<p>The last line implies she becomes Gaelle’s daughter
“Before becoming Madame Gaelle’s daughter she had to go home, just one last time”</p>
<p>I liked the fact that even though Claire was being given “away by her father”
Or " taken" away by Gaelle, in the end she, Claire decided her future. </p>
<p>and that she " ran" back also gave the ending an uplifting feeling.
“She ran and ran, down the alley of coconut palms…”</p>
<p>It’s interesting that Nozias, hasn’t been discussed much. He who had the heartbreaking decision to give his daughter away. I’m not sure why I don’t feel more sympathy for him. Danicat portrayed him as a loving father, a victim of circumstances, but I just didn’t feel it.</p>
<p>Just popping in briefly, because while I read the book a while back for another book group, I’m on vacation and didn’t gave time to reread. As usual, I’m feeling more appreciative of the book after reading all your comments, so thanks!</p>
<p>^ Hi buenavista, I hope you’re enjoying your vacation!</p>
<p>Brainstorm ~ We know this about Nozias:</p>
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<p>Off I went to the medical websites…and…ta da! I’m going with Hypopituitarism, which is an under function of the pituitary gland. A deficiency of LH and FSH hormones is typical of the disorder, and in men, two possible symptoms are–you guessed it–loss of facial and body hair, and low sperm count. <a href=“UCLA Department of Neurosurgery | UCLA Health”>UCLA Department of Neurosurgery | UCLA Health;
<p>I think it’s significant that so many of the characters have peculiar (and rare) ailments: Nozias and his hairlessness, Louise and her bleeding disorder, Josephine and her elephantiasis, Albert and his shaking hands. It’s as if the outer physical disease is a metaphor for…for what? Maybe for their inner, spiritual afflictions. As NJTheatreMOM pointed out, “Just about everybody in Claire of the Sea Light is hurting.”</p>
<p>I thought Jessamine was a refreshing character. Though she was hurting from being in love with a man who did not love her, she seemed clear-eyed, stable, and relatively content.</p>
<p>That’s true, and so many of those relationships, that are either been redeemed or being destroyed, are between parents and children, as pointed out in question 6:</p>
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<p>I don’t think I could presume to measure the level of each character’s suffering to determine “who suffers more,” but this much is true: Rose does not suffer. She is deeply loved by her mother during her short life, and she dies instantly. I guess the only message there is that death releases us from suffering (or the prospect of suffering)—otherwise, it’s an inevitable part of the human experience.</p>
<p>She seemed to be on the outside, looking in – like an inmate who had escaped, but remembered what it was like to be imprisoned. She has only a small part in the book, but I underlined something she tells Max, because it seemed central to the Claire-Nozias story: “The worst possible case of unrequited love, Jessamine had told him, was feeling abandoned by a parent” (p. 99).</p>
<p>I think all the parents loved their children. </p>
<p>I think Odile hurts her son Henri by choosing to humiliate Louise. Henri’s take on the situation concerns me:
I have no doubt that Odile meant to make a point but I think everyone lost here … perhaps Henri most of all.</p>
<p>Max Sr. hopes to protect Max Jr and can’t but I don’t doubt his love for his son. He just can’t accept - to him - the unacceptable. What’s sad is that everyone - even little Claire - knows the truth.</p>
<p>Gaelle loved her daughter and can’t get over her death. I think that guilt is mixed with sadness as she let the girl go on the motto taxi.</p>
<p>Nozias and Claire … I don’t think she’ll feel abandoned when all is said and done. Truthfully I don’t think she feels abandoned now. I’m with Mary in thinking that with a peek into the future we’d see Claire and Gaelle getting along well.</p>
<p>Is the ending a happy one? I don’t think it’s a sad one. Nozias lives on a precipice of a world of hurt coming to the child he loves. He makes arrangements for the care of that child within the confines of limited options. I think it helps that he knows that Claire (mother) had somewhat of a relationship with Gaelle and also that Gaelle stepped up the night of Claire’s birth to help out. So, not a happy ending in the way I like a happy-ever-after, but I can live with it. I agree with SJCM: it helps that Claire makes the decision herself.</p>
<p>^ important observations, Ignaius. I wonder if Danticat will write a sequel.
