Leonard Pitt's 'Sometimes The Earth Is Cruel'

Analysis of “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel”

January 14, 2010 Leonard Pitts published “Sometimes the Earth is cruel.” The focus of this article is to point out the hardships that occur in Haiti. Haiti has been unlucky in being the center of natural disasters. “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel” illustrates the repeated devastation that occurs in Haiti, most countries’ citizens’ inability to truly understand the devastation, and the survivor’s necessity to recover and live on.

In Pitts article, he describes how it is always Haiti’s turn to experience natural disaster. A Haitian is described as Pitts explains, “Surely some homeless, dust-streaked Haitian can be forgiven for thinking it is always Haiti’s turn, just days after the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere saw it’s capital city smashed by the strongest earthquake it has ever known, a 7.0-magnitude monster” (Pitt’s 1). The earth is cruel to the wretchedly poor and unstable Haitians. They go through the devastation of natural disasters more than any other countries. The tragedies that Haiti has gone through has cost many lives and Haitian families struggle in the midst of the destruction and the lost loved ones. The destruction make the Haitians feel diminutive and they aspire to be like the Americans who do not have their turn of natural disaster nearly as much as they do.

He stated, “[Haitians have to] Dig out. Weep and mourn. Memorialize the dead. Rebuild. Go on. And show the world once again a stubborn insistence on living, despite all the cruelties of the earth” (2). Haitians can weep for their lost loved ones, yet, the survivors need to rebuild their homes so that they can live. If they spend all their time mourning, they will never be able to have a stable life. Haitians need to move on from their weeping to keep up with the busyness of everyday