Molly Erlanger
Dr. Ellis
EN 385D
31 March 2015
Krik?
Krak!
Edwidge
Danticat’s Krik? Krak! details many
stories about the different ways in which Haitian women have suffered and been
forced to persevere in all sorts of situations. Though in different times and
places, each woman deals with immense hardships brought about by a country that
is constantly in turmoil. Each story tells of a struggle that not everybody can
fully understand. There are stories of unspeakable horrors, such as a pregnant
woman escaping across a river while her own mother is killed on the other side.
In the case of Lamort, the readers are given an example of a girl who has been
taught not to look into the eyes of the soldiers, because she knows this will
ultimately get her hurt. They are all limited in their actions and choices, not
only because they are women but because they are Haitian.
There
are multiple instances in the stories in which the privilege of being American
is acknowledged, whether it is outright or not. The very first story shows that
for many, it was better for them to die at sea while trying to make it to
America than stay in their country. Even in “The Missing Peace,” Emilie thinks
that having an American passport on her will protect her from the savagery of
some of the soldiers.
The
moment that struck me the most was in the beginning of “Caroline’s Wedding,”
when Ma essentially equates having a passport to being American. Grace and her
mother are so excited that she had finally been granted citizenship, and is
eligible for an American passport. Freedom is a basic American right, but I
think sometimes we forget how much freedom we actually have. We are free to
leave our houses at night without fear that someone might try to shoot us. Most
of us can sleep at night without fear that some soldier might break into our
home and beat us. More than any of this, we are free to travel outside of our
country and know that we will be welcomed back. We have much more freedom to
take charge of our own lives. An American passport symbolized protection and
freedom to move about for Emilie because these are the rights we are granted as
American citizens.
Though
I am aware of these rights, I think sometimes it is easy to take them for
granted when that is all I have ever known. Thankfully, I have never known
oppression and tragedy in the ways that these Haitian women have. Last year,
while living in the UK, I was stopped at the border once and questioned
endlessly about my reason for being there. They wanted proof of the university
I was attending, my classes, and even went so far as to inquire how much money
I had in my bank account. I was furious, as I almost missed my connecting
flight back to Newcastle, and could not understand why they would waste so much
time when I was clearly just a student. My program director later told me that
they have had a bad problem with asylum seekers in the UK, trying to sneak into
the country on student visas with US passports in order to escape their
oppressive home nations and find work. Some of these refugees adopt these
personas because they know the privilege that comes with the status of an
American student. As Americans, we tend to travel for the cultural experience. We
get bored of our American lives and want to see something different. Meanwhile,
there are plenty of people out there who are either trapped in their own
countries or being barred from entering ours.
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