How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
You know Marassa? They're lwa, gods, the gods of twins—super-strong, super-hardcore, even though they look like three little kids. They're some of the oldest gods from Africa. Even now in vodou, the Marassa come right after Papa Legba in the ceremony. Marassa can heal you, can bring you good luck, can make people fall in love with you. (1.64)
Where was Marassa when we were suffering through a cold last week? Shorty explains the magic behind the god since he's guessing we're not as familiar with voodoo as he is. Since he (and Toussaint) were born twins, he has extra special powers. Or so many people believe…
Quote #2
Vodou, it's the old religion of Haiti. The slaves brought it over from Africa. In vodou, you got lwa, who are like gods, but sometimes they can be ancestors, too. Haitians, they believe that the lwa can come down and possess their bodies during ceremonies, talk through them. We call it mounting—the lwa mounts you and uses your body. (1.87)
Again we're let in on the traditions associated with the supernatural. And again we get the idea that Shorty tries to separate himself from people who believe in this stuff. We can't help but wonder how much of this is tied up in belief in other beings (like ghosts, deities, you name it), and how much deals with the culture of the people in Haiti.
Quote #3
Manman, though, she loved all of it, and she believed in it all, even if she knew me and my sister were frauds, were bulls***. She had a houngan she went to. (1.88)
Shorty distinguishes between what his mom believes (voodoo) and what he does (nothing), which makes us question whether this stuff is real or not. It also makes us think about how Shorty and Marguerite are involved in voodoo, but don't necessarily buy into it themselves. In other words, appearances aren't always reality.
Quote #4
The ancient houngan stepped forward and, taking a stick, drew a symbol in the mud. Toussaint flinched at the man's eyeless sockets. His master had ordered them to be put out when the houngan – who was called Louis, even though that wasn't his true name—had dared to look upon his daughter in her underclothes. (2.57)
Just like Shorty, Toussaint isn't into houngans and magical deities; he gets that a lot of the supernatural experience is rooted in performance instead of reality. Sure, people might believe in the gods, but they're more interested in watching someone get healed or put on a good show.
Quote #5
When I was a boy, a houngan said that I had half a soul. My twin sister died when we were young. The houngan told me about Marassa, said we had power when we were together, but when my sister died the power was lost. (6.30)
Even though this is talking about Toussaint, it could be about Shorty. He, too, was a twin with power back in the day. It's no coincidence that these two share similar experiences and are both twins. We later learn that Toussaint is now in Shorty because of his pwen. If that's not supernatural, we don't know what is.
Quote #6
As he dragged himself back to the plantation, Toussaint saw the magic trick of slavery, and he knew Boukman was right. This was the magic: it was merely an idea that made men into animals. (6.93)
Slavery isn't something we'd describe as magical, yet we understand what Toussaint means here. He's pointing out that slave-owners somehow pull one over on everyone (much like a magician) by claiming men are animals and can be owned.
Quote #7
It's a stone with a god in it, from the old country. A gede lwa, one of our ancestors. It's meant to protect me, so I think, well, now is the time. I hold it in my hand. It's smooth, round. It's like it came from the sea it's so polished. I thought it didn't work when I got shot in the arm and ended up in here. But now I think, what if it stopped me getting shot in the heart? Or in the head? (7.54)
Hmm… that's a head scratcher. Shorty tells us about his pwen and how he's come to appreciate it more now that he has a new perspective. Check out how he describes it as "polished," "round," and "smooth." What does this make you think of? Why is it important that the stone looks perfect?
Quote #8
It is impossible to need a thing without that thing being available for the having. A man may want a green horse that flies, but he cannot need one, for there is no such thing. (8.49)
Toussaint tries to think about the difference between needing and wanting. Just because he might want something, doesn't mean he needs it. The way he describes it? Through magic, of course. It plays a big part in Toussaint's understanding of what he should fight for in life and what can be left behind.
Quote #9
Together, we're Marassa. We have power. We can heal. We can see the future—we can change it, even. I didn't believe this before, but then I thought, what if it's true? (15.245)
As Shorty starts to question whether the supernatural that he's always suspected and mocked is real or not, we see him trying to console himself. We're not saying it's not true, but we also think it's important to think about context. Maybe Shorty just wants to believe it's real so he has a reason to go find his sister.
Quote #10
For the first time he understood why vodou believed the dead to rest under the sea, for the narrative of the world was one of exodus—from the womb, from Eden—and return. The slaves had come to Haiti by the sea, and it seemed that it was to the sea that they were destined to return. (20.43)
There's symmetry to it all, we'll give them that. We like the idea of returning to somewhere that Toussaint describes here. It dawns on us that he's getting this for the first time, which means he didn't quite believe it until he was ready to die himself. Poetic, much?