How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #4
She said that in Haiti if your mother was a coal seller and you became a doctor, people would still look down on you knowing where you came from. But in America, they like success stories. The worse off you were, the higher your praise. (10.80)
Sophie's gotten herself into a situation with her mother by making up a Haitian boyfriend, Henry, to conceal her relationship with non-Haitian Joseph. Somehow, Martine manages to search out a pedigree for the fictional Henry—and it's not good, by Haitian standards. But in this case, Martine comes out on the American side of things. She discards the snobbery of her homeland for the belief in the American dream. This means that Henry, doctor-in-training, meets her approval. If only Henry were a thing, Sophie would have come out on the winning side of the culture clash.
Quote #5
Along the way, people stared at me with puzzled expressions on their faces. Is this what happens to our girls when they leave this place? They become frightened creatures that run like the wind, from nothing at all. (23.157)
Sophie has gone out for a jog in Dame Marie to clear her head. This is a pastime that is clearly unheard of in the village and causes Ifé's neighbors to wonder what the heck this young woman is doing. Sophie imagines that they think she is running in fear (why else would you run, really?), but she makes another, telling observation: that she's running from nothing. Ifé will tell Sophie on this trip that she is suffering from a particularly American disease—making mountains out of molehills. If Sophie wants to move ahead, she's going to have to let go of the hurtful things that really don't concern her.
Quote #6
"You are so tiny, so very petite. Why would you do that? I have never heard of a Haitian woman getting anything like that. Food, it was so rare when we were growing up. We could not waste it." (28.179)
This is Martine's response to Sophie's confession that she has bulimia. Martine is totally blown away, but not because her daughter is ill. It's because it's so not Haitian. Where could she be getting this from? What Martine does not yet understand is that Sophie's disorder is less about food and more about control. At the moment, it feels for Martine like the generation gap is getting larger, made worse by the cultural differences between their lives in Haiti and Brooklyn.