Grief In The Book 'The Farming Of Bones'

Nayana Angeles

Ms. Thomas

Honors English 2

March 31, 2023

Grief in The Farming of Bones

Grief inspires some of the greatest empathetic acts, while simultaneously fuelinghas also fueled some of the most horrific crimes ever ever committed. In Edwidge Danticat’sher book, The Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat tells the story depicts the fictional storyt of a young Haitian woman, named Amabelle Desir, who survives the Parsley Massacre of 1937. The book Danticat conveys that while remembering someone after their death can be a demonstartion of demonstrate love and compassion, it can also cause a person to become trapped in a cycle of guilt and pain. This is illustrated with the suffering of griefsuffering brought on by grief, people’s immortality

While hiding from soldiers, Amabelle places her hand over a woman’s mouth to keep her silent and with the purpose of saving both their lives. However, Amabelleshe accidentally suffocates her. Amabelle replays this moment over and over in her head and states that “Wherever I go, I will always be standing over her body.” (Danticat, 205). She looks back on this moment, convinced she is a cold blooded murderer. Rather than remembering the circumstances ofaround the tragedy, she isolates the woman’s death. She does notn’t honor the woman's memory, but rather makes her death seem pointless. By holding onto that evocation, she reframes it, creating her own dark and nightmarish

At the beginning of the novel, Amabelle expressed that as a result of her parent’s unexpected deaths, she had “never imagined [herself] getting older… all [her] dreams had been of the past”. (32) She became so absolved in the past that the continuation of her life seemed unfathomable. Her reaction to loss is juxtaposed with those around her after the massacre. When she saw people continuing to find joy in life she questioned “How can we not hate ourselves for the people we left behind?” (213) She reflected on how “nature has no memory.” (310) Despite all the depravity and death the earth has seen, it continues to flourish. And so, as the story concludes, Amabelle peacefully reenters the river in which her parents died, and “[lookes] for the dawn”. (310) The dawn symbolizes a rebirth; by embracing it Amabelle opens herself up to a bright new future. However, the author also emphasized we should not strive to completely forget the people we’ve lost. When Father Romaine, a once kind hearted priest, is tortured to the point of losing his memories and distorting his mind, he becomes a warped version of himself. He begins to spew racist ideologies; he states that future generations will have their “blood completely tainted” by the Haitians and must defend themselves! (259) Clearly, his lost memories did not turn him into a happier and less pained individual. Rather, he now