Hannibal Free Public Library Brother,
I'm Dying July 27, 2009 |
When
she was four, Edwidge Danticat's mother left
1.
Danticat
tells us that she has constructed the story
from the recollections borrowed from family
members. Discuss
what this work of reconstruction and
reordering means for the structure of the
story she presents, as well as for her own
understanding of what happened to the two
brothers.
2.
What
is the effect of her decision to end the book
with her Granmè Melina's story about the
girl who wanted the old woman to bring her
father back from the land of the dead? How
does the story reflect on the book as a
whole, and on the act of writing?
3.
How
does young Edwidge retain her loyalties to
her parents, even though they are absent from
her life for so many years? Is there evidence
that she feels hurt or rejected by their
decision to leave for the States? How does
she feel when they come back to visit
4.
If
so few words are passed between Danticat's
parents and their two children in
5.
Danticat
found a scrap of paper on which she had
written, soon after coming to
6.
How
does the family's engagement with
7.
Consider
the relationship between the two brothers,
Mira and Joseph. There is a significant
difference in age, and Mira has been away
from his brother for decades by the end of
the story. Despite this, they remain close.
What assumptions about kinship and family
ties are displayed in their love for each
other? Are these bonds similar to, or
stronger than, ties you would see between
American-born brothers?
8.
Does
what happened to Joseph while in custody in
9.
Danticat
says, “I am writing this only because they
can't.” [p. 26]
As a girl, Edwidge was often literally
her uncle's voice after his tracheotomy. Why
is it important that she also speak for her
father and her uncle in writing this memoir?
10.
What
is your response as a reader when Danticat
describes the death of her cousin, Marie-Micheline,
or her uncle's list of the bodies he has seen
on the street, or when she recounts the story
of the men laughing as they kick around a
human head, or the threat of the gangs to
decapitate her uncle Joseph, or the looting
and burning of his home and his church? How
does this violence resonate against the
warmth and love that are so clearly expressed
by the feeling of Danticat's extended family
members for each other?
11.
How
does Danticat convey a sense of the richness
of Haitian culture? What are the people like?
What are their folk tales like? How does
their use of both Creole and French affect
their approach to language and speech? How
does she make us feel the effects of the
violence and poverty that the Haitians
endure?
12.
Yvonne
Zipp commented
about the book in The Christian Science
Monitor, “If there's such a
thing as a warmhearted tragedy, Brother,
I'm Dying is a stunning
example.”
Do you agree?
Questions
adapted from:
www.randomhouse.com