While reading this section of the book, this book took my emotions on a rollercoaster. For some reason I just felt that this book was going to get really sad throughout the ending. Its almost as if they were dropping hints , because as sophie spoke to her mother and finding out that shes pregnant, she began to ask her about her nightmares and hows she’s feeling and what she was going to do with the baby and she kept saying she is too old to have a baby and shes too old to marry marc. I just had a feeling that this book wasnt going to have a nice ending. The part that stood out to me was the meeting  of Joseph and her mother. I feel that the only reason the meeting went well is because her mother became more understanding and instead of being the strict mother she was throughout the book she became more of a friend to sophie. also the part that stood out was the negro spiritual that she sang for them. My friend sang this song when we were younger in a play, although it was just for a play this song really affected her because a couple years back she lost her mother to cancer  and as she sang the song i watched as the song overtook her emotionally that as she exited the stage she was still crying because of the truth to the song. Another part that stood out to me was the death of her mother. this part stood out to me because as she began to blame Marc and ask him why did he give her a child? and did he not know about her nightmares he told her she knew more about them but where was she? I felt that this part made her mothers death worse for her because not only did she lose her mother but she now feels at fault for abandoning her mother to go live her life. At first I did feel like Marc did it  he seemed suspicious because he was able to sleep after she died and then he cleaned up everything spotless except for the sheets in the bathroom. but he showed that he was affected by her death by expressing how badly he wanted her to have his child, then as they went to haiti and attended her funeral his emotions was shown.

Within this section of the reading the part that stood out to me was on page 149 where Sophie offered to cook and when she was asked what she is going to cook, she said her mothers favorite meal. I felt like this stood out to me because it showed the effect her mom still had on her, which is shown more when her mother does come back to haiti to get her. this part showed that even though she was upset with her mother for the thngs she put her through she still lived for her mother to make her proud and help her even when shes not there. when I was growing up and i first learned to make my mothers favorite dish, which was baked ziti, whenever i made it my motives was to make her feel proud of me, to show her i can do what she does and im not a kid anymore, and to be able to help her when she cant make it. Another part that stood out to me was the arrival of her mother. this stood out to me because as she saw her mother the tension within herself buillt up, and as her mother approached her there was obvious tension between them to the point where the grandmother started to become angry because she wouldn’t go to her mother. It stood out to me because it shows the complexity of a mother daughter relationship in the caribean. that no matter what youre parents do to you to upset you or do wrong by you, if you do not greet your parent when they enter your presence it will seem as if your’e being disrespectful. I do feel that at times caribbean parents and even grandparents don’t understand that as the child we do get hurt and feel emotions. And at this moment i felt that the grandmother was ignoring how sophie felt and her emotions but her mother understood and took the step to bettering their relationship.

the part that stood out to me was when sophie first wanted to tell her mom about joseph and she ended up just lying to her about a made up guy. this part stood out to me because it mirrored the real struggle for girls growing up with strict parents. I say this because she had to lie and hide the truth behind her feelings just to keep her mother happy. Often young females who have strict parents who already plan your life for you tend to lie about what really goes on in their lives especially when it comes to boys. Also what stood out to me was when she came back from a night out with joseph and her mom was there waiting with the belt. Although she didnt physically abuse her i felt her pain. It must have felt as if everything shattered and she just had to give up. Although her mother knew what was going on she repeated there are secrets you cannot keep. i believe she felt really disappointed in sophie. But i feel like if it wasnt for the high standards that was set sophie wouldnt have to hide her love for joseph. also her mother told her a story of the marassa and i decided to search what it is and it says it represents abundance, blessings,the gift of children, and the sacredness of family. I thought this stood out alot because of what comes next in sophie’s life after she is told to leave by her mother.

While reading the assigned chapters, my view have changed on the book. This book is interesting but still very different from the two books we have read. this book is like a hidden type book where you have to go over things twice to understand. there were some things that stood out to me. one thing was the difference between tante attie and her mother. sophie’s mother is skinny, and frail, and to me a very open book. unlike tante attie, she doesnt hide anything and she tells sophie the truth to all the fairytales tante attie told her. something else that stood out to me was the transition from the moment she stepped in the cab. it was almost as if as she stepped in the cab and drove to the airport she was driven into reality to see the world for what it was. Her eyes was opened to the struggles people faced in haiti and even in ny. Its almost as if tante attie was her veil from the world and as she  left her the veil was removed. Another thing i would like to point out was the doll. It was almost as if the doll was a replacement for sophie untl she came to new york. I did think the doll was creepy but it was important to sophies mother and by the way she handled it showed that this doll was very significant in her life.

while reading the assigned section i realized how different the book is from the other two we have read. so far for what i have read its a later time and its not as aggressive as the other books where the details and descriptions demand your attention. the part that stood out to me was after sophie finds out shes being sent for by her mother. this part stood out to me because after madame augustin dishes the information tante attie feels betrayed by monsieur Augustin for telling his wife her secret. from this scene you can tell that there was a close relationship between attie and augustin because when he went inside with his wife she watched their every move and shed a tear as if it almost hurt her to see them together.

