"Women of the Night"
A Metaphor of Haiti's Plight.

Haiti has always been the home of many great storytellers. The island's culture and history has long been enriched by lively lyricists, enchanting tale-tellers, and the colorful, sometimes controversial, but always entertaining politicians that have tried to alter her past and mold her future. Edwidge Danticat lives up to the tradition with Krik? Krack!, a collection of short stories that explores Haitian identity, culture, and tradition from a fresh perspective. Many of her stories address the island's political state of affairs, but none are as symbolically profound as "Women of the Night." In this eight-page piece, Danticat creates a high-impact mental image of the troubles of a young Haitian prostitute as she ponders her life, and her son's future. If one delves deeper, however, it becomes increas- ingly clear that this simple story is full of metaphorical symbolism and makes a strong, yet subtle, political statement.

Danticat seems to have drawn a parallel between the prostitute/mother and Haiti itself. If one were to begin with this assumption, the reading of the text takes on an interesting and invaluble meaning.

"I cringe from the heat of the night on my face. I feel as bare as open flesh. Tonight I am much older than the twenty-five years that I have lived . The night is the time I dread most in my life. Yet if I am to live, I must depend on it." (Danticat 83)

Danticat opens her story with this statement. Assuming that the narrator represents Haiti, this suggests that the country is in a state of suffering, that the land has experienced more than it should for its years, and that it is in a time of foreboding, just as the narrator is. Danticat then begins a pattern that runs throughout the story by infusing the last line. It immediately calls for hope. It suggests that for the country to grow strong again, it must survive this dark period. Danticat continues her metaphorical message through the description of the other characters in the text. It seems that her son symbolizes the youth/future of Haiti, while the two "suitors" represent the two classes of present-day Haiti.

The narrator describes how she can see her son growing to the "broom-size" of a man and how a thin cloth separates them in their home, creating two worlds. There is a lot of imagery working here. There is a suggestion of separation between the youth of Haiti and the older generation, the distance of the people from the land and their past, and the need for the youth to clean-up, ("broom-size man"), or restore Haiti. The ghost of the father seems to be the Haiti of old, or the nation in its Golden Age, which disappeared when Haiti began to experience its cylcical state of revolution. There is also a suggestion of new found hope in the description of the firefly finding the boy in his sleep. The boy kills the mosquitoes in his sleep, unwittingly destroys predators, but in such a way that the evidence is left upon his face, perhaps a commentary on the efforts presently being made in the country.

While continuing her tale, Danticat cleverly weaves the metaphor through. The narrator speaks of her two suitors and the neglect they have of the condition of her home. It can be inferred that this is a reference to the manner in which the Haitian people have treated their homeland.

She speaks of the way that the suitors prefer watching the stars through the holes in her ceiling to patching it. This suggests that the people would rather wish and dream for improvement than take action themselves, because it's easier. She speaks of the way that the suitors come to her home; the doctor bearing flowers, (pretty, but die easily), seems to be the high class/elite of Haiti. Danticat seems to be saying that these people, for all their intents and purposes, only make feeble attempts to aid the country, and are more concernced with their own personal needs. The muscisian, representing the common people, brings nothing but makes the sound of his accordian in her ear while they have sex; an implication that the people do what they know and can, but it still amounts to empty words, not actions. The most provacative image/implication comes through the description of Emanuelle/the doctor's words when he has been satisfied: "He calls me an avalanche, a waterfall, when he is satisfied." (Danticat 88) Not exactly a flood, however could it be a suggestion of satisfaction through "L'avalace'?

Through out this image-filled narrative, Danticat has also weaved a strong thread of hope. In her description of the mountain stories, the ghosts with stars in their hair, the rainbow with serpents, (voodoo reference), at one end and the hat of gold at the other, (which I personally think is a description of the duality of Haitian existence), and the coming of the angels sometime during the night, Danticat has called for hope from the people. The last line of the text is a reference to the angels and strongly suggests that their is a chance of salvation, there is a reason to keep hope alive.

All in all, this short story seems to be one of the more important narratives in the collection. It is masterfully written, for while it works perfectly as an intriguing short story, it obviously suggests strong political/cultural concerns for Haiti and her people as a whole. The fact that is most interesting about this tale is that it is the shortest one in the collection, yet it is one of the most suggestive and provocative. Funny, Haiti is one of the smallest nations in the world, yet it has had a major impact on the course of modern history. Coincidence? Maybe, but its a damn interesting one.