How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #1
My mother said it was important that I learn English quickly. Otherwise, the American students would make fun of me or, even worse, beat me. A lot of other mothers from the nursing home where she worked had told her that their children were getting into fights in school because they were accused of having HBO—Haitian Body Odor. Many of the American kids even accused Haitians of having AIDS because they had heard on television that only the "Four Hs" got AIDS—Heroin addicts, Hemophiliacs, Homosexuals, and Haitians. (7.51)
Sophie is getting a double dose of anxiety in her new homeland. She's hitting the ground at a place and time where to be Haitian-American is particularly difficult. Sophie will have to endure prejudicial comments from white Americans, including the sense that she's dirty or contaminated. On the other side of things, there is a kind of protective self-segregation that will keep Martine and Sophie reliant on the Haitian community in Brooklyn. Though Martine wants Sophie to learn English quickly, there's never a sense on either side that she'll ever "blend in": her mother won't hear of her dating an African-American man and those outside the Haitian community can't see her as anything but "other."
Quote #2
After her consultation with Erzulie, it became apparent to the bleeding woman what she would have to do. If she wanted to stop bleeding, she would have to give up her right to be a human being. She could choose what to be, a plant or an animal, but she could no longer be a woman. (12.87)
Sophie recalls the story of the woman who could not stop bleeding and who chooses to end her suffering by becoming a butterfly. It is telling that Erzulie asserts that to be human—and especially to be a woman—is to bleed. Sophie understands by this that to be human is to feel pain—overwhelming, uncontrollable distress that can only be stopped when the human condition is left behind. That's bleak.
Quote #3
"This here is my granddaughter, Uncle Bazie," my grandmother said to an old man sitting on the side of the road. He was slashing a machete across a thin piece of sugar cane. He took off his hat and bowed in my direction.
"Whereabouts she from?" asked the old man.
"Here," answered my grandmother. "She's from right here." (17.115-116)
Ifé introduces Sophie around Dame Marie when she returns with Brigitte. Before Sophie can even self-identify, her grandmother claims her for Haiti. While she may have spent the last decade in the U.S., it's clear that Sophie's roots can never be shaken—for better and worse.