Those women who did not get a chance to immigrate to other countries to start a new life had been suffering relentless tortures or hardships, which brought by either the cruel control of the government or the inequality of gender existed in the society. Under the brutal control of Duvalier Regime, many girls like Célianne who were raped by those inhumane soldiers were the biggest victims. Overwhelmed by such abuse, they either ended up traumatized or commit suicide. Although Célianne still had a gleam of hope when she carried her unborn child on the boat, drifting to the new future, she eventually committed suicide when everyone else on the boat convinces her to abandon her child. Like her, Josephine's mother's life was also destroyed by the hands of those "governors". She was accused of killing a child by practicing the power of voodoo, and sent to prison by those blind people who were afraid of her "magic power". In the prison, Josephine's mother suffered from endless mistreatment before death. Compared with them, Lili's life was slight better after the government of Haiti gradually stabilized. She had a husband named Guy, and a son named Little Guy. Even though her family was very poor because her husband did not have a job, she was very hopeful toward the future that her son can choose his own destiny by the power of education but her husband jumped from a hot-air balloon in front of her and her son. She became a widow. In that men-dominated society, her life became even more tough to raise her son. She can either choose to become a piece-worker or a prostitute like the "night woman". Thus, life was very hard for those women lived in Haiti: during the country's unrest, they were struggling to live; when Haiti eventually became somehow stable, they were struggling to make a living in the men-dominated society.
And fortunately for those women who came to the U.S., they no longer needed to worry about how to stay alive but instead they struggled to adapt to the new environment. In the story "New York Day Women", following with the narrator's eyes, we can see that her mother had somehow successfully adapted to New York: she had a relatively good job; she can easily interact with the vendors on her way to work. For offering a good life to her daughter, she came to America, spent years on striving to fit into the new culture, and never returned for her sisters' funerals. Different from her, Caroline's mother refused to adapt to the new environment. She was more like a traditional Haitian woman who respected for all the Haitian cultures. She was pretty against Caroline's marriage because her husband --- Eric was not Haitian, as what she said, "no one in our family has ever married outside". Although she finally made compromise to their marriage, she still tried to make Eric become a "Haitian". She wanted Eric to officially come and ask her permission to marry her daughter and bring his family to their house and have his father ask her blessing ... Except her way of insisting on following the Haitian cultures, she also kept all the items when she first came to U.S. to reunite with her husband. Although she continuously made comprise to her daughters, she still strived to keep all the things about Haiti by using her own way. Thus, these Haitian women who lived in the U.S. were using their own ways to cherish their soul in Haiti: some of them chose to fit in the new environment and hided those memories inside their heart; some chose to keep all the cultures as much as possible and inherit to their children.
All these Haitian women were the victims of the country's unrest: they suffered from brutal persecution; their family were destroyed; they were forced to leave their homeland and seek another life in an unknown country. They were connected but forced apart.
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