Please keep in mind that you need to blog insightfully. Avoid summarizing as we have also read the book. Saying what you liked is not enough, you need to reflect on what you are reading.
The book was very intriguing and insightful. This book gave more of an insight of how Haitians were and continually are treated by Dominicans. I never really understood why Dominicans were so resentful of Haitians but it was quite informative that I was to actually view a Haitian perspective. I feel the struggles endured by Hilaron and other lower class citizens by corrupt government leaves a strong and everlasting impression about Haitians and other under represented individuals around the world.
This novel differs from the rest because Hilarion is not a dictator. Hilarion does not aim to be a leader and is pretty much seen as the by stander in the novel. Enduring the massacre of the Haitians, the character Hilarion sticks out the most to me because though he was introduced to Marxist ideology, we see that Hilarion is who he is. Due to his surroundings, Hilarion doesn’t change which says a lot about his personality. Hilarion who was cured of epilepsy kind of reminded me of Trujillo just because Trujillo became know at the age of 5 because he suffered of the rare disease called Coup. But there is a huge difference between the two. Hilarion never strived for power and we see this because he was force to migrate to the Dominican Republic because of different hardships. Since the book is centered on Hilarion and all we have been discussing about is dictators, it is safe to say that Hilarion may have been a dictator in his own way. Though Hilarion learned everything he knew from Pierre Roumel, it is what he learned that how he used it which is described through the novel. To me this novel gave a clear distinction between the working class, the peasants, the children, and the poor living in Haiti during the 1930’s which was when Trujillo was in power in the Dominican Republic and Vincent in Haiti. Though one could say it is clear why the hate between Dominicans and Haitians, I still don’t believe that there is a true reason why this is so!
As mentioned in the book Kreyol was the language of the Haitians and not Creole. The problem here that I found is that, yes it was a broken version of Kreyol, but the bigger problem was that they kept demoralizing those that spoke this language. Constantly it was being said that only the poorest and the peasants would speak the language as if it were their fault that that was what they were being taught. It is more of an insult rather than a way to identify a group of people because they are defying their ability to be intelligent. It is a horror to think that this was the way that the Haitians were being treated in the Dominican Republic all because they were trying to “whiten” up the race, when in reality most of our roots come from African ancestry. Trujillo had so instilled in everyone’s mind that darker complexions were an insult to Dominican society, that treating Haitians like they were nobody was their only choice. This novel was definitely an eye opening to really seeing the effects racism has on all types of nations across the world.
Even though General Sun was different from all other books we have been reading it still relays an insightful message. The book really describes the treatment that the Haitians receive in Dominican Republic . Haitians are treated as the minorities in Dominican Republic the simply not respected. When I go to Dominican Republic you usually see the Haitians cleaning shoes, selling peanuts but no one ever offer them a hand to help them out. I do not think fair as a Dominican myself how we treat its unfair and unjust. I like how this novel is portrayed all through out the book.
Thebook " general sun, my brother" really tells a story about how Haitians are treated in Dominican Republic. In reality, alot of haitians to this day, are treat like minorities. In Dominican republic, you ee alot of haitians doing all the extra work and also working jobs that normally alot of Dominicans wouldnt work in. alot of haitians work long hrs so little pay, and throughout the book we see that haitians are hardworkng people trying to make a living to feed their families. Throughout the years ther hav e been alot of issues between the dominican and haitian government, that at the end of the day the haitians the ones that pay for it are the haitians.
in relating to the above blogs, i do believe that this is a different type of reading to every other dictator reading. the book explained the treatment and how much of harsh treatment Haitians received throughout the world and in the Dominican Republic. a lot of this relates to Trujillo's treatment to the Haitians and like every other minority in this world, its hard to recuperate what was once lost. and that shows through an everyday life of a Haitian in the Dominican republic through the way they are selling peanuts and cleaning shoes. its an everyday struggle to try and improve what is a nearly impossible goal.
This book was very eye opening. I learned plenty of thing about the race relations on the island of Hispaniola. Living in the Bronx, I always have seen that Dominican people have a strong resentment towards black people. "General Sun, My Brother" illustrates were this hates comes from. The way I hear my Dominicans friends talk about their parents teaching them to "purify" their race was depicted by the horrible conditions endure by the Haitian by means of Dominicans. On another note, I have a half sister who is half Haitian and speaks Creole, so it was surprising to find out Kreyol was the language spoken by Haitians and it was seen as inferior.
The corruption present in the police force of Haiti struck me because I feel like alot of countries experience the same type of injustice. The power that is given to some of these police men is in turn abused and perpetuates a cycle of abuse. Alexis explained the reason that this abuse arise in a very important way for understanding the dynamics behind it. These men gain are given power strive to keep climbing up the ladder of status. While they are awaiting promotion, they vent through the people that they are allowed to abuse because of the power they have gained. A police man that is having troubles at home can easily channel his anger through a someone that they have under their custody. I thought it was very important that Alexis portrayed this idea. Sometimes these men are psychologically disturbed, they do not realize the harm they are causing is not directly related to their duties as an officer, or sometimes their power blinds them so much that they feel it is their CALLING to try and fix society through inflicting pain on others.
I believe the communistic idea of sharing the wealth as Alexis advocates is wrong. I understand that if many of the citizens are poor and cannot afford to eat, the government should take it upon themselves and create minimum wages enough to sustain life at the minimum. Other than that, free trade should be allowed to take control, there is more benefit than loss as a global society. As long as it is relatively better to work in a factory for a U.S company, then it should be allowed. If the citizens prefer the factory over worse labor on farm lands, then it should be permitted. As for Hilarion, the fact he stole from the wallet because he needed to eat is completely legitimate, It is only human nature to become more and more "animal" like as you your needs must be met(food). This is the main reason why areas of great poverty have high crime rates.
