Previous
Chapter 11
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Farming of Bones, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Power of Memory
Dreams vs. Reality
Language and Identity
Death, Grief, and Hope
Home, Family, and Belonging
Summary
Analysis
The morning after the births, Amabelle meets Mimi, Sebastien’s sister, by a stream. They talk about Joël’s death, and Mimi explains how Doña Eva, a rich widower, is celebrating her fiftieth birthday. Amabelle wonders if they will live as long as the doña, and Mimi claims she would rather die young. Mimi pities the older women, who have toiled in the fields and are now too poor and sick to work or “return to their old homes in Haiti.”
Amabelle and Mimi’s conversation discusses the lives and deaths of different groups of women in the Dominican Republic. Due to differences in class—and the prejudice faced by Haitians—a wealthier Dominican woman is celebrating her old age, whereas the Haitian women suffer as they grow older. In this way, cultural identity and the oppression of some groups by others persist across individuals’ lives.
Active
Themes
Amabelle sees Kongo bathing in the stream, and notes that he is washing himself with wet parsley, which she calls both “pesi” and “perejil.” She describes the herb in detail, describing how the Haitians “savored” the herb “for [their] food, [their] teas” and how it is used “to cleanse” their bodies “of old aches and griefs.”
Amabelle uses both the Haitian Creole and Spanish words for “parsley,” illustrating how some concepts transcend language boundaries. She emphasizes that parsley is part of Haitian culture and how it is cherished for its properties. As parsley and its pronunciation will later be used to separate Haitians from Dominicans, this initial discussion of parsley’s importance to Haitian identity becomes more poignant. Parsley will eventually trigger violence between the two cultures, but it is initially presented as an herb that is universal: both cultures enjoy it equally.
Active
Themes
Mimi speculates about the consequences of Joël’s death, pointing out that it must be painful to do nothing about the killing. She believes that since the man who killed Joël is “one of them,” there is “nothing” that can be done to avenge him.
Active
Themes
The discussion turns to Señora Valencia’s new children, and Mimi points out that Beatriz will likely become the godmother. Amabelle chastises Mimi for using her name informally, and Mimi asks if she must use the honorific Señorita. Amabelle realizes that she has always called her Señorita or Señora, while she herself was always referred to by her first name, Amabelle.
Active
Themes
Get the entire The Farming of Bones LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Mimi and Amabelle go back to discussing Joël, and Mimi insists that there should be “no sad faces.” She claims that they should “give him a joyous wake” and he would want everyone to “be grateful he’s not here now.” Félice, Joël’s lover, overhears the conversation and leans on Amabelle for support; she claims Joël was “too young” to die. She tells Amabelle that she wishes to help the Dominicans learn “that [Haitians’] lives are precious too.”
Active
Themes
