Notes of Four stories

Character list

Male Narrator: He loves the female narrator. He doesn't want to see young kids and other people dying around him. He feels suffering by seeing that. In the end he died.

Female Narrator: She wants to see the male narrator. She believes that she and the male narrator will meet in one day. She doesn't like the way her father opposing her love.

Papa: Father of the female narrator, he pays macoutes to protect his family. Actually he doesn't want to opposing his daughter's love but he has to. Because he think if female and male narrator fall in love they will be killed by macoutes. Papa just wants to protect his family from danger.

Pregnant women(Celianne): she is raped by her brother. Macoutes also force her brother to rape her mom. After the baby dies, she suicide.

Manman: Female narrator's mother. She believes love, but she feels shocked and helpless when she knows that her neighbors was murdered

Roger: neighbors of female narrator, her son was killed by macoutes.

Summarize

Male narrator and female narrator fall in love. After her dad finds out that the male narrator is one of the members that against the macoutes, he begins to oppose his daughter's love. Because their neighbor's son is also one of the members who against the macoutes. Male narrator begins to run away from Haiti, so he goes on a boat. During the navigation the male narrator sees many people died. He feels suffering and sad. On the boat there's a pregnant women, after her baby dies, she also suicide. In the end there's a black butterfly land near to the female narrator. In the beginning manman says that bright butterfly brings happy and black brings death. It means that male narrator dead in the end of the story. In the end the female narrator understand her the reason why her dad oppposes her love.

Personal Response

In that time period, people were controlled by papa doc, papa doc is a dictator. He lets macoutes to attack or kill people who against his power. Female narrator's neighbor's son and Male narrator are one of the member of youth federation that against papa doc. People at that time leave in fear and hopeless. The author uses two narrators to represent all the citizens who are protesters or the people live in hopeless and fear. These narrators don't have name so they can represent everyone in the Haiti society.

Character list

Josephine 

Manman(unnamed)

Jacqueline( like a sister)---ritual/ part of the voodoo religious group---secret/storytelling code language

grandmother (unnamed)

Themes 

Hopeless at first---hope at the end 

death=refuse/freedom escape oppression

separation---connection

connections---parents/child relationship
understanding of past

symbol

fire= blood/hatred 

fear(wing of fire)---power freedom(flight)

Madonna

Christian statue---using it as code mary 

female power.

Character list

Guy: work for a factor, he has a low social status. 

Lili: she doesn't have a job, she just takes care of Little Guy. 

Little Guy: Son of this family 

Themes

Little Guy going to act boukman in the play.

Guy finds an extra work to do in the factory.

Lili gives all the attention to Little Guy.

Guy steals hot air balloon

Guy put little guy's name on the list, but Lili wants her son to stay in school so that he can have a better future. 

 Symbols

Hot air ballon= freedom and escape from the normal life. It also shows that Guy is selfish, he just escapes by suicide. 

Character List

Female Narrator( unnamed)---mother of a son, she is also a prostitute. She always tells lies to her son that she makes up for the angel who is going to come. She is afraid that her son is going to find out the truth one day. She hates her job, but she has to earn money to support her son. 

Summarize

A mother has to earn money by being a prostitute. She wants to protect her son, so she always says to her son that she makes up for a coming angel. Every time when her son sees a man staying with his mom, the mom will say that is your father. 

This story has some connection with last story, this story is like the thing that happened after Guy died. In this story the mother also has a son.