Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so they say. Not “beauty comes from your heart and mind”, but “beauty is acknowledged when an outsider sees only your surface level physical appearance”. If this is true, how could beauty lie in horror? Many will skim over a tragedy without any attempts to salvage the fair from within. Yet the realization of such a quality is not what creates said quality; the perseverance in which the aspect survives is what truly affirms its existence. Danticat tries to capture the concept of the prevalence of beauty even amongst catastrophic circumstances through the many stories in Krik? Krak!
Beauty can persist in the form of family. Within a mother’s heart is an agreement to protect her young from the worst of …show more content…
In The Missing Peace, our story’s protagonist, Lamort, helps her grandmother run her “yellow house”, a residence for tourists when they visit Haiti. A woman named Emilie Gallant has come in search of her mother, a journalist suspected to be dead. During her stay at the yellow house, Emilie asks Lamort to take her to a mass burial site. Lamort realizes that taking this traveller poses a threat to her own safety, with Emilie commenting “You might get a little beating when you go home”(98). Not only that, but the churchyard is guarded. Mademoiselle Gallant tries to dismiss this fear, saying,”I have an American passport. Maybe that will help.” (99), but to that, Lamort replies,”The soldiers don’t know the difference.” (99). Ultimately, Lamort risks her life for a stranger, a deed of benevolence many would not dare to perform. The gallantry of this act constitutes as beauty, if not for grace and …show more content…
Catherine tells her that “One day your grandchildren will walk into galleries in France… and there they’ll admire your beautiful body.” (113), but agrees to paint Princesse in privacy. Originally , Princesse cannot see the grace she possesses, thinking to herself that “there was nothing so beautiful about her body”(113), but when Catherine presents the painting to Princesse, the depiction changes the perception of the young Haitian’s body. For one to discover that they may too, be beautiful like the sky and the sea, is to fill oneself with courage and power. To be portrayed as similar to Mother Earth’s creations, the very elements keeping humans alive and happy, is an unknown representation to
Beauty can persist in the form of family. Within a mother’s heart is an agreement to protect her young from the worst of …show more content…
In The Missing Peace, our story’s protagonist, Lamort, helps her grandmother run her “yellow house”, a residence for tourists when they visit Haiti. A woman named Emilie Gallant has come in search of her mother, a journalist suspected to be dead. During her stay at the yellow house, Emilie asks Lamort to take her to a mass burial site. Lamort realizes that taking this traveller poses a threat to her own safety, with Emilie commenting “You might get a little beating when you go home”(98). Not only that, but the churchyard is guarded. Mademoiselle Gallant tries to dismiss this fear, saying,”I have an American passport. Maybe that will help.” (99), but to that, Lamort replies,”The soldiers don’t know the difference.” (99). Ultimately, Lamort risks her life for a stranger, a deed of benevolence many would not dare to perform. The gallantry of this act constitutes as beauty, if not for grace and …show more content…
Catherine tells her that “One day your grandchildren will walk into galleries in France… and there they’ll admire your beautiful body.” (113), but agrees to paint Princesse in privacy. Originally , Princesse cannot see the grace she possesses, thinking to herself that “there was nothing so beautiful about her body”(113), but when Catherine presents the painting to Princesse, the depiction changes the perception of the young Haitian’s body. For one to discover that they may too, be beautiful like the sky and the sea, is to fill oneself with courage and power. To be portrayed as similar to Mother Earth’s creations, the very elements keeping humans alive and happy, is an unknown representation to