Breath, Eyes, Memory: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Martine takes Sophie to Haiti Express, a neighborhood business where people can send mail, money orders, and cassette tapes to their families back in Haiti. Everyone at the shop knows who Sophie is, and they all welcome her warmly. Sophie follows Martine along on the rest of her shopping at the beauty store and a clothing shop, where Martine purchases some modest clothing for Sophie to wear to school. Sophie is dreading going to school—Martine has told her stories about Haitian children being bullied for “HBO—Haitian Body Odor” or accused of having AIDS.

Sophie is both overwhelmed and enchanted by the hustle and bustle along Flatbush Avenue as she catches snippets of games and arguments in Creole, admires all the small businesses, and marvels at the overhead subway tracks. Martine leads Sophie through the streets until they reach a building with a sign out front that reads “MARC CHEVALIER, ESQUIRE.” Martine rings the bell, and a well-dressed Haitian man—Marc—answers the door. He excitedly welcomes Martine and Sophie into his handsome office. Martine kisses him on the cheek and chats with him in Creole. Marc introduces himself to Sophie as Marc Jolibois Francis Legrand Moravien Chevalier, but Sophie can barely focus on the introduction—on Marc’s desk, there is a picture of him and Martine together.

That night, Marc drives Sophie and Martine out to a Haitian restaurant in Asbury Park to treat them to dinner. At the crowded restaurant, a group of men talk Haitian politics, lamenting the past and present struggles and abuses of power that have market Haiti’s sociopolitical atmosphere. Sophie is comforted rather than off-put by the arguments—for some Haitians, “arguing is a sport.” As Martine looks at the menu, Sophie notices Marc looking back and forth between the two of them—Sophie knows what Marc won’t say, which is that there is no resemblance between the two of them.

When the food arrives, Marc complains about the quality of the meal—but Sophie stuffs herself as if she has “been on a hunger strike.” She tries to ignore the plain truth before her: that her mother now has two lives, and Marc is part of her present one while Sophie is “a living memory form the past.”

Marc asks Sophie what she wants to be when she grows up, and she says she wants to be a secretary. Marc urges her to reconsider—she could be a doctor or an engineer. When Marc asks Sophie if she has any boyfriends, Martine answers on Sophie’s behalf, stating that Sophie will not be allowed to date until she’s 18, unlike other “wild” American girls.