Freedom In Danticat's Nineteen Thirty-Seven

The Truth in the Myth: Lougarous and liberation in Danticat’s “Nineteen thirty-seven.”
Caribbean folklore functions as a vehicular tool for Danticat to discuss ideas of politics and gender in ‘Nineteen thirty-seven’. The cultural transmission of folklore is central to the story’s thematic resonance. The word of mouth nature of storytelling ensures the preservation of a tragically monumental episode in Haitian history, in addition to a feministic outlook on this event. The legend of the ‘Lougarou’ is emblematic of both political freedom and feminine freedom.
Josephine’s mother is a focal point of this story, particularly in relation to her past and her identity as a Lougarou. A certain notion of ambivalence surrounds her for Josephine. She

One can associate the Lougarou with “transgressive female figures” (Chen 49) who do not abide by cultural gender norms and need to be controlled. This perspective is supported in Josephine’s description of the living conditions in her mother’s prison. She emphasizes how the guards made the women “throw tin cups of cold water at one another so that their bodies would not be able to muster up enough heat to grow those wings made of flames” (Danticat 37) If we are to take my above reading of the Lougarou and her “flight” as a symbol of escape and freedom, then in this quote the prison guards, notably male figures and figures of authority, literally quench the freedom of the women under their power and their ‘transgression’ from social norms. Most strikingly, however, is the guards treatment of Josephine’s mother when she is believed to have shed her skin and flown, rebelling against the enforced patriarchal rules. She is beaten to death in front of the other prisoners in the yard, “Like a dog”. (Danticat 47) Her body is then burned and “they will make these women watch” (Danticat 48). Women such as Josephine’s mother who are said to appear like the Lougarou are dehumanized by male authority. They are “condemned for behaviour that focuses on liberation”. (Anatol 6) As such, it can be said that Danticat uses the legend of the Lougarou to comment on normative attitudes towards women and an anxiety over an inability to control