Fernando J.

Toro

We are ugly but we are here

Essay

The 20th century in Latin America was full of social injustices. The rise of
dictatorial governments and corruption are one of the most serious problems in our region.
Haiti, for example, is one of the most regrettable cases, even today.
The narration We are ugly but we are here is focused on a rather painful historical
context, this is the dictatorial Duvalier regime in Haiti during the second half of the 20th
century. Edwidge Danticat tells us her experience of life in the middle of a society wounded
by a despicable and corrupt system of government that does not fulfill any of its
responsibilities.
Danticat begins her narrative with a mythical and tragic tone. She tells of the first
people who were killed when the Spanish conquerors came to Haiti, including Queen
Anacaona, an Arawak Indian who ruled over the western part of the island. Then, she turns
to a more familiar tone when she reminisces about the times when her grandmother would
tell her stories of the country. She also recalls the last moments of her grandmother, waiting
peacefully for the arrival of death with her eyes open. But Danticats tone becomes angrier
when she recalls the brutal reality around her, the indifference and even sadism of the
authorities: "Duvalier and his wife, racing in their Mercedes Benz and throwing money out
of the window to the very poor children in our neighborhood."
Another important element in the narrative is the indignation and denounce about
the hate against women, expressed through the violence of which they were victims. At the
narrative level, this is also an important literary resource, because it refers to the ancestral
history of her poor people under the oppression in Haiti and the murder of Anacaona.
Paradoxically, the female figure is very important for the national identity of Haiti because
Queen Anacaona became a cultural example of freedom, courage and beauty.
The narrative element of the ancestral imaginary is important too, because it is
present in the beginning and the ending of the story, as the frame of a painting. It also helps
to construct a common cultural identity through sayings, customs or traditions: In Haitian
folklore, when a star falls out of the sky, it means someone will die. A star did fall out of the
sky and he did die. It is also an interesting narrative element, because it is as if death had
an natural sense. In other words, death is heralded by nature, perhaps because this is a
natural phenomenon, the other side of life.
Beauty and life are closely related in the story. We are ugly but we are here is a
Haitian saying about strength, hope and gratitude for life. It is a phrase that proposes the
claim of the rights of women in the middle of a barbarian society, organized by the
authoritarian man. It also means that beauty is not only about physical appearances, but
consists of knowing how to overcome difficulties in life with courage and faith, and, most
importantly, always thinking about the strength of their foremothers.
Many foremothers dead and exiled were the result of the permanent political crisis
in Haiti, but in spite of pain, injustice and cruelty of this society, the narrator keeps a
positive view of life because, as her grandmother, one of the foremothers, she also thinks
that the adverse conditions make people stronger. In this sense, even death is a natural
process to make every woman stronger during the next life, just like Anacaona was in this
one. The black queen's blood is the same blood that flows through the veins of every
Haitian woman and, for this reason, talking about a Haitian woman is like talking about
Anacaona. The sorrow and injustice that she suffered are exactly the same suffered by each
of the women in the narration of that period of the military regime. For example, the
woman who was shot in her pregnant stomach or the other one who was tortured when
some soldiers put out their cigarettes on her flesh.
The final tone of the story is hopeful because Danticat reintroduces the ancestral
imagery of her culture through memories of her grandmother. Beliefs in a better life, in the
possibility of a fairer world, which in this life unfortunately has no place, is not the most
important; what really matters is that, in spite of everything, the daughters of Anacaona
continue to live and therefore are much stronger than any adversity. They are stronger with
each wound; they are like the Phoenix bird that is reborn with greater vigor from its own
ashes. Definitely, Edwidge Danticat is a daughter of Anacaona because her story only
reveals a small part of what she observed and even had enough strength to write for an
audience. She is ugly but she is here.