter have passions, but are not allowed to pursue their passions; they are forced to live their lives the way it was planned for them.
In all three of these pieces by Edwidge Danticat, you can see that there are a lot of similarities. You can see the obvious ones such as they are all about Haitian immigrants. or they all have one or more child per family. On the other hand if you look more in depth, you can pull out similarities like the beliefs of Haitian mothers and fathers. You can conclude that the mothers and fathers have practically the same values. In each family, the children (child) is (are) trying to break off from the norm or the tradition. The children are being rebellious in asking for a change to the system.
-Kai Marcel
I know that the fact that Edwidge Danticat wrote these peaces not only for the story and messages behind them, but to express Haitian culture. Seeing that both "Behind the Mountains” "Caroline's Wedding,” and "Women Like Us" are specifically based in Haitian culture this is what i will compare.
First off, in both "Behind the Mountains” and "Caroline's Wedding," Brooklyn is or is one of the main settings. Brooklyn has one of the largest Haitian Communities in the USA so a lot of Haitian immigrants choose it as a final destination.
Another big similarity is the mothers who try to influence their children and remind them to remember Haitian culture. For example, in "Women Like Us” the narrator says, “Your mother who had... rules for living. Always use your ten fingers, which in her parlance meant that you should be the best little cook and housekeeper that ever lived” (Danticat 219). This quote shows how much influence the mother of the narrator had on them, expecting that they be the perfect woman in her understanding. Another quote, from "Caroline's Wedding” is, “Ma believed that her bone soup could cure all kinds of ills. She even hoped that it would detach Caroline from Eric, her Bahamian fiance.” (Danticat 159) This quote shows how the mother in "Caroline's Wedding” doesn’t want Caroline to get married. In fact the mother doesn’t want her to get married because she feels that she isn’t following the correct Haitian culture of a proper proposal to the mother for permission and of a ceremonial wedding in a huge church. In “Behind the Mountains” the Haitian culture really speaks for it’s self, but the mother is just as equally demanding of preserving her own culture.
Throughout all three of the stories, Haitian culture played a huge role in the lives of the main characters.
I think that the huge similarity between all three of these stories is that they all have to do with ethnic backgrounds and they all have to do with traditions and the way that people live and how people change. I think that these three stories have a strong meaning behind all of them and they are somewhat the same but in another way they are really difficult to grasp. I feel that they are all some what the same because they all have to do with traditions. How people live and the way that they change when they move to the USA are the same but their traditions are all different. he two stories Epilogue and Behind the mountains both take place in Haiti and there is a similarity within that but i mostly agree with the previous posts and their opinions
In each of these three stories by Edwidge Dandicat (that wev'e read) it has something to do with immigrants and family.
In "Behind the Mountains" the story told her life in her cauntry at the beggining of the book. Then it tells how her life is as soon after she immmigrates. I think that gives a way to show the differences between a person when there in a country that they've always been in; then being in America and almost everything changes, even maybe yourself.
In "Women Like Us" A girl is in the U.S and she came from a different country and wants to be a writer, but her mom doesn't want her to. Her mom doesn't want her to become writer because she knows that there from a different contry. But the daughter is still in her age where she isn't completely used to and does the same thing over and over all the time that it becomes stuck in her brain forever. This is another story that has to do with the immigration but the relationship with the family is more of a conflict than immigrattion. The problem of immigration is actually the mother because she is used to her old country so the immigration problem is a conflict within the family relationship.
In "Carolines Wedding" Grace's mother wants Grace to marry a Haitian man but, Grace loves a Bahamian. Grace and her mother talk about marrying a Haitian because they are from Haiti (,this an example of immigration). In the end of the story Grace's mother has to except the fact that Grace loves a guy with a different race then them. But just like in "Women Like Us" the immigration problem is within the family relationship. Her mom wants her to marry a Haition because thats where they are from but everything changes when you live in america.
They all have different stories but in the end they have the same conflict. As said when you live in america almost everyhting changes. If you are still in the age of getting used to (even as an young adult) and you dont have the exact same reutine. You will catch on to other things in America. Thats all similarities the three stories have by Edwidge Dandicat.
