“But, I wanted her to live.”- Edwidge Danticat

Danticat, grew up in the Haiti years after the 1937 Massacre of Haitian people by Rafael Trujillo the Dominican dictator yet, through Haiti’s strong tradition of sharing their history through oral tradition she grew up around the stories of the victims.
One in particular, about a servant names Amabelle stuck with her. When she began writing Danticat decided she wanted Amabelle’s story of love, exile, and commitment to be immortalized on paper instead of just by tongue. Danticat recognizes that the reason the Haitian community thrives on today, is because they all shared a sense of unity. With every problem, the community would face the consequences together.  She also decided that in her version of the story Amabelle would live.
This powerful fact, prompted me to pick up The Farming of Bones, the idea that someone believed that the story of a nearly forgotten Haitian servant was so important that they needed to share it with the world captured my attention and made me want to learn more about the story of Amabelle. Upon, opening the book I immediately felt accepted into the Haitian community.
Danticat is able to paint the picture of the massacre river, so vividly that I too felt like I was “walking on the mass grave of people”. Through her exquisite characterization of Amabelle, I found myself rooting for the heroin to overcome the Dominican Republics’ army, and become independent from not only the government but, also the family she was enslaved too. While reading the novel it is all too easy to forget that Amabelle’s struggles and journey’s were all real. By the time I reached the end of the work I was clenching the sides of the book in fear that Amabelle would too reach the fate of Sebastian and other other servants in Haiti- death by the Dominican government. I was relieved to see that my new friend, Amabelle, was left to live and continue her life thanks to Danticat’s creative reworking of the tale but, also rattled because I knew the only thing separating the novel from fact- and fiction was the omission of Amabelle’s slaughter.
Upon reflecting on the work, I feel I not only better understand what the Haitian community went through during the massacre but, also got a look into Danticat’s mind. I feel as though I am unified with Danticat, and Amabelle just as the Haitian community united during the massacre in order to overcome their oppressor.