The Danticat Proverbs

During the “Meet the Author Event: Edwidge Danticat,” Danticat mentioned five fascinating proverbs that emerged from her memoir (Brother, I’m Dying) and/or inspired her writing. She defined proverb as an inspiration for writing, and I absolutely agree with her. Here are the five proverbs:

Proverb 1: Words have wings, words have feet.

In other words, words are able to travel to many places to be in the hands of someone else. For Danticat, letters were important her, in which communication between her and her family was by words on letters. Her words were able to create her memoir. The words of her life traveled through her memoir so that others may be inspired also.

Proverb 2: Sometimes you’re running from the rain, but you end up in the fire.

This relates to Uncle Joseph, where he ran away from the chaos occurring in Haiti. He believed that entering America would be the safe zone, but instead, he still didn’t escape into safety. Unfortunately, he died there from his illness because of mistreatment.

Towards the bigger picture, Danticat relates this with immigration, in which immigrants viewed America as a safe haven where they can potentially prosper. However, many immigrants, whether illegal or legal, continue to face hardship (but possibly not as worse as back in their home countries).

Proverb 3: Misfortune has no horn.

Overall, anything can happen at anytime, whether it’s a miracle or some misfortunate. Be prepared to face the worse.

Proverb 4: Those who care cannot rest. (Variation: Those who are concern cannot sleep).

Probably self-explained, but in Danticat’s experience, those who want to fight for justice should continue to fight until it is achieved.

Proverb 5: When you see an old bone in the street, remember that it once had flesh.

Personally, this is my favorite proverb out of the five. As Danticat explained, the memoir is putting the flesh on the bone of Uncle Joseph and that the memoir is also dedicated to his father and as a tribute to family. It can be said the same for other memoirs, such as Patti Smith’s Just Kids. Her memoir is the bone and she attempts not only to cover that bone with flesh of her own, but of Rob’s flesh also. Overall, with this proverb, Danticat provides us with crucial advice: “Don’t forget the great sacrifices that others have made for us.”