The three stories are very much about how mothers feel about what there daughters do with there life.
In woman like us, the mother doesn't approve of her daughter writing. she feels that she had worked so hard for her daughter to be a housewife and the daughter wants to write the mother shows her feelings by saying "and with what do you repay me? With scribbles on paper that are not worth the scrach of a pig's snout", which means that after everywoman in the daughter's family worked hard cooking, the daughter is writing scribbles that are worth nothing
Caroline's wedding is also about the daugter's mother disapproving what the daughter does. Carolines mother doesn't approve the fact that Caroline is marrying Eric Caroline's Fiance one way Caroline's mother expresses that is through her soup of which she thinks can stop Caroline from marying Eric.
Behind the mountains isn't too much the same as the other two books. The differences between the argueing is it is between father and son. The arueing that is happening is between the father and celiane's brother Moy about Moy not going to school. Moy's father wants moy to be in school while Moy wants to pursue art. Moy tries school abit and doesn't like it so goes and runs off somewhere to paint. soon hte father figures out that Moy is leaving and gets very upset at Moy.
The stories show a form of suffering of the Haitian-American or Haitian women in her stories. Danticat reuses the base conflict. All the protagonists are young, poor, Haitian or Haitian-American women, namely, the female narrator of "Caroline's Wedding," Grace, the unnamed from the epilogue and Célianne from "Behind the Mountains". The women struggle against money crisis as well as the personal despair, self-doubt, family prosperity, and a relation between mother and child.
For an example in "Women Like Us," of this struggle take the fact that the child uses used wrappers and cardboard to write with. She is then told of by her mother which results in the girl's low self-esteem. The relationship was built upon rules instead of wants. The mother is sadly not supportive to her daughter in writing.
In Caroline's Wedding the fact that the mother wants a Haitian man for Caroline instead of Eric is because of the tradition. Caroline married for the prosthetic limb and family prosperity to get out of economic crisis.
Célianne's mother, Manman is not as strict with traditions as the other mothers. However, they at one point had an economic crisis. The father had to leave for New York to pay the bills. This is how the story relates.
Another relation is that they all take place between the 1960s to the 1990s.
Behind the Mountains, Caroline's Wedding, and Women Like us all have one thing in common. America. Is is the common factor in all of these stories. America seems to have a negative influence in all of these stories. In Behind the Mountains, America has a negative effect on the family because once they moved there they started to fight. America broke the angelic illusion the family had of their father. Caroline's Wedding has a negative view of America because of a different reason. Living in America as changed Caroline in a not so good way according to Grace's mother. Caroline has no regard for tradition or respect in her mothers eyes. In Women Like Us the narrorator herself doesn't seem to have a negative feeling for America bit it is her mother who does. I think her mother thinks that America has changed her daughter because now she wants to be modern and not be a housewife. The narrotor wants to be a writer and her mother does not appreciate this
Hi its Stef.
In the stories, Behind the Mountains, "Caroline's Wedding," "Women Like Us," all of the stories are about people that are not American, and struggle with difficulties, such as not being able to reach a father, not being able to right, or trying to fit in to new life. In Caroline's wedding, Grace is always trying to get to her dead father through dreams, but though she always sees him in dreams, she can never touch him again. In behind the mountains, Celina is always trying to fit in, when she moves to new york city, and though she is in new york city, with her dad, who she hadn't seen is years, she misses home, doesn't know weather Haiti is better, or if New York.
All of these stories, there's an idea of overprotectness like each person has touched on. I think they're overprotective because they feel the new culture is dangerous, since the mother aren't even use to it yet. They don't want their children to adjust the new culture norm, which is why I feel they're overprotective.
All 3 stories are a little bit different:
In Behind the Mountains, the mother is a little bit resistant to the fact that they're leaving their home country, Haiti.
In Caroline's Wedding, the mother doesn't want her daughter, Caroline, to marry the english-native. She wants her to marry someone from Haiti
In Women Like Us, there are a set of rules that are applyed and that must be followed.
I feel that Behind the Mountains is the story with the least connection, but it has to deal with the struggles dealing with the mothers.
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