Island Beneath the Sea

“Usually Violette did not notice slaves—with the exception of Loula, she thought of them as merchandise—but that little creature evoked her sympathy. They were alike in some ways. […] Violette intuited her strength of character.”

Violette takes notice of Tété because she sees some of herself in the young girl. Although Violette is not concerned about slavery in general at this point, this passage demonstrates that empathy with those who are enslaved, rather than the dehumanization common at the time, leads her to act in what she views as Tété’s best interest. Of course, Violette’s view of what is best for Tété is skewed by the normalization of slavery.

“This is how I remember it.”

Throughout the novel, Tété’s chapters are stylistically distinct, as they are both italicized and written in first person, perhaps suggesting that they are a scripted record of oral recollections. Many of these chapters end with this exact statement or one like it, reminding readers that Tété is describing events through the imperfect lens of memory. This passage also highlights the theme of Violence as a Result of Imbalanced Power Dynamics, with the violence in question being the silencing of voices. Tété’s act of narration is a radical one, given her history as an enslaved woman whose voice was routinely stifled and devalued. Here, at least, she can tell her story from her perspective.

“The baron does not show himself to those who do not respect him.”

When Tété suggests that Eugenia’s child will be collected by a spirit from Voodoo mythology, Dr. Parmentier is amused. During the spirit’s subsequent visitation, the doctor sees nothing, but Tété does. Their difference in perspective, as well as Allende’s matter-of-fact presentation of Tété’s perspective, marks an instance of magical realism. Dr. Parmentier’s dry, scientific perspective is juxtaposed with Tété’s faith-inflected perspective, yet the two perspectives receive equal weight. By treating Tété’s perspective with respect and validity, Allende challenges the hierarchical assumptions of colonialism.

“I need nothing, he told himself with the cunning pride of those with a calling for solitude. As the years passed he became less fond of people.”

Valmorain retreats from social interactions as his wife’s mental health deteriorates. This passage indicates Valmorain’s lack of empathy for others. Notably, his needing nothing is something that he tells himself, as if to reassure himself despite mounting loneliness. Valmorain’s fundamental disconnection from the people around him leads him to use others, and Tété in particular, as mere tools for his satisfaction.

“More than thirty years had gone by since Macandal, that legendary sorcerer, planted the seed of insurrection, and since then his spirit had traveled with the wind from one end of the island to the other, infiltrating slave quarters, cabins, ajoupas, mills, and tempting slaves with the promise of freedom. He adopted the form of a serpent, a beetle, a monkey, a macaw, he blended with the whisper of the rain, he clamored with the thunder, he incited rebellion with the howl of the storm.”

In keeping with the conventions of magical realism, this passage highlights the enduring influence of Macandal as a spiritual entity throughout Saint-Domingue. It also sets out the epic scale of Allende’s work. In addition to mentioning some of the central events of the Haitian Revolution, the passage traces the causes that led up to it. In turn, the passage also suggests the aftereffects and impact of those events, both personally and on a grand scale, that will manifest in the novel’s second half. Stylistically, Allende’s inclusion of several lists in short succession mirrors the rapid spread and evolution of the ideas and principles that Macandal represents.

“He felt no fatigue; he was drunk with freedom.”

As Gambo makes his escape from Saint-Lazare, he finds that he is able to maintain physical activity for a remarkable three days without rest. The source of his energy is the apparently intoxicating sense of renewal he feels at being free. To him, such freedom is worth more than anything else in life, even his love for Tété. In the context of Idealism Versus Pragmatism, Gambo embraces idealism fully, giving no energy to compromise.

“On the rare occasions he went to bed sober he couldn’t sleep, tormented by visions. His family’s fortune, begun by his father and multiplied several times over by him, was soaked in blood. Unlike other grand blancs, he could not ignore the voices rising in Europe and America in denunciation of the hell on Antillean plantations.”

This passage reveals the inner conflict that troubles Valmorain, one tied into the theme of Idealism Versus Pragmatism. Compared to some of his peers, Valmorain is relatively moderate in his treatment of enslaved people. Some of Cambray’s cruelties strike him as barbaric. However, Valmorain stops short of recognizing the humanity of enslaved people, leaving him mired in self-doubt. In this way, he is at a disadvantage compared to Tété and Gambo, who have a clear, uncomplicated goal and motivating value: freedom.

