 "Importance of remembering the past"
One of Danticat's major themes is the purpose of the book itself which is to emphasize the importance of remembering the past.Throughout the book, the Haitian workers make a point of retelling and remembering all that happened to them.This importance is shown through Amabelle's descriptions of all the trauma she witnessed throughout the novel, as the young women who rolled off the cart being pulled by an Ox, the sandal on the ground from the hanging corpse, the empty black dress floating in the river before a shot rings out.