Blog Number 8

I believe that storytelling, in relation to Krik? Krak! Is very important. By having her short stories be part of story that is being told, allows the reader to embrace the story with an understanding that it took place perhaps in Danticat’s family.  That being said, there is a lot of sentiment behind each story, and a gentle way in which it reads. By having storytelling be a part of them, the reader is able to sense the impact each story has/had on their family. Many address struggles, happiness, sadness, hope, etc., so to know that they (the characters) may have been part of the author’s family, gives it a deeper, more heavier feeling.

One story that comes to mind when I think of this is “Nineteen-Thirtyseven”. Out of all of the stories we have read, including the epilogue, I found this one to be most heartbreaking and emotional. Because the main character literally watches her mother be abused by the prison, suffer, and die, it makes her realization of how strong her mother was even more genuine to the reader. Like the narrator, we (the reader) can feel as though we went through it with her; we read about her mistreatment, we read about her difficulties, and we read about her death. We as a reader were able to conclude how strong of a woman she already was, so when the narrator comes to that conclusion on her own, it is very powerful to herself, and to us. Then, in addition, if this a true story, we can realize that Danticat had many of the same feelings as we did. If it is not a true story, but rather just a tale, it still teaches us strong morals. Her story telling allows us to read and view the story from our own perspectives and to feel as though we truly know the characters as well as recognize the emotions that the narrator is going through, despite whether we have been in their shoes or not. We learn how their emotions feel through the telling of the story.

In the epilogue, it was hard for me to think that the writer was any but Danticat. Assuming it was her, it was inspiring to read about her desire to write about the women in her family. Not only that, but looking back on the stories, I find them to be even more compelling and gripping. When I first thought it was her, it taught and showed me all of the appreciation she has for the women in family, the different paths they took in their lives, the struggles they faced as well as their successes. If it truly was her who decided to write about her female ancestors, than I believe, at least for me, that she has done such a marvelous job at showing readers how much you can learn from your own family and their personal experiences. Then, by sharing it, she proved how much other, outside people can benefit and learn from them.