Language and Identity Theme Analysis

In The Farming of Bones, groups of Haitians have settled uneasily in the Dominican Republic. Eventually, rising racial tensions lead to the 1937 Parsley Massacre, where Dominicans slaughtered thousands of Haitians. To identify and target Haitians, Dominican soldiers conducted a “linguistic test” about the pronunciation of the Spanish word for parsley, “perejil.” In Danticat’s historical novel, languages are used to define and classify one’s nationality, and differentiate between groups; ultimately, these differences are used to justify violence. Still, Danticat complicates the divisive power of language by creating characters that speak multiple dialectsthese characters demonstrate how cultural differences are not always clear cut. In this way, Danticat illustrates how language and nationality can be closely connected, but suggests that these classifications are ultimately malleable.

Throughout the novel, Danticat emphasizes that Haitian Creole and Spanish are central to Haitian and Dominican identity, and highlights the tensions that arise between these two nationalities. In one scene, a Haitian man claims that Dominicans treat Haitians as “foreigners” even if multiple generations were born in the Dominican Republic. The man claims that this line of thinking “makes it easier for them to push” Haitians out. This man makes this observation in Haitian Creole, a language that Haitians “most often” use amongst themselves in place of Spanish. By highlighting that this conversation about identity is in Haitian Creole, the narrator emphasizes the ways in which language is used to separate communities from one another.

In another scene, Señor Valencia recalls an interaction in Amabelle’s childhood: Amabelle was asked “who [she] belonged to,” and had replied that she “belonged” to herself. It is significant that Amabelle makes this declaration in Haitian Creole, representing how her identity is affirmed through language. Moreover, this discussion occurs alongside the “Massacre River,” named for a bloody dispute between French and Spanish settlers. As the river is a symbol of warring national forces, Amabelle’s use of Haitian Creole reinforces her cultural identity and her loyalty to her homeland.

As Amabelle joins a group of refugees, she interacts with two Dominican sisters who do not “speak any Kreyòl.” The group splits up, saying the Dominican Republic is the sisters’ country; the refugees tell the sisters to “find the border themselves.” In this way, language is once again used to demarcate national loyalties, as the Haitian refugees treat the sisters differently due to their inability to speak Haitian Creole.

Danticat then illustrates how these distinctions in language are often used to justify conflict. For example, at one point in the novel, Amabelle is in the midst of a crowd of nationalistic Dominicans and hears “worried Kreyòl-whispering voices.” She guesses these speakers “might have wanted” to gather together, but understands that this “would be dangerous.” Amabelle begins to realize that differences in language can provoke tension: speaking Haitian Creole can draw unwanted attention and suspicion, and has the potential to spark danger.

Eventually, Dominican soldiers discover Amabelle and other Haitians, and they tell the Haitians to correctly pronounce “perejil,” the word for parsley. The soldiers start to assault them before they can speak; to the soldiers, the refugees’ identity is immediately self-evident, and foreign. As the attack occurs, a crowd sings the Dominican national anthem and tramples over Amabelle. As Amabelle is effectively silenced by a crowd singing in Spanish, the crowd symbolizes one language and nationality violently overpowering another.

Dominican propaganda discusses how languages “reveal who belongs on what side,” thereby presupposing that two groups speaking different dialects must be enemies. This propaganda illustrates how feelings of cultural difference can be manipulated into an antagonistic relationship between nationalities. Furthermore, this messaging reinforces how language is sometimes used to define both a person’s allegiance and nationality. In this way, conflicting languages are symbolic of conflicting loyalties, and provide a rationale for distrust.

Although language is a source of conflict in the novel, many characters in the novel speak both Spanish and Haitian Creole. This multilingualism challenges the idea that language reaffirms a single identity. These characters provide examples of how language can subvert static cultural labels.

As an example, one woman describes the feeling of being caught between two countries. Although she is of Haitian descent, she and her son were born in the Dominican Republic. This woman speaks “a mix of Alegrían Kreyòl and Spanish,” a “tangled language” spoken by people “caught […] between two nearly native tongues.” This woman’s ability to meld two languages illustrates the ways in which language defies bordersculturally, she cannot be defined by a single, national label.

Furthermore, Amabelle describes the universality of parsley to further demonstrate how words both define and cross borders. Although the word for “parsley” is used by Dominicans to test whether a speaker is Haitian, Amabelle proves that “pesi, perejil, parsley” is “commonplace.” She discusses how the Haitians use it for “food” and “teas” and “baths”these descriptions demonstrate parsley’s neutrality. As an object, parsley is not special to one nation; as a word, it is used to divide Haitians from Dominicans.

Lastly, during the soldiers’ assault, Amabelle claims that she “could have said the word” for parsley “properly.” She admits “the trill of the r and the precision of the j” is “burdensome,” but asserts that she knows “how to say pesi,” the Haitian pronunciation, and “perejil” in Spanish. Amabelle’s bilingualism reaffirms that cultural labels are not fixed: although she is Haitian, she is capable of saying “perejil” in a way identifies her as a native to the Dominican Republic. Despite her nationality, her connection to Dominican culture transcends language barriers.

Throughout Danticat’s work, language is used to draw distinctions between Dominicans and Haitians. In fact, a single worldpronounced differently in Haitian Creole and Spanishis used to identify characters’ ethnicity, demonstrating how language and identity are inseparable concepts. Language emphasizes differences between cultures and these differences are, in turn, used as justification for cruelty. Oftentimes, however, cultural differences are not straightforward: Danticat’s characters, who are often capable of inhabiting multiple identities, illustrate this complexity. Danticat’s story proves that language is merely a facet of a character’s existence, and demonstrates that feelings of nationality and belonging are dynamic and flexible.