Review Of New York Day Women By Edwidge Danticat

Review, Pages 6 (1370 words)

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Author Edwidge Danticat introduces the short story “New York Day Women” as a first-person point of view with limitations based on the knowledge of Suzette. The conflict begins as Suzette starts worrying about her mother when she sees her walking around alone on the streets of New York. She decides to follow her in secret to ensure her safety without confronting the big question. The actions of Suzette's mother surprises Suzette in a way with memories of her mom’s past sayings.

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After Suzette lunch break has ended and she concludes that her mother is fine on her own. Suzette takes a cab back to the office upon realizing that her mother has never went to any of her Parent-Teacher Association meetings. Within the story, Suzette sees her mother as a person who Suzette thought was unfamiliar to the big city and comes to a realization that her mother may have more experiences than what Suzette had initially thought.

Author Edwidge Danticat constructs the analysis of “New York Day Women” by focusing more on the plot, characters, and symbols of the story.

Danticat focuses her plot on New York where her character, Suzette has verbal and mental communications by herself on what her mother is doing around her environment and setting. The symbols of what Edwidge Danticat uses in the story are what Suzette’s mother interacts with that represents a part of Haiti, her family’s home country, or a characteristic that helps define more information on what type of characters are Suzette and her mother.

What moves this story is Suzette’s first person point of view with limitations based on the knowledge of Suzette on her mother wondering around the streets of New York. In the beginning of the story, Danticat makes the plot have a quick turn to conflict. This happens as she makes Suzette follows her mother around the city of New York because to Suzette's Knowledge, her mother never shops outside of Brooklyn, let alone seen the advertising office where Suzette works.

Why was Suzette’s mother walking the streets of New York alone? We can tell Suzette cares for her mother when she decides to follow her for her safety. Why was Suzette’s mother decided to keep this a secret to her daughter? Maybe Suzette's mother wants some alone time or maybe Suzette should of confronted her mother on why she is walking the streets of New York alone. Suzette is in conflict on why her mother is doing this without letting her daughter know. During the progression of the plot, Danticat makes Suzette remembers quotes and/or sayings from her mother when an action or a symbol took place. Starting with a flashback this morning, Suzette’s mother said to her would you get up and give an old lady like me your subway seat to which Suzette sometimes does depending on the situation like for a pregnant lady.

We can tell by this that Suzette is a caring person and for that very reason is why she is following her mother. At the crosswalk, the Danticat makes the car a symbol of her past homeland and to get Suzette to talk about the people of Haiti. “In Haiti when you get hit by a car, the owner of the car gets out and kicks you for getting blood on his bumper”.

Why did Suzette’s mother bring up Haiti? The symbol saying that, questions if Suzette's mother is an immigrant from Haiti. The author who wrote the short story is from Haiti where Star Tribune source Kristin Tillotson say Danticat moved to New York when she was a toddler and Danticat's stories are mainly “the theme of parent-child bonding runs through much of Danticat’s work. This could explain why Danticat mentions Haiti as the allegory of the car. Could the immigration of Danticat’s family be a part of this story? Maybe Suzette's mother strive to maintain their cultural identity which is probably why Suzette's mother has a difficult time leaving her home and why Suzette had the need to follow her. Danticat thickens the plot as we get to see what kind of a person Suzette's mother is from Suzette’s perspective. We see that there is some compassion in Suzette's mother personality when Suzette remembers her mother watches the lottery drawings every night . . . without ever having played the numbers and wishes a third of that money to pay the mortgage and Suzette's father could stop driving that taxicab all over Brooklyn.

We know she is compassionate, but why leave the house to explore on your own without telling Suzette? In the story, Danticat symbolize the African print dress. Because of that, internal conflict starts within her character Suzette as she knows her mother is looking at the dress to get it for her while Suzette internally begs her mom to not buy the dress and would bury in the garage or give to Goodwill.

What does the African print dress represent? Suzette remembers her mom suggesting why should we give the clothes to Goodwill when there are so many people back home that need clothes. The African print dress represents as a reminder that Haiti is a poor country and Suzette’s mother is suggesting they should sent clothes to Haiti because the country is so poor, the people could use some nice clothes to wear. Jon Henley from The Guardian confirms the theory on the country Haiti on being a poor country. From Jon's interview with Alex von Tunzelmann, a historian and writer, he confirm on my theory that Haiti has had slavery, revolution, debt, deforestation, corruption, exploitation and violence which we now understand Suzette's mother reasoning on sending clothes back to Haiti (Tunzelmann). Danticat makes her character Suzette have an interesting discovery at the park. We see Suzutte's mother and a woman waiting with a child”. We don't know the relationship of the woman and Suzutte's mother, but can make of this is that they are friends when the woman kisses the child good-bye and surrenders him to Suzette's mother, the woman then bolts off.

We witness a trust between her and Suzette's mother. The child and Suzette's mother have a close relationship for a long time because the child's hand slips into hers easily, like he's known her for a long time meaning that this relationship has been going on for a while. The child didn't look unhappy, let alone feel force to be her when Suzette's mother gives this child” a “soda and the child's face lights up as she puts a straw in the card for him meaning that not only is the child's mother her friend, but Suzette's mother is also her friend. An hour later in the story, the child's mother return to get back her child. Is Suzette's mother a part time baby sitter? The strange part is as Suzette lunch hour is long since gone and has to hurry back to work, as she leaves, her mother was chatting with a group of women who are taking other people's children on an afternoon outing meaning not only is the child from before was her friend, but Suzette's mother has other friends that Suzette didn't know about. Danticat makes her character Suzette have a realization as soon as she “hurry back to work. From the image of Suzette mother with the other group of children reminds Suzette of the Third World Parent-Teacher Association meeting to which she had a shocking realization as she ponders into this? Her mother never went to any of Suzette's Parent-Teacher Association meetings when Suzette was in school. Why Suzette’s mother did not go? It is possible that since she knew her daughter so well that nothing the Teachers can say changes her opinion of her. Suzette underestimates her mother as a person who was a shut in to a person who was experience with the city.

Throughout the story, Danticat helps Suzette gets to know her mother a little better and finds a new side of her that Suzette didn't know. Suzette's mother is not the immigrant that is inexperience with the city; she is the immigrant who is living a secret life.