44 pages • 1 hour read
Edwidge DanticatEverything Inside
Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Death
Death appears across Everything Inside as a powerful motif related to the themes of trauma and resilience. Throughout the stories, characters confront the inevitability of death and grapple with the aftermath of losing loved ones. The presence of death underscores the fragility and impermanence of life, accentuating the resilience required to cope with loss and the enduring effects of trauma.
Six of the eight stories in the collection contain descriptions of death or an explicit threat of death; the collection’s power comes from its insistence on the inevitability of death. “Without Inspection,” the last story in the collection, contains two explicit depictions of death: first, the drowning death of immigrants trying to reach Miami, and then the protagonist’s death on a construction site. In both cases, Danticat emphasizes the structural forces—such as the Coast Guard, immigration officers, and negligent businesses—that caused the deaths. The recurring motif of death highlights the theme of the Trauma of Immigration, and reminds readers of the violence inherent to the immigration process.
Other stories, such as “Dosas,” “In the Old Days,” “The Gift,” and “Seven Stories,” depict the impact of death, specifically the emotional distress, on the individuals and communities left behind. In “Seven Stories,” for example, Callie faces lasting trauma from her father’s assassination, even decades after the event, when she’s the wife of a powerful politician. However, she also emphasizes the Resilience of the Haitian Diaspora in the face of this trauma. Similarly, Nadia, the narrator of “In the Old Days,” is only able to process her grief at her father Maurice’s death after participating in the Haitian rituals his wife holds. Though Danticat’s bereaved characters each handle their losses in different ways, the collection highlights their resiliency in the face of death.
The recurring motif of death underscores the themes of trauma and resilience in Everything Inside. It serves as a potent reminder of the violence inherent to immigration, the lasting impact of loss, and the transformative power of community resilience in the face of trauma.
Mother-Daughter Relationships
Throughout the collection, relationships between mothers or mother figures and daughters appear as a prominent motif demonstrating the Impossibility of Truly Knowing Others. Throughout the collection, Danticat portrays a range of mother-daughter dynamics, showcasing the intricate layers of love, conflict, and unspoken emotions that shape these relationships and make knowledge of one another difficult to achieve.
The narrator of “The Port-Au-Prince Marriage Special” acts as a mother to her nanny Mélisande, who was recently diagnosed with AIDS. The narrator explicitly considers herself to be a mother figure for Mélisande, comparing her to her actual son, despite the fact that Mélisande’s actual mother is also present and active in her life. The story ultimately suggests that the narrator’s efforts to shield her nanny from the realities of the world are unnecessary: she is much less naive than the narrator thinks and seems to resent being treated like a child. The misunderstandings between mothers and daughter in this story demonstrate the impossibility of truly knowing how others perceive the world.
The mother and daughter pair at the center of “Sunrise, Sunset” similarly struggle to understand each other. Carole, whose daughter Jeanne was born shortly after Carole immigrated to America, sees Jeanne’s post-partum depression as a sign of weakness. Jeanne, who fears becoming the type of dependent housewife she believes her mother to be, has no idea that Carole secretly worked throughout Jeanne’s childhood in order to support their family. The story ends with a moment of connection as the women’s roles are reversed: Carole is taken to a mental health facility, and Jeanne steps into the role of caretaker for her mother. Danticat’s depiction of mother-daughter relationships in this story highlights the impossibility of true understanding even in this most intimate of relationships. The stories in Everything Inside captures the intricate dynamics and emotional landscapes of mother-daughter relationships, emphasizing the resilience required to navigate these types of relationships.
Female Friendships
Female friendships are also a recurring motif in Everything Inside. Throughout the collection, Danticat portrays various forms of female friendships, showcasing the depth, resilience, and unique bonds that form between women. Some of these relationships, like the one between Elsie and Olivia in “Dosas” are intimate but dysfunctional; although Olivia steals Elsie’s husband and her money, Elsie still mourns the loss of their friendship deeply. The relationship between Lucy, narrator of “Hot Air Balloons,” and her roommate Neah also lies on the border of intimate and inappropriate. The story’s final image, in which Lucy presses her wrist against a sleeping Neah’s chest, demonstrates the intimacy of their relationship and the difficulty that creates for establishing boundaries. The intimate friendship at the center of “Seven Stories,” on the other hand, is depicted as a healthy, life-saving relationship. Although Callie and Kim haven’t seen each other in years, when they reunite on the unnamed island where Callie’s husband is prime minister, both feel as if they were girls again. Callie’s vulnerability in sharing her darkest memories with Kim highlights the intimacy of their relationship. Danticat’s depiction of female relationships throughout the collection emphasizes the strength and sense of resilience that comes from female intimacy, even when it borders on the dysfunctional.
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By Edwidge Danticat
