In the novel Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, stories are used to symbolize how individuals from Haiti use hope to persevere. Many people from Haiti experience several hardships and despair, most of these people use hope to deal with it. In an attempt to endure despair, feelings of hope may seem like the only answer. Hope and despair connect in multiple ways, some of those who experience despair have hope. While this novel highlights a number of instances of despair, it is ultimately a novel that symbolizes hope because it shows how Haitans use hope for the means to stay alive. Hope comes up in different ways throughout the novel, in the chapter “A Wall of Fire Rising”, Guy uses hope as a reason to stay alive. Guy has a reason, he has a dream. One day Guy was telling his wife, Lili, about his dream, “I'd like to sail off somewhere and keep floating until I get to a really nice place with a nice pot of …show more content…
In “Night Woman,” even though she experiences many despairs, she still continues to have hope. This woman sleeps with men at night to make a living for her and her son. Although she hates doing this, she needs to in order to provide for her son. She has hope that one day she will be able to get out of that lifestyle. She uses angels as a symbol of hope. Although her son doesn't know about her job, she tells him that soon they will live a better life, “Darling, the angels have themselves a lifetime to come to us” (75). She is hoping that one day “angels” will come and save them. She hopes that one day she won’t have to sleep with all of those men, she hates that part of her life. She dislikes night time, the time she has to go to work, “The night is the time I dread the most in my life. Yet if I am to live, I must depend on it” (121). Even Though this is something she detests, it is the only thing that will help her financially support her son. Her son is her reason to keep working, hope is the reason to continue with her