How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Aba lavichè. Down with poverty.
Pa fe vyolans. Don't commit violence.
Aba kidnaping. Down with kidnapping.
Nou vle lape. We want peace.
Nou gen dwa pou nou edike tout moun. We want to educate everyone.
These slogans are a big joke, cos there's only poverty in the Site, and violence is everywhere. (1.195)
Signs posted throughout the Site say stuff like this. The saddest part about the signs is that violence is everywhere in the Site. It's the way of life. Shorty fills us in on this fact through jokes—as in, how funny the sign says "no violence" when it's all over the place. Yeah, we're not laughing, either.
Quote #2
They're doing it for revenge, not freedom, and that will kill their revolution before it's even born, like a slave mother doing violence to herself to destroy her mulat baby in the womb, the fruit of rape killed on the branch before it can fall. (4.13)
Toussaint can tell that many of his fellow rebels are only involved in the revolution so they can repay violence with violence. Can you blame them? He tells us they've been tortured, raped, murdered, and more as slaves. Yet he wants to change the system since no one will win from more violence.
Quote #3
He hoped that Isaac had remained inside the cottage, as he had instructed. Toussaint's son was a sensitive lad, although nearly a man, and not the type who should be involved in violence. (4.52)
Later, when we meet Isaac, it's clear what Toussaint means. The kid owns books, not weapons. Still, we wonder: Is there a type of man who should be involved in violence? We might argue that violence isn't something that anyone should aspire to, regardless of what type of person they are.