The Farming Of Bones By Edwidge Danticat

The Value of Memory and Recorded History

In the novel, The Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat delves into the power of memory by following a young, resilient girl who coped with the loss of her loved ones and grief. The story takes place in the Dominican Republic during the 1930-40’s. During that time, Rafael Trujillo, a wicked dictator, ordered Dominican soldiers to kill Haitians along the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti; Widely known as the “Parsley Massacre.” Danticat further explores the power of memory through the life events of Amabelle Desir, a young Haitian girl, who was orphaned at the age of eight. He interprets a death mask, wood, and religion to foreshadow the importance of memory and that everyone’s life is worth remembering.

A sugarcane field worker, Joël, is involved in a fatal car accident, in which he got hit by Señor Pico, the husband of the woman who Amabelle is the maid for. The death of Joël leaves the Haitian community in grief, especially Kongo, Joël’s father. Kongo is deeply dispirited by the loss of his son and makes a death mask for Joël as a memory of him. “‘I’ve made many.’ he said, ‘for all those who [...] will keep my son in mind.’” (Danticat, 123) By offering the death mask of his son to Amabelle, Kongo essentially records history, Joël. He assures that Joël’s life is remembered and seen in history, “even when [he’s] gone,” (Danticat, 123) He makes sure that Joël is alive in the community. The death mask symbolizes that Joël is still alive in the community because when he dies, he will not be able to honor his son’s legacy. While fleeing the massacre on the way to Haiti, Amabelle brings along the mask, so that Joël’s embodiment can live in their hometown, Haiti. Moreover, the death mask of Joël represents the importance of documenting history as a source of remembrance and honoring one’s

Unfortunately, he gets involved in the parsley massacre and is severely tortured, resulting in the loss of his memory. He does not remember anything besides repeating Rafael Trujillo’s propaganda, “We, as Dominicans, must have our separate traditions and our own ways of living. If not, in less then three generations, we will all be Haitians.” (Danticat, 161) Trujillo’s statement signifies that Rafael Trujillo uses memory for further exploitation of Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Father Romain’s memory loss results in him forgetting his heritage, his identity, and the effort he put in to protect the Haitian tradition. Although the novel portrays memory as a powerful element, it is destructible and can result in loss of