Never forget who you are

  To me, the ending is rather miserable. The peasant girl had beautiful dreams, of being free and loved. But in the end, none of them are true, her life falls apart and finally destroyed her. She was so in love with Daniel, "Desiree cried, I am Daniel and Daniel is Desiree.", while Madame Mathilde had already told her the truth, "What peasant girl can boast of such luck that the patron keeps her when he no longer has need for her?". Desiree was paralyzed, blinded by her untrustworthy love. Daniel has been always the angel to her, "Were it not for his limp, he'd be the most perfect of men." But he indeed betrayed her, and even hurts her, "It is this life that brings me joy. It is this life that I have pledge to Andrea Galimar." Desiree, at that moment thought he belonged to her but he said the life that desiree saved is bonded to Andrea Galimar, which indirectly excluded the peasant girl out. He sees her as a life saver but not a lover. It's really miserable to finally see the truth when one believes in her own story for too long. This part is even more tragic than the moment when she died. All of her beliefs, hearts were trampled on the floor, by this ignorant, selfish young man. 

  The story illustrates an idea of how one should not forget her identity and really self-recognize better. Ever since Desiree crossed through that gate, she never belonged there. That's not who she is, she is just a peasant, who's from thousands miles away. "In the room she stood looking at her own reflection in the mirror. And not understanding the reason for fear." It's not surprising that she has fear, she not a part of the aristocrats, she sees herself in the mirror and still find a peasant girl. Madame Mathilde had told her the truth for hundreds of times, she never listens, never believes. "Stupid girl. The dirt at the bottom of our feet belongs to us alone. Yet water washes it away." And we, the story witnesses should realized, don't overextending our dreams if they make us think of ourselves as someone else. Always seek for truth and be who we are.

Discussion Questions

1. To what extent, does the city give Desiree a new perspective to the world? Use specific examples from the book.

2. When Desiree enters the city by herself, how do people treat her and why is that? Use specific examples from the book. 

3. To what extent, does the gap between languages brings the lovers trouble? Use specific examples from the book.

4. At the end of Chapter 13, Lucifus was possessed by the death god - PaPa Ge, what effect does this turning point make on the whole story?

Beauty within life

  My favorite character from the book is Desiree. She is such a dream pursuer and fabulous girl. I also like her personalities.
  Desiree has been always a special existence. At the beginning of the play, we can tell that she differs from other peasants, such as this line:" They obeyed a wordless command of M. Galimar, or feared his vicious overseer-or both. Only the peasant girl used the brook." I found it really amazing for her to ignore the vicious power. Plus, she just doesn't feel like she is part of the peasant group, she seeks for her own world and freedom. "While all the other tired peasants rested before going up to the hills to the Vaudun ceremony, the peasant girl slipped away and came here." I found myself similar to Desiree. Sometimes, everyone can have a little space to enjoy themselves.
  Also, according to the descriptions, she is a really attractive young lady. "She had the smoothest skin, the peasant girl. Black. Silk at the calves, satin on her thighs, changing to a velvet blackness as it spread up her shoulders, her neck, her face." This line is a complete description of her general appearance, and it actually makes a contrast with the next line: "The white of her eyes sparkled and the black pupils shone like jewels." The descriptions provide readers a vivid image of Desiree. I was impressed by her because she is so special and outstanding even when she's a peasant girl.
  Her persistance on love surprised me. She makes so much effort to defend, treasure the strange young man even when they've never met before. She might not be an obedient girl but that's what I like about her. "He must not die, Desiree said, I shall not let him die." Her words are just so strong and staunch. She is similar to Romeo in some degrees: as a comparison, Romeo persist in going to the Capulet feast without an invitation. "Everyday, Desiree rushed from the hut, through the woods, across the road, and up the hill to the cabin. Then she rushed back, fearing that in her absence something might happen to her young patient." We can tell that Desiree really cares about people, she not only cares about gods, her parents, but, most importantly, she cares about that one breaking point in her life. The young man's existence definitely changes her life, he is free and handsome, she becomes his biggest admirer. That love force grants her unbelievable courage to chase after him later. Her journey is the most impressive portion of the whole book, she pays everything to search for her love. I really like the scene when she is in the city all by herself, all of her emotions are written. "Even in the dark she sensed the vitality beating like a force. What excitement! Cars raced toward her. Headlights blinded her, forcing her into ditches." I feel like I'm Desiree at that moment.
  Desiree is my favorite character, her life attitude and characteristics are the main reason. This book gives me a brighter perspective to life. I hope I can be just like her, pursuing dream, fearlessly.
 

