Home, Family, and Belonging Theme Analysis

In The Farming of Bones, Amabelle Désir and other Haitians have left Haiti to make new lives for themselves in the Dominican Republic. Many of these characters have lost their homes, or lack a sense of belonging; as a result, they attempt to make the Dominican Republic their homeland. The Haitians are eventually driven out of the Dominican Republic by violence and racism, and attempt to return to Haitithe ones who survive rebuild their homes once again. Through these multiple restructurings, characters learn that home is not a fixed place; rather, it is a feeling or circumstance that can change, grow, or be taken away. Danticat’s story demonstrates that concepts of home and family inevitably transform over time; moreover, each recreated version of home is different, and one can never truly return to the original.

Danticat begins the story by describing how characters’ childhood conceptions of home have changed as a result of their circumstances. In her childhood, Amabelle lost her parents in a flood, which forced her to find a sense of home elsewhere. She was brought to a house in Alégria, and became a domestic worker for Señora Valencia. The two women grew up together: as “girls,” they “slept in the same room” and would “play with [their] shadows, and pretend” they were a family. Amabelle’s childhood with Señora Valencia offered her a different version of family; instead of remaining an orphan in Haiti, she joined another household.

Sebastien describes how the overseers in the cane fields call Haitians “an orphaned people” who “don’t belong anywhere.” To Sebastien, however, Haitians are a unified group of “wayfarers.” Sebastien refuses to accept the idea that Haitians are merely “orphaned”rather, he demonstrates how Haitians, as a group, redefine the feeling of home for themselves through travel. To Sebastien, rebuilding homes in the Dominican Republic brings Haitians together; despite being far from their home country, and sometimes far from their blood relatives, these Haitians have recreated families and community bonds for themselves.

After Amabelle and other Haitian refugees flee from the violence in the Dominican Republic, they attempt to rebuild their lives and households in their home country, which they originally fled. These homes take unexpected forms, however, and thereby illustrate how home is not always defined by birthplace; rather, home can also be a feeling of belonging.

During her escape, Amabelle claims that she knows exactly what she plans to do when she “crosse[s] the border”: she plans to “look for a little house” near the “citadel road,” as she wants to be close to the place she “lived as a child.” She hopes to “claim the land” as her “birthright.” Despite these fantasies of a home on her childhood property, however, she ends up traveling to the home of her fellow refugee, Yves. Yves’s home is comprised of “mismatched pieces of timber and rusting tin,” foreshadowing how Amabelle’s domestic future is misaligned with her expectations. She is taken in by Yves and his mother, Man Rapadou, who becomes a surrogate mother for Amabelle. In fact, during their first meeting, Man Rapadou feeds Amabelle “as though” she is a “bedridden child.” Amabelle domestic aspirationsof living with Sebastien, her lover, and of living near her childhood homedo not manifest; instead, she is taken in by a family of strangers.

Regardless of this alteration, Amabelle’s new home still provides a sense of belonging. Man Rapadou, who treats Amabelle like a daughter, describes Amabelle’s “sudden arrival” through metaphor: “From time to time, life takes you be surprise. You sit in your lakou eating mangoes. You let the mango seeds fall where they may, and one day you wake up and there’s a mango tree in your yard.” Amabelle is the mango tree that sprouted up unexpectedly in the family dynamic, but Amabelle and Man Rapadou have quickly created an unconventional family together, illustrating that the idea of home transforms over time, often in unforeseen ways.

As Amabelle continues to rebuild her life with her new family, memories of the Dominican Republic overwhelm her. She returns to Alégria, only to realize that the home she remembers is no longer intact. Amabelle notes that “Alégria [is] now a closed town,” and she feels like an “intruder.” She admits that Alégria feels like a place she has “never seen before,” indicating that she no longer feels at home. Amabelle’s lack of connection to the town demonstrates how one’s original sense of belonging is irretrievable after a departure. By leaving the Dominican Republic and rebuilding her life in Haiti, Amabelle has inexorably transformed her idea of home; eventually, she understands that one’s concept of home must always be evolving.

After this painful realization, Amabelle returns to Haiti. One day, she stands by the river where her mother and father drowned and lowers herself into the water to float in “the current.” While feeling the water’s “less than gentle caress,” she imagines being carried into her “father’s laughter” and her “mother’s eternity.” Although her idea of home has changed since her parents’ diedand her future in Haiti will be completely dissimilar to her childhoodAmabelle’s return to the river symbolizes her acceptance of Haiti as her home.

In Danticat’s story, home is a feeling that changes over time. Characters are forced to rebuild their families and homes multiple times: first, they leave Haiti and recreate livelihoods in the Dominican Republic; afterwards, violence forces them to return to Haiti after many years away. With each successive homecoming, characters’ homes and families transformimportantly, the original vision of home is never fully recreated. Amabelle, the only character to make two trips to the Dominican Republic, eventually realizes that the initial idea of home is irretrievable. Despite this, she returns to Haiti and the river that took her parents. Amabelle is able to create a new family with Yves and Man Rapadou, and reimagine a home for herself despite all that she has experienced.