Essay On A Wall Of Fire Rising

In Haitian-born writer Edwidge Danticat’s short story A Wall of Fire Rising, she uses the struggles of the world’s first black republic’s history as a backdrop for the story’s setting. In A Wall of Fire Rising the reader is introduced to a poor and struggling Haitian man named Guy, his wife Lili, and their son Little Guy who live in a shanty town where the only work available is at the local sugar mill. The events that take place in the story, while fiction, depict a narrative that could have easily happened in real-life as a result of the Haitian Revolution. The events are believable because the people in the story are free from slavery, but they are still slaves to poverty, much like Haiti after the Revolution and on through the early 20th century. The Haitian people wanted a revolution after being forced to work as slaves living and dying to produce sugar and Haiti’s biggest export. After Haiti’s revolution, the people became controlled by an authoritarian government where there is still a strong European influence that controls everything. At the finale of the story, little Guy recites the words of Boukman, the Haitian
Guy and his family live in a clay floor one room shack in which they use a piece of propped up plywood as a table. When there is not enough food to be had Lili “…Makes her special sweet water tea. It was supposed to suppress gas and kill the vermin in the stomach that made poor children hungry.” (Danticat 370) It is evident that the entire community in which this family lives is just as poor as they are. When Little Guy’s family does not have the kerosene to light their lamp, he must do his homework outside by the streetlamp with the rest of the children in the neighborhood. None of the families have televisions in their homes and instead gather nightly for the state-sponsored news near the sugar