The Farming Of Bones Sparknotes

The novel, The Farming of Bones, is a commentary on the disparities between classes in the Dominican Republic during the Haitian Parsley Massacre. The people of the Dominican Republic and Haiti are separated by language, race, and most dramatically, wealth. The author, Edwidge Danticat, uses the motif of food to emphasize how discrimination of class inhibits people’s agency over their lives.
Foremost, the story establishes food as an integral part of social connections. It states that “in his sermons to the Haititans congregants of the valley,” Father Romain “reminded everyone of common ties: language, foods, history, carnival, songs, tales, and prayers” (Danticat 73). These ties are the social connections all people share, which allow them

Time spent enjoying food strengthens the connections between people throughout the story. While in conditions devoid of nourishment, such as the cane workers’, sharing the little food they have creates a feeling of collaboration toward survival. Because of this, one may expect food to be the most uniting of the common ties, but instead, it emphasizes the inequality of the population. While Amabelle and Sebastien eat home-grown yams, an earthy root that is poisonous unless cooked carefully, the upper-class Haitians, “whose families have been in Alegría for generations,” have estates “full of fruit trees… mangoes and avocados especially” (Danticat 68). Mangoes are flavorful, golden fruits that reflect the prosperous social status of those who grow them. Avocados are difficult to manage, and hence too risky for poor workers like Sebastien to grow, boldening the class difference. In addition, the rich are “regarded… as people who had their destinies in hand” (Danticat 68). Those with money have the privilege to make decisions about their lives. Both the upper and working-class Haitians originate from the same place, but

After his father’s release from prison, his family has a celebratory feast where his father “eats until he falls over with his face in the plate” (Danticat 129). The meal was supposed to be “all the rich food he dreamt about in prison” (Danticat 129), on the contrary, the celebration ruins cuisine for the rest of Yves’ life. This functions as a counterargument to the motif as a whole, as cooked or otherwise appetizing food is a sign of prosperity. However, for Yves, it is the cause of his suffering and the reason his future at the plantation is bleak. He advises his friends to not eat “enough to kill [them]” (Danticat 146); and while he sleeps he has nightmares where he begs his father to not “die on [his] plate of food” (Danticat 129). He believes food is a killer that tears people from their futures. Instead of being the manifestation of control, it is the shackle that inhibits people. However, later in the story, his mother reveals that she filled the meal with “flour-fine glass and rat poison,” exposing how his father worked as a spy, which would lead many to “die because of his betrayal” (Danticat 277). In reality, she uses food to protect others at the cost of Yves’ father. Instead of being the agency for an individual to improve their own livelihood, food is the choice between the future of her son and the future of her country. She chooses the masses,