How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #1
I never said this to my mother, but I hated the Maranatha Bilingual Institution. It was as if I had never left Haiti. All the lessons were in French, except for English composition and literature classes. Outside the school, we were "the Frenchies," cringing in our mock-Catholic-school uniforms as the students from the public school across the street called us "boat people" and "stinking Haitians." (9.66)
It's pretty clear that Sophie doesn't care for her mother's careful choices for her education. She feels that she can't ever fully assimilate to her new country because she is hedged in by the Haitian community in the U.S. Her attendance at the Maranatha Bilingual Institution only emphasizes her otherness and makes her mother's suggestion to learn English quickly kind of a joke. The mixed signals Sophie receives ("You're American now!" and "Remember you are Haitian") makes it truly difficult for her to fit in, resulting in a serious sense of isolation.
Quote #2
Inside the train, there were listless faces, people clutching the straps, hanging on. In Haiti, there were only sugar cane railroads that ran from the sugar mill in Port-au-Prince to plantation towns all over the countryside. Sometimes on the way home, some kids and I would chase the train and try to yank sugar cane sticks from between the wired bars. (10.77)
Sophie is on the subway in New York but her mind travels back to her childhood days in Haiti. There's no value judgment in her connection of the two places, except to say that the trains in Haiti were scarce and therefore more of a source of joy for her there. This moment is more important in illustrating the constant fluidity of place that Sophie experiences after she leaves Haiti. Even though she lives in New York, her mind is always drawing connections to the place of her birth.
Quote #3
"It is really hard for the new-generation girls," she began. "You will have to choose between the really old-fashioned Haitians and the new generation Haitians. The old-fashioned ones are not exactly prize fruits. They make you cook plantains and rice and beans and never let you feed them lasagna. The problem with the new generation is that a lot of them have lost their sense of obligation to the family's honor." (10.80)
Martine sums up the difficulty for many immigrant women in a new land: how will they bridge the gap between their old lives and their new ones? Will they choose to continue participating in their ethnic communities, the diaspora in a new land? Or will they look for a partner that will take them one step closer to assimilation? Note that Martine has no intention of encouraging Sophie to choose an American outside of the Haitian-American community. She's not ready to cut her ties so completely.