Breath, Eyes, Memory: Chapter 30 Summary & Analysis

As Sophie pulls into the driveway of her and Joseph’s home in Providence, he runs out of the house to meet them. He lifts Brigitte from the car and carries her inside, leaving Sophie with the luggage. Inside, Joseph tells Sophie that he is happy to see her, but that he wants to kill her at the same time. He admits that he missed her, and asks about the trip. Sophie explains that she was, among other things, helping Granmè Ifé make preemptive funeral arrangements, explaining such an obsession with arranging death is “a thing at home.” Joseph is surprised to hear Sophie refer to Haiti as “home”—usually, home is what she calls Martine’s house, the one place to which she could never return.

Sophie sprawls out on the couch, and Joseph sits beside her and kisses her ear. He tells her he’s determined to get through their problems together. He asks Sophie if she left impulsively or had been planning to go—Sophie doesn’t answer, and instead says the two of them “weren’t connecting physically.” Joseph asks Sophie if she found an aphrodisiac in Haiti. Sophie replies that she needs understanding, not an aphrodisiac. Joseph tells Sophie that though she’s usually “reluctant to start” making love, she “seem[s] to enjoy it” after a certain point.

That night, Sophie and Joseph get into bed, but Sophie cannot sleep. She calls her mother, but Martine hurries off the phone, explaining that Marc is at the apartment. After hanging up the phone, Sophie tells Joseph that her mother is pregnant. Joseph seems to think the news is great, and tells Sophie she’ll finally have a “kindred spirit” in her new sibling.

The next day, Sophie takes Brigitte for a checkup at the pediatrician. The pediatrician asks if Brigitte was exposed to any areas with malaria, but Sophie insists she was very careful and boiled all of Brigitte’s bathing and drinking water. The pediatrician warns Sophie against bringing Brigitte—strong as she may be—back to Haiti.

That night, Sophie eats the dinner Joseph has cooked for her and does not purge. She calls her mother to ask how Marc is, and how the baby is. Martine begs Sophie not to call the fetus a baby, as she hasn’t decided what to do about it. Martine confides in Sophie that she sees her violeur, or rapist, everywhere. As Sophie talks to her mother, Joseph moves his hands under her nightgown and onto her breasts. Martine admits that she went to an abortion clinic, but the meeting with the doctor only made her night terrors intensify. Sophie promises to come visit over the weekend.

As soon as Sophie hangs up, Joseph pulls her to him and begins kissing her. Sophie begins “doubling.” She lets Joseph peel off her clothes, but lets her mind wander elsewhere. She imagines lying in bed with her mother, helping her fight off her nightmares. Sophie feels an odd gratitude that she and Martine can at last be friends—she is starting to believe that they are twins, like the Marasas.

After Joseph finishes, he rolls off of Sophie and tells her she was “very good.” She tells him that she kept her eyes closed the whole time to stop her tears falling. After Joseph falls asleep, Sophie goes to the kitchen, eats all of the leftovers from dinner, and then goes to the bathroom to purge the food.