3 stories in KK

Read the next 2 stories in KK. Write a blog post in response to the first 3 stories. Choose a theme that you see to be common in all 3 and explore what Danticat is showing us or asking us to think about this theme. Analyze 2 direct quotes.

Haitians were cruelly controlled and murdered by government and military in the past, and the first 3 stories definitely show the theme of hopelessness and death. All the characters in the stories always have wanted to achieve better lives, but they end up being dead or without gaining own freedom from the government. From their deaths and all the brutal incidents held by the government, we can definitely see that Haitian had no right to speak or express their opinions during that time.
The first story "Children of the sea" definitely shows the theme of death and Haitian's miserable life especially by showing a girl called Celianne. Even the reason for her getting pregnant due to soldier's sexual violence explains of government's cruelty. She further throws the baby away and ends up committing suicide. In the audience's point of view, we can see that she could not bear a hopeless life anymore, even without her baby. Male and female writers' situation also show their miserable lives by showing audience Haitian's life which is monitored by the government every time, and unable to speak or act freely. The situation that the characters suffer through shows enough sense of hopelessness and its connection to death.
The topic of death is also well shown in the second story called "Nineteen thirty-seven". The main character Josephine has to go through watching the whole process of her mother being dead and it clearly shows the theme of death and sense of misery. As Josephine meets her mom in the prison, she describes her mom like "her skin barely clung to her bones, falling in layers, flaps, on her face and neck." The quote shows the treatment that her mom received from the government and the government's cruel and brutal dictatorship. Later, her mom dies because her ill gets worsened, and the government doesn't know how to cure it so they just murder her; it shows a strong sense of inhumanity and immorality that the Haitian government had. Josephine even watches her dead body getting burned with all the inmates. By telling a miserable story happened by Haitians, it tells the audience about their hopeless life and death which was commonly occurred during that time.
The third story "A wall of fire rising" also focuses on those two topics. Guy's strong fascination about the balloon and desire to not live like his father leads to his death. Since his father's life was miserable, and his current life is pretty miserable, he always has wanted to possess wings and able to fly like birds, which indicates the desire for freedom. Through him saying that "how a man is remembered after he's gone? I know the answer now. I know because I remember my father, who was a very poor struggling man all his life. I remember him as a man that I would never want to be." , it explains that his hope to be special, and to be remembered quite differently to other people. Although he achieves his biggest dream which is riding balloon, he ends up dying while trying to fly. His attempt to escape from the hopeless life and its tragic result lead to the sense of hopelessness and death.