Free=New York

What I found interesting about the novel was the relationship between Edwidge and her care taker/ Uncle Joseph. I suppose because of modern times I thought the relationship was going to be similar to the one in “Lolita” but it was different and poor Uncle Joseph dies. I agree with Sara when she says that the story is very realistic because it’s very common. I can see how she experienced a form of personal exile being isolated from the only home she’d ever known and the person she sees as he father. Interestingly enough, she joins her parents in New York for a better life but she doesn’t see it that was because she loves Haiti and misses her family. At one point the doctor instructs them to take their medications for tuberculosis and promises them the pills will bring them “closer to New York” (p 101). That idea aliens with the constant motif of finding freedom in New York. I think the novel was an easy read and very easy to understand.

Edwidge Danticat on Memory and Language

An amazing recount of her family past and present, with her memories being what the reader sees even though a lot of what she remembers is from what her family members that can’t speak for themselves anymore have told her. She starts with the present, or what is considered the present in the book. Introducing her Haitian family the only way she can, by describing the experiences they face day to day.
The doctor the beginning who tells her that her father is going to die, without even thinking about how her father will feel about his daughter knowing. This depicts the lack of attention her father can receive do to his economic status and being an illegal immigrant in the United States. The doctor, almost casually tells her that he is not getting better and will never get better.
Memory is important to her, and she describes two different types of her memory that she is recounting as she writes this novel: Her own, and what she remembers her family members telling her about her past and their own. Many times she will tell the reader before she finishes a story that the person couldn’t remember a certain event, but they can remember a fine detail like when her father tells her about when “Papa Doc” went into office and he saw his brother crying but can’t remember what he was doing. This lapse in memory can either be looked at as doubtful recollection or a loving memory that a brother has for his pained sibling.
She speaks a lot about understanding Language. She is a writer so her close bonds with her father through his letters when she is a child come at no surprise. However the detail she writes in makes the reader feel the bond she felt as she studied her father’s lettering and modest phrases and wording. The way she can tell what a person’s feeling by imagining the contexts in which they are trying to speak. Language barriers such as her Uncle’s inability to speak and her mother’s use of their old Creole language are also predominant features that show up in her writing. The need to understand and the ability to decipher the literal meaning of words encoded in vague writing and hand gestures shows her point that words don’t always get a point across, that one must feel what that person is feeling and see what they see in order to completely understand what is gong on.

Brother, I'm Dying

In the novel Brother, I am Dying displays an immeasurable account of exile and strife inflicted upon a seemingly 'good' family, told through the eyes of Edwidge Danticat. In Danticat's story there are three main points of exile presented, one being in Danticat's separation from her Uncle Joseph in Haiti when she left to be reunited with her parents and brothers. Before her departure from Haiti she had been living with her Uncle, a man that became a father to her for the ten years she was without her parents. This book instills upon the reader the personal levels of exile that exist within families. It reminded me of a close family friend who came to America at the age 17 from Cuba, and to this day, approaching her 88rd birthday she has not seen her brother who remains Cuba, unable to leave. Another point of exile exists in her Uncle's cancer that hindered his speech and ultimate source of communication between himself and Danticat. This is a bodily exile, a person exiled from his own voice, and then Danticat's feeling of exile toward her Uncle's inability.The third example of exile appears in the Uncle's exile from his beloved homeland; Joseph chose to stay in Haiti, whereas his brother and family chose to leave, therefore at the point of being kicked out into a land not of his own [America], and dying in captivity is absolutely horrible. I was not expecting the story Danticat told in Brother, I am Dying, it was truly heart breaking.

Exile in Life and Death

The plight of Edwidge Danticat's uncle Joseph provides perhaps the most compelling example of exile that we have seen so far. Due to political instability leading to threatening conditions in Haiti, the 81 year old man is more or less forced out of his homeland for his own safety. What he finds in America is clearly no safe haven. He is treated like an unwanted refugee at the detention center he arrived at. When he becomes sick, he is accused of faking his illness, and is not given proper medical attention. His family is not allowed to visit him, and he ultimately dies alone. It is a depressing tale of exile: being forced out of the only home you know in search of safety, only to be practically left for dead.
Even in death, Joseph can be viewed as being in a state of exile. Rather than being buried in Haiti with his wife, his body is buried in Queens. Exile transcends livelihood; one must wonder if Joseph's spirit can truly be at peace when he remains locked out of his own home.

Brother, I'm Dying a most heartbreaking and realistic memoir

When I started reading Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Dandicat I honestly felt like I was reading a seventh or eighth grade book, which kind of made me feel that the book was not going to have an outstanding and memorable storyline, but as I got deeper into the memoir I realize that I was leaning towards the wrong assumption.
This story is not only very realistic (I know someone that has been through the same ordeal as the uncle) but well told, I mean the simple language and smooth chronological flashbacks allow for a better and more humane feeling ( in the reader) and at the same time provide a greater spotlight for the things that need to be highlighted. The generic but detailed language that Edwidge makes use of, makes the horrific events stand for themselves, without having to be glorified with superfluous writing.
The narrative style is so touchy, especially at the end, that I really did not want to get to the end because everything got so pictographic, scary and sad that I felt a knot in my throat and expected worse than what i had already read (which was terrible).

Dying Yet Again In Another Novel

Death seems to occur in some our readings, "Brother I'm Dying" is no exception. A family from Haiti comes to America to have a better life, with the exception of Uncle Joseph, who stays in Bel-Air, Haiti. Danticat has the unfortunate situation of her father dying, and unexpectingly being pregnant all at the same time.
The reason for Uncle Joseph staying in Haiti was because he did not want to leave. He was very much a big influence on the people there and did not want to abandon his fellow people. He was a rather popular preacher and lfted the lives of people there. It was a shame that his exile from the country was through death.
From the novel and my knowledge of the country, Haiti has gone through tough times even after its independence in 1804. From having presidents, one of which was exiled in three weeks. It is a heartbreak story of a family from Haiti fleeing to America to seek freedom. Its almost the same story as Elian Gonzalez, and how he and his mother came to America.