Breath, Eyes: The Body and Stories

              I felt that the book had a lot to do with women and their bodies as the holders of their problems and stress. There were many instances of bodily abuse in the story. Some of the examples are done on by others, such as Martine being raped, people being beat by the Macoutes, and the intrusive feelings of being "tested". Others were done to themselves, such as Sophie's problems with bulimia, Atie's alcoholism, and in the end Martine's self abortion. Martine's abortion stood out largely to me as it seemed the enemy of her raper had become herself and her own body, at this point. Also, some were done by the world, such as health problems with cancer and more. I felt that all of these connections to the body represent the realistic problems that were happening around them and symbolically of what was happening to the Haitian world as it was deteriorating.
            I feel that these abuses also represent the ways in which Haitian women are controlled and may never be free, from their expectations by society, and themselves. The one way that it seemed that they could remain free was from telling parables and stories. It seemed it was the only way that they could have control over their own lives. It seemed that narratives gave the characters power, especially in Atie's case. At first I questioned as to what the deeper meaning of Atie's story telling was, but by the end I saw it was the one thing they all had in their lives that they could do by themselves and for others that gave them power.