formalism

Högskolan Dalarna
Literature D-Level Essay
Supervisor: Mats Tegmark

The Construction of Identity in Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones

Mohammad Wahidul Islam
830301-T236
Armegatan 32/0116
Solna 17171 [e-mail] Table of contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………….1
How Danticat Communicates Her Views on Post-Colonial Identity to Her
Readers…………………………………………………………………………3
Identity is Constructed Through Conflicts………………………………… 9
External Conflicts between Two Nations…………………………………….9
Internal Conflicts of the Characters…………………………………………. 16
Rays of Hope to Bridge the Gaps…………………………………………….17
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………22
Works Cited………………………………………………………………….24

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Introduction
All I want to do is find a place to lay it down now and again, a safe nest where it will neither be scattered by the winds, nor remain forever buried beneath the sod (Danticat 266)

Edwidge Danticat’s career defining novel The Farming of Bones (1998) has a lot to say on the subject of identity construction. It deals with the embodiment of pain and pleasure, past and present, and dream and reality of an individual who experiences the complexities of her social and national identity in a post-colonial society marked by unequal relations of social and economical power, social clashes, and experiences of otherness and inferiority. The novelist has soundly harmonized the female protagonist
Ambelle’s description of the events, and the way she tells Ambelle’s story is heartrending leaving the reader in sadness. Amabelle herself is a witness and at the same time a victim of the many brutal incidences. That is why her narrative intensifies the reader’s feelings. Danticat’s fictional representation of history in this novel gives a dramatic effect to the reader that is exceptional. The Farming of Bones is based on the events surrounding the brutal slaughtering and massacre of Haitians in the Dominican
Republic during the rule of Rafael