How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #7
"You have become very American," she said. "I am not blaming you. It is advice. I want to give you some advice. Eat. Food is good for you. It is a luxury. When I just came to this country I gained sixty pounds my first year. I couldn't believe all the different kinds of apples and ice cream. All the things that only the rich eat in Haiti, everyone could eat them here, dirt cheap." (28.179)
While Martine doesn't really understand the underlying causes for Sophie's bulimia, she does understand what being a stranger in a strange land means. Her own experience with food in the U.S. illustrates that adapting to a new life often requires an immigrant to trust—not an easy place to get to, especially when moving from instability and unmet needs.
Quote #8
He was observing, watching for changes: In the way the customs people said Merci and au revoir when you bribed them not to search your bags. The way the beggars clanked the pennies in their tin cans. The way the van drivers nearly killed on another on the airport sidewalk to reach you. The way young girls dashed forward and offered their bodies. (35.228)
When Marc and Sophie arrive in Port-au-Prince with Martine's body, Marc is overwhelmed by all the changes he sees around him. He hasn't been back "home" for a long time, so he's basically a stranger to the place. Although Danticat doesn't editorialize too much on Marc's first experience back in Haiti, it's clear that his time in America has given him new eyes with respect to his homeland.
Quote #9
Listening to the song, I realized that it was neither my mother nor my Tante Atie who had given all the mother-and-daughter motifs to all the stories they told and all the songs they sang. It was something that was essentially Haitian. Somehow, early on, our song makers and tale weavers had decided that we were all daughters of this land. (35.230)
Haiti is a land of stories, possessing it's own folklore and mythology—all of it heavily feminine in nature. These stories bind Sophie and her mother to the land of their birth in a way that cannot happen in their adopted country. In this case, Haiti is quite literally the motherland. It's a role that can't be taken on by any other place.