42 pages • 1 hour read
The Farming Of Bones
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BetaChapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Doctor Javier arrives and helps with some of the post-birth care. He upsets Papi when he comments on Rosalinda’s dark skin tone. In order to exit the tense situation, he has Amabelle make him a cafecito. When they are alone together, he asks more about her experiences with midwifery, noting her ability to deal with the caul and the “badly placed” umbilical cord (19). He urges her to take special care of Rosalinda, whom he is “anxious” about, and tells her that she should leave her job as a servant in the Dominican Republic and go work as a midwife in Haiti (18). After he disappears, another lifelong servant named Juana arrives and sobs with joy when she finds out about and then gets to meet the twins. Papi and Doctor Javier then exit the house, leaving Amabelle and Juana to care for Señora Valencia and the children.
Chapter 5 Summary
Sebastien wound up in the Dominican Republic after his father was killed by the 1930 hurricane in Haiti. Amabelle notes that it was ultimately a destructive force that brought them together. She reflects on his feeling of being “haunted” by pigeons (25) and his being bothered by their birds’ cry.
Chapter 6 Summary
Señora Valencia tells Amabelle that she believes that the spirit of her mother was with her while she was in labor. She also tells her that she misses her husband, Pico, and wishes he didn’t work quite so often. She says he aims to be president, but worries that if he accomplishes this, then he will leave her. After helping Señora Valencia with the children, Amabelle goes to find Juana and the stew she made for dinner. Amabelle and Juana talk about Juana’s unfulfilled desire to be a mother, a miscarriage she had many years ago, and about the pain of being an ageing woman.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
In Chapters 4-6, readers start to see some parallels between the characters. Sebastien, Amabelle, and Señora Valencia all have experienced the death of a parent and suffer greatly from their losses. For both Amabelle and Sebastien, that suffering manifests itself as trouble sleeping; for Señora Valencia, it manifests itself as a guilty conscience, leading her to make compulsory decisions, such as asking Amabelle to light a candle for her mother directly after she gives birth. The complexity of the characters deepens in this section as well. Sebastien, who initially serves the role of protector, is revealed to be a victim as well. His inability to remain in his home country, his dead father, and his phobia of the pigeons all expose a deeper layer of Sebastien. Additionally, Señora Valencia, who initially appears privileged and rude, has some intimate moments with Amabelle that prove she’s a dynamic character. Amabelle’s character is fleshed out as well, as she displays more agency in this section than in the previous three chapters. This can be seen when she starts to mull over the possibility of becoming a midwife instead of a household worker, a move that would ultimately change her position in the world.
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By Edwidge Danticat