And, as Mary pointed out, we needed Jessamine’s outsider perspective. Maybe Danticat, an outsider herself, most relates to Jessamine. As NJTheatermom, mentioned. " clear eyed, stable,and relatively content.", able to shed light and clarity having escaped from her destiny.</p>
<p>I am so appreciative of all the insights here. Our discussions always help me get so much more out of the books. Thanks!</p>
<p>I liked the descriptions of those returning to Haiti after being away. I think one was about being able to see shame in the eyes of those who were doing menial labor away but the one of them reeking of citronella made me smile.</p>
<p>I like the idea of Danticat as Jessamine. Sort of a cameo appearance :). With her compassion and understanding—and love of the Creole language—Danticat aligns far more closely with Jessamine than with the other expatriates, who are “never quite at ease or appropriately dressed,” and (the quote Tiredof snow was thinking of) “reeking of citronella, every mosquito and salad and untreated glass of water suddenly their mortal enemy” (p. 88).</p>
<p>One small thing struck me as “off” with one of the minor characters, Pamaxime, Max Junior’s son. The boy is over 9 years old, but I had a hard time keeping that fact in my head because the descriptions of him were more appropriate to a child of five or six:</p>
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<li><p>Max Junior kneels “so that his face was at the level of his son’s” (p. 97). Not impossible, I suppose, but it definitely made me picture a much smaller child.</p></li>
<li><p>After Pamaxine identifies himself to Max, Flore gives the child a “small nod of approval for the perfect enunciation of his name.” He’s 9! Seems like that would be way beyond learning to pronounce your own first and last name.</p></li>
<li><p>Pamaxime is sucking on a lollipop during the entire meeting with Max Junior. Also, he falls sound asleep in the car and Max Junior picks him up, cradles him in his arms, carries him into the house and puts him to bed. Been there, done that – up until about kindergarten age or so, but I can’t quite see it at age 9-10.</p></li>
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<p>Pamaxime seems too babyish, especially in a part of the world where children grow up fast. From what I’ve read, Haitian boys his age, or close to it, are often already out working to support the family. Even young Claire thinks about the children she knows who have been sent away “to work as restavèks, child maids or houseboys” (p. 228).</p>
<p>Claire is only 7 and she seems light years ahead of Pamaxime.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed in other works of fiction that children tend to act younger than you’d expect. I think it’s sometimes attributable to an author not having children of his or her own, but Danticat doesn’t have that excuse.</p>
<p>Pamaxime is not a toughened child of poverty. He lives in the city, and Flore has been provided with money for his care. Flore presumably had a rough life growing up. This has perhaps led her to coddle Pamaxime.</p>
<p>The maturity of Pamaxime also caught my attention. In my notes I wrote - “Author definitely doesn’t have a sense of child development.”</p>
<p>I thought the lollipop was odd and increased the sense of immaturity. I did find it a nice twist when we learned he had received the lollipop from Louise at the end of Flores interview.</p>
<p>The whole doodling the picture under the table during the interview really annoyed me. When they look at his pad at the end, all he has drawn is a stick figure. That was quite a lot of doodling to end up with a stick figure. Pamaxime tells Louise and Flore that the picture is “Papa mwen” - “My father”. Louise tells Pamaxime to write “Papa” and “the boy wrote the word papa, the tiny letters spread wide apart.” (pg. 181) The difficult writing could be due to lack of literacy, but what about the stick figure? Danticat gave so many of the characters health issues, I wonder if her portrayal of Pamaxime was a subtle way of letting us know there were developmental delays? </p>
<p>I vaguely remember noticing the discrepancy between Pamaxime’s age and behavior but what caught my attention is the meaning of his name. How wonderfully expressive of Flore’s feelings.</p>
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<p>Why do you think that Max Senior searched out Flore and arranged the meeting with his son? It scared her into Louise’s program and then planning to “disappear.”</p>
<p>Younger or older than is realistic, like Henry and Keiko in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Paloma in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, or Ender in Ender’s Game. (Yes, I know that the last two were “geniuses,” but call me a cynic, I think that’s just an author’s way of saying “I don’t know how to write children.”)</p>
<p>I thought young Claire was lovely and on target. I suspect Danticat’s daughter was the model for more than the photo on the front cover.</p>
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<p>Developmental delays makes a lot of sense. We talked above about how the book hints at environmental chaos; I think this also manifests itself in the human health issues. Although the literacy rate is low in Haiti (53% per Wikipedia), Pamaxime is the grandson of Max Ardin Sr., the headmaster. I think that in supporting Flore, Max Ardin would see to it that, above all, Pamaxime had a good education. </p>
<p>^ Yes, I didn’t think of that! “’I’m glad my son is back,’ his father said while raising his Champagne glass clear above his head. ‘I don’t know how I have survived here so long without him’” (p. 90). It’s not only that he misses him; I think he may still harbor the notion that Max Junior will eventually work at the École Ardin: “It had always been Max Senior’s dream to have his son help him run his school” (p. 86).</p>
<p>Edited to add that–re my post above this one–ignatius had already made the connection between environmental issues and health issues and I meant to refer to her comments. They are a couple of pages previous, when we were discussing Albert Vincent. (I miss post numbers!)</p>