Topic > Ancestral Trauma in the Breath, in the Eyes, in the Memory by Edwidge Danticat

Ancestral trauma can be inherited in Black people and communities of color. In Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, Sophie Caco is a Haitian woman who immigrated to the United States to be with her mother (Martine) after living most of her childhood in Haiti without her. Throughout the text, Sophie describes various types of trauma experienced by her, her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother. Sophie carries with her the thought of inheriting her mother's psychological problems as she becomes a young adult, which is influenced by watching her mother experience nightmares of rape, testing of virginal purity, and the fear of being raped again. The trauma Martine experienced affected Sophie because she developed a negative attitude towards her body physically and sexually. In Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, Sophie carries the burden of inheriting her mother's psychological problems, which influence her development as a person who has experienced childhood trauma (caused by her mother), feeling ashamed of her body and not experiencing sexual desires. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the text, Sophie's fear of inheriting her mother's psychological problems influenced her development as a person who experienced childhood trauma (caused by her mother) through the ordeal she passed as the basis for virginal purity. Testing, in the context of Breath, Eyes, Memory, was a way for a mother to ensure that her daughter remained pure because it was her responsibility to keep her that way. In the book, Sophie talks about the first time her mother did this to her as a child. He states: “I closed my legs and tried to see Tante Atie's face. I could understand why she screamed as her mother tested her. There are secrets you can't keep” (Danticat 85). Here, the “secret” that Sophie tried to hide from her mother was her relationship with Joseph. His mother wanted him to focus on becoming a doctor and not on love and the possibility of it being harmful. This was something Sophie knew she didn't want, but she couldn't bear the thought of telling her mother. He wanted freedom and the ability to experience what it was like to be in love. In the text, Sophie carried the burden of inheriting her mother's psychological problems, which affect how she feels about her body. In the third section of the book, when she returns to Haiti with her daughter Brigitte, Sophie makes a comment about her body. Sophie says: “Even though it had been so long since I'd given birth, I still felt extremely fat. I took off Joseph's shirt and rubbed my flesh with the leaves in the water” (Danticat 112). Here, the choice of words that Sophie uses to describe her body is concerning, not only because she had just given birth, but using those words is harsh and can have a negative impact on a person's body image. Sophie continues to state that the leaf stems left marks on her skin and this reminded her of her mother's ordeals and the great goosebumps it would give her (Danticat 112). I think this, along with the choice of words she uses to describe her body, further shows that her mother influenced how she viewed her body and how she felt about it. As a result of the psychological problems that Martine had to deal with, Sophie began to feel no sexual desire in her relationship with Joseph. In the text, Sophie recounts her experience after getting married and tells Joseph about the moment she put herself to the test as an act of freedom. She states: “I felt it was my duty as a wife. Something that he..