Krik? Krak! thoughts

“Krik? Krak!” is a storytelling/riddle solving game played in Haiti to pass time. The way I understand it is one person says “Krik!” and another says “Krak!,” and then the person who said “Krik” gives a riddle to the one who said “Krak” in response. We see this type of call and answer game throughout the short stories, for example in “Nineteen Thirty Seven,” when the daughter identifies the identity of another women through a series of questions with prescribed answers. This is also seen in “Caroline’s Wedding,” as the game Grace and Caroline are taught by their mother. The one true example of “Krik? Krak!” (besides the epilogue) is in the first story, Children of the Sea. They play the game while on the boat, and use it as an escape from reality. However, other call and response games played through the story bring the characters closer to reality, specifically the society of woman with flaming wings.

This dynamic of using storytelling to escape and understand reality is demonstrated in all of Edwidge Danticat's writing.Therefore, I believe that it says something deeper about Danticat herself, and her reason for writing. I am sure every author has heard “why do you write?” a thousand times, and sometimes the answer is scripted, and sometimes it is inspirational, and other times it is simply “because I can.” However, if you asked Edwidge Danticat that, I believe she would direct you to her stories. Her stories tell the tales of oppression, escape, and hope. While writing them, she is given an escape from the outside world, but perhaps more importantly, she is able to get in touch with herself.

Not many authors think of reading and sharing stories as a “call and response,” but I disagree. For a book to be a book, somebody has to read it. Somebody has to “respond.” There is more to stories than the words on the page, somebody has to give them meaning. Using Krik? Krak! As a title shows the reader that they are just as involved as the author is, an important sentiment that we don’t commonly see. I do think it is important to recognize that the readers determine the book, and it was an incredible idea of Edwidge Danticat to use her power and appeal to the people.

The epilogue was especially interesting. The significance of “Krik? Krak!” and storytelling clearly shine through. There is talk of 999 women who sacrificed everything to give the narrator a chance. She begs her mother to let her write and gets nowhere. She talks about the time they all spend to braid hair, and describes it as close to her heart and very sentimental. She then relates braids to stories. Each strand is a piece of a story, and individually they may not mean much, but together they look like a gorgeous braid. Danticat looks at those 999 women as strands in her braid. Storytelling means the world to Edwidge Danticat. Choosing to use a Haitian game/version of storytelling as her title shows us how Edwidge Danticat depends on storytelling.