Many people do not understand the hardship of growing up in the Haitian culture. In the book Breath, Eyes, and Memory by Edwidge Danticat, she describes how family values are very important to the Haitian culture and the life of a young woman named Sophie is completely shattered due to the trauma afflicted upon her by her mother’s testing. Sexually pure also plays a major role in young Haitian girls’ lives. Martine's testing negatively affects Sophie's chances of marrying a prestigious Haitian man because the testing ruins Sophie's self-esteem, and the dynamic scar that the testing lives Sophie with. The Haitian culture requires that young girls must stay a virgin until the day she gets married.
Sophie is very tormented by the time she becomes a teenager, because her mother often tested her vagina to make sure she remains a virgin. Martine’s testing pessimistically affects Sophie’s chances of marrying a prestigious Haitian man because Sophie is deeply traumatize and her self-esteem is ru
Many Haitian parents have an immoral way of making sure their daughters are who an "old fashioned" Haitian man would want his wife to be...which is to be sexually pure. Young girls should be able to make decisions about their life, including whom they choose to be with and what they want to achieve. That's what makes a strong and an independent woman. The testing leaves a dynamic scar on Sophie even after she marries Joseph. It negatively affects Sophie’s chance of marrying a Haitian man because now after being tested so many times, Sophie’s hymen might have been broken and no Haitian man would want to marry a girl that is not sexually pure. Joseph said to Sophie referring to how hard it was to be sexual with her. “We we’re not connecting physically" (196). She could not connect with him mentally and the thought of her being sexual with him seems to be a burden to her.
"Testing," has been a Haitian tradition for centuries. A young woman, growing up in a Haitian household is encouraged to
Example Essays Home
