Sophie a little Haitian girl is living a happy existence with her Tanta (Aunt) Atie in a small village, with New York money and a job as a home maker with a white family Sophie’s takes good care of her. She pushes Sophie in school because she lost her childhood working in the sugarcane fields with her parents, and never learned to read. This deeply hurts her, she owns a Bible that she keeps under her pillow and wishes she could one day unlocks its wisdoms. Even though she desires to learn to read, she refuses to have kids teach her, so she measures her educational success through that of Sophie’s.

She receives a package and it includes a plane ticket for Sophie to join her mother in New York. Sophie’s Tante Atie is devastated because she is going to lose the child she raised from birth. She is waiting for the right moment to announce this trip to Sophie, she seeks the advice of Mr. Augustin who tells his wife and she spills the beans to Sophie. This breaks Sophie’s heart because she has no desire to leave Haiti or her Tante Atie, but the choice wasn’t hers’ to make. The preparation starts and she is now making the rounds to say her goodbyes.

in the beginning of the book the, the portion that I read, the main characters at this point are Sophie, her aunt, Atie and her mom, who we haven’t met as yet, Martine. For all her life Sophie was raised by her aunt Atie, who couldn’t read, and also had no interest in learning how to, as she thought she was too old to learn. Atie who cared a great deal for her neice seem to constantly be fighting with herself to maintain an aunt and neice relationship with her neice, as she is careful not to let Sophie view her as her mother; this was one of the most significant moments from the text, because although she is the only mother figure Sophie actually knows, it seems like out of respect for her sister, she didn’t want to make it seem as if she wanted to steal her daughter away. Another significant moment was Sophie’s dream; where she would dream of herself being chased by her mother, who at one point snatched her away before her aunt could save her; this was significant because I think it’s the authors way of giving us a preview of the tribulation? That lies ahead in Sophie’s life.

To begin, I would like to address Edwidge Danticat’s use of language already established in the very first pages of the text.  Her use of imagery and rhetorical devices thus far have definitely enthralled me to keep on reading, and this was just from the first four chapters!  With this being said, I found quite a few things engrossing to say the least, but the one most notable would have to be Atie’s recurrent refusal of Sophie’s Mother’s Day card.  Although we initially find out that Atie is her Aunt, and Martine is her actual mother, I still found Atie’s strong sense to incessantly refuse Sophie’s declaration of love intriguing  Especially after Sophie trying to give it to her in her time of despondency, and made it quite lucid that it was meant to express their loving relationship (despite Atie not being her biological mother). It actually leads me to believe that there is a perhaps a bigger connection to the card, and makes me ponder on why Atie is so persistent on Sophie actually giving it to its rightful owner — her actual mother.  Even when it is revealed that Martine has sent instructions for Sophie to come back to her in New York, Atie specifically places the card beside Sophie’s passport, stipulating that it be delivered to her mother.  From implications and deduction made in the text, I see this card symbolizing something much profounder than that of just a Mother’s Day gift.  Whether this plays a part resonating throughout the rest of the novel, or just within the next few upcoming chapters, I am excited to see where the novel is heading.

Throughout chapters 1-4 there were a variety of significant moments that really stood up to me. The significant moment that stood up to me was when Sophie’s mother, decided to take her daughter to New York. All of the civilians living in her neighborhood knew she was departing Haiti. Due to the lack of education and misreading Aunt Tante Atie possessed the neighbors knew about it. Aunt Tante Atie couldn’t read and ever since she asked one of the neighbors to read the package for her. That was when rumors started to spread of her departure to New York. There’s a brief explanation as to why I chose this significant moment. As I was growing up my family would always tell me there struggles with life. They would explain in great detail the pain and suffering they had to go through to survive. They would also tell me how other families had to sacrifice opportunities to get their children a descent education. They would tell me stories of how many students were going through poverty and couldn’t afford shoes. They had to walk barefooted and would often get sever injuries like broken glass which would cause severe bleeding.

One moment very significant for me was when Tante Atie and Sophie went to visit Grandma and Grandmother asked Sophie if she was hungry that she will only cook things she likes and that it was probably be the last time she sees her Grandma. This moment is very significant for me because a year ago my brother almost die so I went to Ecuador for few weeks and I saw my Grandma she was 87 and I was so much happy to see her again but I knew she has aged that it was most likely her last year. My Grandma treated me like a little child the few weeks and when the time came I had to leave I cried a lot because I had the feeling that it was going to be the last time I see her. Few months later she passed away and I was not able to go to her funeral. This is why this moment is very significant for me because it reminds me of my beautiful and lovely Grandmother.

In the first four chapters of this novel, the setting, including the protagonist is introduced. It sets place in the early 80s in Haiti. Aunt Atie is acting as Sophie’s mother while she is away in Brookyn, New York. Sophie does not remember her mom Martine since she had left her when she was very young; however, Martine has been sending money so that Atie and Sophie are able to live above poverty. We learn that Atie and Martine are very similar and that Martine left Haiti not to abandon Sophie but to find a better life for the both of them. Judging by the setting of where Sophie and Atie are living we can conclude that the family is very poor. At the end of the fourth chapter Sophie who was given a plane ticket through a package is New York bound to reunite with her mother Martine.

The significant moment that I found while reading this book is when Sophie’s mother decided to take her daughter to New York with her. It tells how all the neighbors knew that she was leaving even before she herself even found out that she was leaving Haiti. I believe that they all found out because her aunt Tante Atie could not read so maybe when she got the package she called a neighbor to read for her and that’s how the news spread. One of the reasons I found all this significant is I remember growing up and hearing the stories from my grandparents, mother, aunts and uncles about the struggles that they went through and the many times they didn’t got school or the condition that they went to school in. In those days children didn’t care how they got to school all that matters was that they were getting an education. They would tell me stories of how kids would show up to school barefooted but that it was nothing to be ashamed of because not many of them had shoes to wear. The text is also personal to me because when I went without my mother for six years when she came to the US, I was in my early teens and my sister and I lived with my aunt who like Tante Atie didn’t have kids. I remember when the time came to finally reunite with my mom I couldn’t wait, I was sad to leave behind my aunt and other family and friends however I knew the day would come to be with my mom like old times was the best thing for my family.

I’m curious to know what was the main difference between obeah and being a witch growing up in the Caribbean i always though that doing obeah was a form of witch craft, so I’m curious to know what was the ideal difference between obeah man and a witch?, once again we witness here we see people is trying to influence tituba to use her power for evil, when the man say if he was tituba he would make all the witches turn on each other, but to be honest i don’t think that tituba even has the potential to use her power for evil because in a earlier chapter i remember someone ask to tituba to use her power for evil, i believe it was abigeal, but tituba then mention later that evil is not something you do its something your born with, and thought the book all we witness is tituba helping people and in some cases motivate them, so tituba has not one evil spirit in her, so can tituba really use her power for evil?