Identity Struggles in Breath, Eyes, Memory

 Throughout Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, the protagonist Sophie struggles with her identity. Like many people who immigrate to the United States, she never fully feels American or Haitian. Instead, she’s in a state of limbo. The novel is sprinkled with Haitian words pointing towards Sophie’s roots. She grew up in Haiti; it is her home, but her mother forces her to quickly assimilate and learn the language. Sophie’s identity crisis only adds to her poor body image and eating disorder. She fears she is never good enough for her mother or society. Martine puts an incredible amount of pressure on Sophie. When Sophie first arrives in the United States her mother tells her, “Your schooling is the only thing that will make people respect you… You have a chance to become the kind of woman Atie and I have always wanted to be… You can raise our heads,” (pg. 41). Sophie’s mother is putting the pressure of being successful not only for herself but her aunt and mother on Sophie’s shoulders. She also is implying that many will believe Sophie is unworthy of respect from others without an education because she is a Haitian woman. Sophie’s identity crisis not only stems from her moving to another country, but also her not knowing her father. When looking at a picture of herself as a baby a young Sophie thinks to herself, “It was the first time in my life that I noticed that I looked like no one in my family. Not my mother. Not my Tante Antie. I did not look like them when I was a baby and I did not look like them now,” (pg. 43). Sophie not only feels as though she does not fit in where she lives, but also as though she has no place in her family. She views Tante Antie as her true mother, but inherits much of her biological mother’s pain. At the end of the novel Sophie notes, “There is always a place where nightmares are passed on through generations like heirlooms,” (pg. 238). Sophie’s lack of resemblance to her mother strains their relationship. When Martine looks at her daughter, she is reminded everyday of her rapist. Throughout the novel Sophie struggles between balancing confronting her past and moving forward with her life. She feels tied to Haiti and it is where she chooses to return when her life seems to be falling apart. However, Haiti is where all her pain began. The testing that traumatizes her is a Haitian “tradition” that mothers pass on to their daughters. Haiti is where her life began after her mother’s rape. Haiti represents family and love as well as pain and sorrow. It where the nightmares come from, but it is also where the nightmares are cured. By visiting the place of her mother’s rape, Sophie is able to free herself from her mother’s burdens. Sophie struggles throughout the novel with her identity, but it is this struggle that ultimately makes her a stronger woman who can hopefully provide her daughter with a better life than her own.