“There is nothing as dangerous as impunity, mon ami, that is when people go mad and commit the most hideous bestial acts; it doesn’t matter the color of the skin, everyone is the same. If you had seen what I have seen, you would have to question the superiority of the white race, a topic we have so often discussed.”

Dr. Parmentier’s comments to Valmorain in the early days of the Haitian Revolution reveal the doctor to be a relatively objective analyst of human behavior. Rather than adhering to the biases and prejudices espoused by Valmorain, he recognizes the potential for anyone to act virtuously or, in this case, brutally. To him, the supposed supremacy of white people is not only a flawed assumption, but also a symptom that contributes to the lawless behavior he describes here.

“You can’t be free. How would you live? I support and protect you; with me, you and your daughter are safe. I have always treated you very well. What are you complaining about?”

When Tété raises the question of her freedom, which Valmorain promised to her on a previous question, he struggles to understand why she cares so much about being free. From his arrogant perspective, he provides more value to her than she does to him. His views on her personal situation mirror his views of slavery generally: Those who resist slavery are, in his opinion, simply making an unnecessary fuss.

“The worst of the twenty-three years at Saint-Lazare had been the absolute power he held over other lives, with its burden of temptations and degradation, worse than his wife’s madness, the climate that corroded health and dissolved man’s most decent principles, the solitude and the hunger for books and conversation. […] Louisiana offered Valmorain the opportunity to revive the youthful ideals smoldering in the embers of his memory.”

Arriving in New Orleans, Valmorain begins to reflect on his past, including his complicity in various destructive and immoral enterprises. In a moment of clarity, he recognizes his abuses of enslaved people as the single most horrifying aspect of his past; these actions were the most at odds with the humanist ideals of his youth. Despite his realization, Valmorain stops short of attempting to atone for his misdeeds and continues in many of his former vices, if to a lesser degree.

“They receive every kind of consideration here—they would not be better off anywhere.”

Valmorain is distressed by the possibility that any of the enslaved people on his plantation would choose to join a nearby band of rebels to protest slavery. He considers himself to be a just and generous leader, going out of his way to make them comfortable and happy. This passage demonstrates Valmorain’s lack of empathy—he simply fails to comprehend how much the freedom he takes for granted could mean to a person trapped in slavery. That his plantation may have been, by some measures, preferable to others is irrelevant.

“Maurice found slavery shocking, and no argument had been able to make him change his mind. Where does he get those ideas when he has always lived surrounded with slaves? his father wondered.”

To Valmorain, slavery is part of the natural order of things, but Maurice’s innocent but determined questions turn that assumption on its head. These questions and concerns come from a young child who has not yet been fully shaped by society. Accordingly, they indicate that slavery is, in fact, an unnatural and unjust state of affairs, one that is upheld by manmade prejudices rather than natural law.

“My God is the same as your Papa Bondye, but with a different name. Your loas are like my saints. There is room in the human heart for all the divinities.”

Here, Père Antoine explains his tolerant religious outlook. Instead of rejecting Tété’s views, he finds commonalities between religions, effectively allowing him to serve as a friend and mentor to people from a great variety of backgrounds. His generosity contrasts with the rigid, hierarchical thinking of Valmorain. As a father figure, in this moment, the priest also offers a more positive model in the context of The Responsibilities of Parenthood.

“The road of freedom twists and turns, son. At time it will seem that we are retreating, making pacts, losing sight of the principles of the revolution.”

Toussaint’s comments to Gambo illustrate his unique approach to pursuing freedom. Rather than demanding full, instant emancipation, Toussaint takes a more gradual, diplomatic approach that may at times appear counterproductive. His comments highlight the Haitian Revolution as a point of comparison to Tété’s equally winding journey toward freedom, with setbacks and detours along the way.

“A slave lacks incentives; for him it is better to work slowly and badly, since his effort benefits only the master, but free people work hard to save and get ahead, that is their incentive.”

Sancho privately expresses his true feelings about slavery to Tété shortly after she gains her freedom. His words highlight a central tragedy of the system of slavery, which is that no one really benefits in the end. Enslavers may turn a profit for a while. But they could, at least according to Sancho’s theory, do just as well economically by employing paid workers who are self-motivated, all while avoiding the pain and resentment that slavery inevitably generates.

“All the women and girls she knew, free or not, belonged to a man: father, husband, or Jesus.”

