Friday, January 6, 2017

1937 Notes 1/6/17

1937
Characters:
Girl- Josephine
Mother 
Jacqueline (mother's friend/group of river)
Madonna (Virgin Mary/symbol of purity) --> crying involves the Voodoo aspect
Prisoners

Story:
-Mother was accused of being a Voodoo Priestess (She did indeed practice Voodoo)
-Mother dies from gross mistreatment in prison (malnutrition) 
--> prison guards beat her (could have though she was escaping/no use in saving/etc.) 
-Guards tell daughter that the mother died in the prison 
-Jaqueline tells the story of river:
Mother dipped hands in the river to pay homage to what happened in 1937 (grandmother's dead body in the river)
-Mother escaped from Dominican Republic to Haiti through the massacre river while pregnant 
-Fire wings were a symbol of escape/freedom (blood)
-Daughter finally understands her mother's power and reason
-Daughter embraces mother at the end and continues her tradition 


Notes:
-Voodoo is a religion, not magic 
-Voodoo was made illegal at the time 
-Huge divide between mother and daughter at the beginning, but reconciliation in the end
-Everything is superstition 
-Fire Wings is a way for the women to support each other's freedom and practice of voodoo 
-Men wanted to make sure women had no power
-Flying = Freedom 

Themes:
Gender --> male dominated society/women in prison 





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