Reading Quiz 12/7 Question 4

  Desiree is girl with decisive and stubborn personalities, she really resist in her own thoughts and has been always trying to find her own world. For example, she has a strong first sight love with the young stranger even when they had never met before, and she used all her power to take good care of him, regardless Mama Euralie's persuading. In order to show her characteristics, I would pick white costumes to show her pureness and it can also make a contrast with other peasants residents, who will be dressed in grey and brown. It shows that she is such a special existence.
  In the beginning of the book, she always has good imaginations of the nature and also spend times with it. In the book's description of Desiree, she is a young, beautiful African girl, but still being a peasant. As a peasant girl, she is not able to afford too much of luxuries and decorations. So, I would select a good amount of decorations of nature including leaves and flowers to put on her. This way, it not only presents her good appearance, but also shows her love to the nature.
  It would be a great idea to show her connection to the gods too. Peasants in the story are really religious and worship the gods a lot, especially Agwe and Asaka. As a part of the peasant members, she also prays and has faith in the gods. I believe it's necessary to show her religious side because that's part of who she is. As I mentioned, I would use some green decorations on her to show her love in nature, but it can also work as a connection to Asaka, who is the goddess of earth and growing things. In additional, I would use the blue spotlight on her when she is praying to Agwe to provide a atmosphere.

Staging of specials

  If I'm staging the play for My love, my love or the peasant girl, I would make the gods have exaggerated appearance and special expressions. In the original novel, gods played extremely important roles in the story. People worshipped them, peasants prayed to them all the time. The religion, culture elements should be huge portions of the stage play. In the book, four gods existed and each of them deserves a distinctive character. In my opinion, costumes and masks are the keys to make the characters special. And colors can be used to distinguish gods from each other.
  The costumes should correspond to the god's identities. For example, the god of death should have a depressed image. It can be shown by dark color costume or even weapons like sickle. Also, Mask would be a great fit for a god. When people talk about gods, they always show up in imaginations because every individual can have a different impression of gods. Masks can be strong illustrations for gods, because they express different things than human faces. For example, the mask can be blue with conch and carving waves on it, that would be a great presence for the god of ocean; it can be made of wood with leafs and roots for the god of plants. Masks effectively show the gods' characteristics by visual representation. Of course, the play will also work without the mask, but the make up must be explicit enough to reflect the god's impression. I used to perform in a middle school play. I can still remember the fire god in that play had flamboyant fire patterns drawn on his arm. The make up was successful because it attract audience's eyes. That's what I will do.
  Colors are what best distinguish the gods from each other. For Asaka, the god of earth and growing, his theme color should be green and brown, these two colors represent plants and nature. In order to show more of his identity, there can be green stage light shining on Asaka. Agwe is the god of water and sea, so his color should be blue. Papage and Erzulie are the gods of death and love. They are kind of the opposite of each other so I would use strong contrasting colors on them, such as black and white. It's also a good idea to give Erzulie the color pink, or peach to show the love's sweetness. Besides the colors, decorations can be an important element to make the gods special. For example, gods can have wings while humans can't. Unrealistic decorations distinguish them from human beings. A decoration varies along the personalities of a character. For example, the god of death can have scary decorations on him such as bones and skulls.
  In conclusion, gods are different existence than human beings and there are all sorts of ways to make them special. The colors distinguish them from each other. Costumes, masks and decorations distinguish them from humans. They can be really outstanding in the play.

Pics of plants