Breath, Eyes, Memory

Breath, Eyes, and Memory is about the story of a young girl, Sophie, who reunites with a mother she hardly knows. As the years go by, Sophie learns of the horrifying past of her mother. Consequently, she inherits this past and experiences her own pain and suffering. It is through this that makes Sophie and her mother closer to one another.

In reading this story, it was hard for me to understand why the rape of Sophie’s mother would continue to consume her entire life. I know that it was a very traumatic event, but I would imagine that she would have gotten over it as she was more removed from it, in both time and place. She moved from Haiti to the United States to get away from this, but wherever she was it would still haunt her. As she got older, it seemed to get worse and worse. But it was towards the end of the story, where we are given a clue as to why Sophie’s mother lived in this constant state of fear. Sophie’s therapist tells her that her mother never gave him a face and that’s why he’s a shadow and that’s why he controls her (209). Without a face, it could be any man that could have raped her. Thus, it seems to make sense as to why she would be consumed by this rape. For Sophie’s mother to move past this, she would have to confront her fear and give this man a face. However, it was too late for her. She let the man who raped her get the best of her.

The Joys of Motherhood

This novel is about the life of a Nigerian woman, Nnu Ego. She endures many struggles such as not being able to bear a child, having to move to a city, dealing with a new husband, and having to raise and support the children. Despite minor setbacks, Nnu Ego perseveres through all of this.

In this story, we see a conflict of traditional and modern values. This is apparent in the children of Nnu Ego and Nnaife. They expected their children to adhere to traditional values. However, these values were not in line with those of the society that they now lived in. For instance, Oshia was counted on to support the family. Nnaife clearly expressed this as he asked Oshia when he was going to take on his family responsibilities (220). But Oshia had no intentions of taking on these responsibilities. He had different values and plans of his own which included continuing his education in the States. He was never actually going to fulfill the role his parents wanted him to. All of this came as a shock to Nnaife who quickly disowned Oshia. On the other hand, Nnu Ego came to grips with this reality. She became aware that times were changing and that she could not always live life according to traditional values or force her children to do the same. The only she could do was support and love her son. “The joy of being a mother was the joy of giving all to your children” (224). She did give everything, especially all her support to her children. She also let go of things like the children she deeply loved. It was out of this love that she did not fight the new values that were settling around her.