Juxtaposition In A Wall Of Fire Rising By Danticat

In the book, Krik Krak, a series of short stories, the author Danticat utilizes juxtaposition to create miserable characters that in return, create the overall mood of brooding throughout the book. The misery that the characters had because of what they went through, caused the mood of the short stories to be brooding. The terrible struggles that the characters had went through in Haiti had put them in such a dilemma. Haiti was in a state of great reformation and so it affected people negatively. Brooding is showing deep unhappiness of thought or in other words darkly menacing. The specific examples that best display miserable characters creating a overall mood of brooding was Guy, a prostitute, and the madonna mother. In the short story …show more content…
The life of Guy was perceived as perfect because his family seemed great, but when his horrible suicide had happened, it showed otherwise. In the beginning of this specific story, the wife seemed content and so did the son. “Lili got up from the floor and inclined her face towards her husband’s in order to receive her nightly peck on the cheek” (Danticat pg.54). It had seemed that there was a daily routine between the family. Content from both the wife, Lili, and the husband, Guy, was also sensed because there was never once a harsh argument or dispatch. When the family had went to an open field to relax, happiness came from Lili. “Lili lay peacefully on the grass as her son and husband played hide and seek” (Danticat pg.62). However, when Guy killed himself, it showed that his life and thoughts were actually miserable. Before Guy committed suicide, he had a talk with Lili about his father and his childhood. “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” (Danticat pg. 75). Guy had thoughts of never wanting to be the man that his father was and because he was already in the shoes of poverty, he felt he was treading that path. He was full of misery because of the past. He wanted to change the future and wanted to be free …show more content…
From the beginning she had outrightly said she dreaded her job. “The night is the time I dread most in my life” (Danticat pg. 83). She expressed to the reader about how much she hates her job. She breaks down the type of women there are and the kind that she is, to depict to the reader exactly why she hates her job. “There are two kinds of women: day and night women. I am stuck between the day and night in a golden Amber bronze” (Danticat pg. 84). At this time, the author reveals the juxtaposition of the prostitute. The prostitute mentioned how she is stuck between both the day and night, and by this, she meant her nasty job and the love and interaction with her son. The prostitute is very miserable when the night comes near, but it is until she sees her son that her happiness is brought back. “He is like a butterfly fluttering on a rock that stands out naked in the middle of a stream.” (Danticat pg. 85). The innocence of her son and the love she has for him is what is helping her get through the day. Although she is miserable with her job and everyday, her thoughts are of pain and misery, her son helps to hold her up. Ever since her ex lover died, she has been lost in misery. Because of this, she constantly is thankful of having the days to herself. “I thank the stars that at least I have the days to myself”.