Characters in Claire of the Sea Light, like most other post-modern texts, have a connection, and they work together to deliver the intended message to the audience. In this light, the book widely tackles different themes from love to death. However, the theme of parenthood is more prominent throughout the book (Mills, 12). Two characters, Nozias Faustin and Gaelle Lavaud, are mainly used to develop this theme. Even though these two characters are from different social classes, they go through almost the same experiences since they are both parents, and they have both experienced losses. This essay aims at demonstrating that Nozias Faustin and Gaelle Lavaud complete each other’s stories through the themes of parenthood, financial wealth, and death.
Danticat starts to develop the theme of parenthood when Claire’s mother dies as she is giving birth to her, which turns into a tragedy to Nozias. After losing his wife, Nozias Faustin had to raise Claire single-handedly, which was hard for him, and Claire lacked a mother figure in her life. For this reason, her father took Claire to Madame Gaelle for breastfeeding on the night she was born. Gaelle Lavaud had experienced the loss of her husband shortly after Claire was born and ended up playing the role of Claire’s nurturing mother (Mills, 20). In a sense, the death of Claire’s mother and the death of Gaelle’s husband made Nazias and Gaelle husband and wife, as they care for one child.
Parenthood for Nozias Faustin was difficult, as he could not provide enough money for the house. Moreover, Nozias had to spend much time at sea as a fisherman, which made it difficult for him to be near his daughter. He was always unhappy, as he wanted a better life for his daughter. On her seventh birthday, Nozias planned to give Claire away to madam Gaelle for adoption (Mills, 15). He chose her because Gaelle had more money, and he believed that she could provide a better life for his daughter.
Madam Lavaud, even though she had enough money, was also an unhappy mother. She lost her husband to a murder, which made her unhappy as a woman. However, she could become a good mother, as she had what Nozias lacked – financial stability and time to spend with her daughter without fear of becoming poor. Gaelle failed to become a good mother, as she lost her daughter at the age of four in a car accident.
It is crucial to notice that Nozias Faustin and Gaelle Lavaud are unhappy parents for different reasons. Nozias struggles because he cannot support his daughter, which makes him want to her up. Madam Lavaud is in pain because she was forced to give up her daughter without the will to do so. However, both parents became unhappy due to the death of their loved ones. The characters decide to resolve their problems by allowing Gaelle to care for Claire regardless of Claire’s will.
Danticat highlights the difficulties of parenthood from a widow’s and widower’s perspective in their different struggles, showing how similar and different their efforts are. Even though Nozias Faustin and Gaelle Lavaud experience similar tragedies, they experience different problems associated with parenting, demonstrating that people may be unhappy for different reasons going through similar events. Although someone might be financially stable, they might have other life struggles, such as losing loved ones (Mills, 9). Both Nozias Faustin and Gaelle Lavaud were unhappy due to similar events but for different reasons.
Nozias and Gaelle are united by the theme of death, as they both lose their loved ones after having a child. Whether by natural causes or murder, death brings sorrow to those who lose their loved ones. The deaths of close relatives and friends leave people with a void in their hearts, which cannot be filled. After Nozias’ wife died, he was left to care for his daughter independently (Mills, 9). He kept battling within himself whether to give away his daughter or not. He wanted a better life for his daughter, which was a life he could not give her. At the same time, Gaelle also experienced a deeply personal tragedy, as she was left to care for her child without the father figure in the house. Gaelle and her daughter were unprotected, which made her unhappy in the days of her motherhood.
The theme of Gaelle’s daughter’s death unites her with Nozias even more. It may appear that the car accident that took away Gaelle’s daughter makes the characters of Nozias and Gaelle different. However, it is not the case, as the characters become united through Claire, which becomes the only daughter of both Nozias and Gaelle. Madam Lavaud gradually develops the will to care for Claire, as Nozias keeps asking Gaelle to take care of Claire. Thus, Gaelle’s daughter’s death resolves Nozias’s parenting problem of not being able to support the family.
Death also plays a crucial part in addressing another parenting problem, which is children’s disagreement with their parents’ decisions. It was mentioned previously that Nozias and Gaelle decided on Claire’s destiny without her agreement, which made Claire rebel and runs away. However, as she sees Nozias dragging Max Ardin Junior out of the sea, she decides to return to Gaelle. In other words, the sight of near-death had a deep impression on Claire, which made her end her rebellion and come to her senses. Thus, the parenting problem of non-obedience was resolved through the sight of close death.
Continuing the theme of death, it is crucial to mention that mothers and children in this novel are not entirely safe, especially during birth. Poor healthcare seems to have led to these deaths during childbirth. First, there was Claire’s mother, who died while giving birth to her. Then there was Gaelle’s daughter, who died shortly after she was born (Mills, 9). This clearly shows rotten the health care was. Mothers were left mourning their children while children were left orphaned or with only one parent. These two deaths highlighted a significant issue in the society of Claire of the Sea Light. Therefore, it sheds light on the difficulty of motherhood and a crucial problem that even money could not solve. Women of different social statuses faced the same problems while giving birth and nurturing their young ones.
Finally, the theme of financial stability and social classes connects Gaelle and Nozias. The characters act as bridges between the poor and the rich. Positive change can only come when we are willing to work for it. Society ought to work together, irrespective of their social classes, to change its destructive practices. These practices may include children from low-income families being made slaves to rich people’s families. This was Claire’s biggest fear. However, Gaelle and her father, Nozias, showed hope for change. This is depicted when they both agreed on making sure that that did not happen (Mills, 13). Nozias said that he knew that Claire would never become Gazelle’s servant. Hence the text suggests that infringement of this sequence was achievable. However, we have to be willing to participate in the change we wish for despite our social classes or gender.
All in all, Edwidge Danticat sheds light on parents’ struggles from both male and female perspectives. By doing this, she avoids being biased in her novel. Struggling with loss made them relate to each other. Gaelle and Nozias complement each other in different aspects. Therefore, they are crucial in bringing forth the theme of parenthood. Poor or rich, all parents face the same challenges in their journey of parenthood (Mills, 19). For this reason, they should help each other whenever they can. Moreover, challenges such as poor prenatal and postnatal healthcare, poverty, and inequality should be addressed candidly and with a lot of seriousness. The change that we all want can only be achieved if we speak about them without fear.
Work cited
Mills, Keilah. “Between a Rock and a Sea Place: Environmental Decay and Apocalypse in Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of the Sea Light.” Caribbean Quarterly 68.1 (2022): 9-23. Web.