To Rosette, the idea that she belongs to Valmorain is not a strange one. All she knows and sees from a young age adheres to a similar pattern of patriarchal dominance. In this way, she differs from Maurice, who constantly questions the assumptions that are handed down to him by his father. Maurice’s love for Rosette thus reflects not only their friendship and shared childhood but also his desire to correct the errors of the past, including slavery.

“This is a long way from prostitution, though some say it is. I can assure you, from personal experience, that protection by a white is indispensable. My life would have been entirely different without Étienne Relais.”

Here, Violette argues that plaçage offers Rosette the best chance for a successful future. While Tété considers the proposal to be far from ideal, she eventually accepts it out of a desperate desire for Rosette’s welfare. Within the theme of Idealism Versus Pragmatism, Tété’s support of a flawed but practical system demonstrates her flexibility and capacity to adapt and compromise.

“Tété’s rancor against Valmorain, that black, hard rock she had felt forever in her breast, seemed to shrink, and the drive to take revenge on her master dissolved in appreciation of those who had taken such good care of her son.”

For many years, Tété considers Valmorain’s removal of her first child to be perhaps his cruelest act toward her. In this moment, however, she discovers that Jean-Martin’s life was better, not worse, than the life she could have offered him. As a result, she is overcome with gratitude and even begins to soften toward Valmorain. Tété doesn’t forgive or absolve Valmorain for his misdeeds; rather, she finds that her vindictive feelings diminish in light of her newfound happiness.

“She is the daughter of a slave! My children are white!”

Valmorain shouts these lines at the climax of his argument with Maurice over the young man’s decision to marry Rosette. This exclamation fully reveals the hypocrisy and inconsistency of Valmorain’s thinking. On the one hand, Valmorain pretends that Rosette is not his daughter in any meaningful way. On the other, he wants to use his fatherhood of Rosette to oppose her proposed union with Maurice. Maurice’s choice thus forces Valmorain to lay bare his views, as well as his failures in terms of The Responsibilities of Parenthood, in ways that Maurice finds utterly repugnant.

“She wanted to explain to Valmorain that it was for those very reasons she could not help him, because of what they had gone through together, because of what she had suffered when she was a slave, and because of their children. He had taken the first child from her when he was born, and he could destroy the second this minute, unless she was careful.”

When Valmorain asks Tété to take care of him after suffering a stroke, he reminds her of their shared past as well as their children, in an attempt to win her favor. His words have the opposite effect, reminding Tété of everything she hates about him. This moment reveals Valmorain’s inability to understand or empathize with perspectives other than his own.

“She stood, unsteady, shaken by the beating of her own heart, and before going left on Valmorain’s bed the useless burden of her hatred, which she did not want to keep dragging with her.”

As Tété leaves Valmorain one last time, she lets go of the burden of anger and resentment she feels toward him. He has done nothing to earn her forgiveness. Rather, Tété is ready to move forward into a life that is not defined by her relationship with him or the trauma he inflicted on her. The metaphor of dragging a weight suggests that Tété feels lighter and happier after releasing this particular burden.

“When she held the baby in her arms, Tété wept with happiness: she could love her daughter without fear she would be taken from her. This baby girl was hers. She would have to protect her against illness, accidents, and other natural misfortunes, but not from a master with the right to do with her as he wished.”

The birth of Tété’s third child reveals just how traumatic the earlier births were by comparison. Those births, as these lines indicate, were carried out in an environment where Tété lacked the freedom and resources to ensure her children’s well-being. Now, Tété is able to claim her daughter as fully hers—not in the commercial sense with which Valmorain claimed to own enslaved people, but in a supportive, familial sense. To Tété, who greatly values The Responsibilities of Parenthood, the most important freedom is not freedom to do anything in particular but rather freedom from the shadow of Valmorain’s domination.

“Rosette had lived her life with all the privileges of a girl who was free, first in Valmorain’s house and later in the Ursulines’ school. She had never felt she was a slave, and her beauty gave her a remarkable assurance. Until that moment she had never been abused by a white, and she had no idea of the power they had over her.”

Ironically, it is Rosette’s relatively privileged upbringing, which Tété worked so hard to secure, that leads to her demise. Unfamiliar with the vast gulf of social privileges and legal protections dividing white and Black people, Rosette acts with the innocence of a child as she retaliates against Hortense. This passage reveals the nonsensical nature of the social structures that protected and sustained people like Hortense, which lack any intuitive grounding. Rosette’s instinct leads her to assume that she and Hortense are equals, and that instinct thus betrays her.