The citadel of Henry I, a king of Haiti, is located near Amabelle Désir’s childhood home. The story of the citadel is a favorite of Amabelle’s father, Antoine, who used to recount the tale to Amabelle in her youth. She often daydreams about the citadel, and admits that she uses the image to avoid unpleasant or difficult truths; in this way, the citadel offers her solace, as it is a safe memory of childhood.
The citadel is also an emblem of Haitian culture and identity. Built by a revolutionary king who overthrew colonial forces, it is indicative of Haiti’s nationalism and strength. Furthermore, when Amabelle escapes the Parsley Massacre and returns to Haiti, she visits the citadel and overhears a tour guide explaining the site’s history to a group of foreigners. The tour guide tells the group about the citadel’s bloody history, emphasizing how the king would march soldiers off the cliff to their death, and how many laborers died to complete the monument. The tour guide then warns that famous men are remembered throughout history, but nameless sufferers are often forgotten. The tour guide’s story, and the lasting legacy of the citadel and its king, illustrate the importance of cultural memory: remembering the dead and their monarch keeps national traditions and stories alive for the future. Amabelle’s imagination, too, preserves and strengthens the citadel’s national significance, even when she is living in the Dominican Republic.
The Citadel Quotes in The Farming of Bones
I did something I always did at times when I couldn’t bring myself to go out and discover an unpleasant truth. (When you have so few remembrances, you cling to them tightly and repeat them over and over in your mind so time will not erase them.) I closed my eyes and imagined the giant citadel that loomed over my parents’ house in Haiti. […] As a child, I played in the deserted war rooms of Henry I’s citadel. I peered at the rest of the world from behind its columns and archways, and the towers that were meant to hold cannons for repelling the attack of ships at sea. From the safety of these rooms, I saw the entire northern cape […].
The Citadel Symbol Timeline in The Farming of Bones