The part that stood out to me was when she asked mama yaya is this the price to pay for freedom and mama yaya asked her “you talk about freedom, have you any idea what it means”. this part stood out to me because out of all the people around her even the maroons, Tituba was experiencing the most freedom. The slaves had no freedom, the maroons had to hide themselves so they didnt have much freedom either. although she just wanted better for her unborn child she seemed to be ungrateful and greedy and it ended up costing her her life and her unborn child. also when mama yaya tells her she still cant live without a man, even though Iphigene was young, she was right. Throughout the story Tituba has been very dependent on the male figures that was around her. even her death she depends on iphigene to help better life for her and even when she depends on a man they cause her suffering. for example with john indian, she depended on him for love and intimacy, but ended up being hurt as he sided with her accusers and didn’t defend her. Also when she slept with Iphigene, this shows that although she was a strong person, sex was her weakness. For Tituba sex had no age, no race, no religion, and no wrong. although she saw Iphigene as a son to her she still slept with him.

From the reading the part that stood out to me was the part where benjamin talks about the relationship between his wife and his daughter. he describes them to have a relationship like sisters. this stood out to me because metahebel and her mother had a realationship when she was a live that resembles the realationship Tituba shares with her now that shes dead. Another part that stood out to we was when Tituba was updated on the life John Indian has been living while she was suffering. The fact that he was sleeping with someone else showed that he was not only putting on an act to survive around the superior but he was also putting on an act with Tituba. This shows how much he really didnt love her and all he was was an act.

To start off this blog post, I do want to express how much I like the book. It just brings out so much emotions as the reader such as anger, humor, sadness. This is just a really good book. The part of the reading that stood out most to me was the part where John indian comes to visit tituba. During this scene he proved to me more and more of how much of a weak man he is. He would be considered “smart” when it comes to surviving but when it comes to having dignity, he has none. I didn’t think he could get any worse, but stooping so low to become one of the accusers, acting as if he has been harmed by kicking and screaming like the “little girls” did, and accusing innocent people. I would not want to be associated with John Indian at all. To me John Indian is really the worst kind of man, but then chapter 8, he proves himself even more to be the worst kind of person. Another part that stood out to me in the reading was the death of Hester. Hester showed herself to become like family to Tituba. Hester and Tituba shared almost a sisterly relationship. when Tituba found out about her death and how it occurred it was similar to the scene when her mother died. when her mother died Tituba repeated “they hanged my mother” three times and when Hester dies she repeated “hanged herself?” three times. I feel that Hester’s death is significant because it brings back to Tituba the memories of he moms death and it also brings back the death of her unborn child who will never experience “the curse of day”, and just like tituba experienced a moment of feeling lost after her moms death she experiences the same feeling after Hester’s death.

The part that stood out most to me was the scene where Tituba went to Betsy and asked her who turned her against her and she bit her until she bled, then Betsy questions the things that she did to protect her. This part stood out to me because throughout the book Tituba has shown herself to be kind and very protective of Betsy and Goodwife Paris and for Betsy to then question her intentions, made me feel very surprised at her. From the moment where she was first introduced in the book and Tituba saw how they were treated she did all the can do to protect them. Its like even after all she did Betsy had the nerve to question her intentions as if they were bad. By Tituba’s show of emotion, i was moved. I saw how upset she was and it made me upset as well like how could you. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that Samuel Paris constantly reminded Tituba that if she is the one cause the behavior of the children he will have her hanged, but then at the end of part one he tells her she is not worthy of the rope and they then sexually assault her. My first point is that Samuel Paris, who is a minister, to be constantly threatening Tituba that he will have her hanged but then when she is accused he tells her shes not worthy of the rope. Its shows that he sees her as worthless. He doesn’t see her as a person with feelings and emotion but as just this thing that brings nothing but evil and bad fortune. my second point is how could these men who are of high status, and see themselves as self righteous engage in such a heinous act. It shows how reversed this story really is. The people who are expected to do right are more evil than the ones who are accused of being evil.

A significant part of the reading was on page 42 where she was telling about how she would tell stories of anancy the spider, soukougnans and the hag who rides along on her three legged horse. It reminded so much of the stories my mom and aunts used to tell me all throughout my child hood but it isn’t soukougnans, it’s soukouyant and instead of a hag on a three legged horse it’s a woman with legs of a horse called jabless. My aunts would often tell me of the stories where they have seen a soukouyant and actually seeing spirits. Another past that stood out to me was Samuel Paris character. It puzzled me that he, who is a minister and a strong believer in the Christian faith, struck his wife. As a minister you’re expected to be slow to anger and humble but he showed hisself to be as low and ruthless as any other person. Even when tituba was putting the girls to bed and the niece asked her is she not gonna say her prayers or her uncle will whip Betsy. It showed that they feared him as if he was the devil himself.