The General Sun was a book that shed light on the way in which Dominicans treated and saw Haitians. While i have witnessed many Latinos outwardly display their dislike towards Blacks, the books helped me to gain a better knowledge on the history of this hatred. I didn’t understand why they saw Kreyol as a language that was inferior. Throughout the book it showed it really showed how Haitians and Dominicans relied on one another to get through their daily lives. Bringing this text to modern times, a lot of the minds sets of people have not change, and it is a harmful cycle of internalized racism that continues.
I enjoyed this book because we learned about the other side, the other side being how the people are living and the struggles that they go through while they are under a dictatorship. It is really sad to see how Hilarion has to transition to live a better life, just to find out that he is going to be treated just the same or worst in another country. Another part that I liked about the book is the fact that it really showed us how the people under Trujillo's regime were being affected within the Dominican republic and also Haiti.
The book was very intriguing and insightful. This book gave more of an insight of how Haitians were and continually are treated by Dominicans. I never really understood why Dominicans were so resentful of Haitians but it was quite informative that I was to actually view a Haitian perspective. I feel the struggles endured by Hilaron and other lower class citizens by corrupt government leaves a strong and everlasting impression about Haitians and other under represented individuals around the world.
ReplyDeleteThis novel differs from the rest because Hilarion is not a dictator. Hilarion does not aim to be a leader and is pretty much seen as the by stander in the novel. Enduring the massacre of the Haitians, the character Hilarion sticks out the most to me because though he was introduced to Marxist ideology, we see that Hilarion is who he is. Due to his surroundings, Hilarion doesn’t change which says a lot about his personality. Hilarion who was cured of epilepsy kind of reminded me of Trujillo just because Trujillo became know at the age of 5 because he suffered of the rare disease called Coup. But there is a huge difference between the two. Hilarion never strived for power and we see this because he was force to migrate to the Dominican Republic because of different hardships. Since the book is centered on Hilarion and all we have been discussing about is dictators, it is safe to say that Hilarion may have been a dictator in his own way. Though Hilarion learned everything he knew from Pierre Roumel, it is what he learned that how he used it which is described through the novel. To me this novel gave a clear distinction between the working class, the peasants, the children, and the poor living in Haiti during the 1930’s which was when Trujillo was in power in the Dominican Republic and Vincent in Haiti. Though one could say it is clear why the hate between Dominicans and Haitians, I still don’t believe that there is a true reason why this is so!
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in the book Kreyol was the language of the Haitians and not Creole. The problem here that I found is that, yes it was a broken version of Kreyol, but the bigger problem was that they kept demoralizing those that spoke this language. Constantly it was being said that only the poorest and the peasants would speak the language as if it were their fault that that was what they were being taught. It is more of an insult rather than a way to identify a group of people because they are defying their ability to be intelligent. It is a horror to think that this was the way that the Haitians were being treated in the Dominican Republic all because they were trying to “whiten” up the race, when in reality most of our roots come from African ancestry. Trujillo had so instilled in everyone’s mind that darker complexions were an insult to Dominican society, that treating Haitians like they were nobody was their only choice. This novel was definitely an eye opening to really seeing the effects racism has on all types of nations across the world.
ReplyDeleteEven though General Sun was different from all other books we have been reading it still relays an insightful message. The book really describes the treatment that the Haitians receive in Dominican Republic . Haitians are treated as the minorities in Dominican Republic the simply not respected. When I go to Dominican Republic you usually see the Haitians cleaning shoes, selling peanuts but no one ever offer them a hand to help them out. I do not think fair as a Dominican myself how we treat its unfair and unjust. I like how this novel is portrayed all through out the book.
ReplyDeleteThebook " general sun, my brother" really tells a story about how Haitians are treated in Dominican Republic. In reality, alot of haitians to this day, are treat like minorities. In Dominican republic, you ee alot of haitians doing all the extra work and also working jobs that normally alot of Dominicans wouldnt work in. alot of haitians work long hrs so little pay, and throughout the book we see that haitians are hardworkng people trying to make a living to feed their families. Throughout the years ther hav e been alot of issues between the dominican and haitian government, that at the end of the day the haitians the ones that pay for it are the haitians.
ReplyDeletein relating to the above blogs, i do believe that this is a different type of reading to every other dictator reading. the book explained the treatment and how much of harsh treatment Haitians received throughout the world and in the Dominican Republic. a lot of this relates to Trujillo's treatment to the Haitians and like every other minority in this world, its hard to recuperate what was once lost. and that shows through an everyday life of a Haitian in the Dominican republic through the way they are selling peanuts and cleaning shoes. its an everyday struggle to try and improve what is a nearly impossible goal.
ReplyDeleteThis book was very eye opening. I learned plenty of thing about the race relations on the island of Hispaniola. Living in the Bronx, I always have seen that Dominican people have a strong resentment towards black people. "General Sun, My Brother" illustrates were this hates comes from. The way I hear my Dominicans friends talk about their parents teaching them to "purify" their race was depicted by the horrible conditions endure by the Haitian by means of Dominicans. On another note, I have a half sister who is half Haitian and speaks Creole, so it was surprising to find out Kreyol was the language spoken by Haitians and it was seen as inferior.
ReplyDeleteThe corruption present in the police force of Haiti struck me because I feel like alot of countries experience the same type of injustice. The power that is given to some of these police men is in turn abused and perpetuates a cycle of abuse. Alexis explained the reason that this abuse arise in a very important way for understanding the dynamics behind it. These men gain are given power strive to keep climbing up the ladder of status. While they are awaiting promotion, they vent through the people that they are allowed to abuse because of the power they have gained. A police man that is having troubles at home can easily channel his anger through a someone that they have under their custody. I thought it was very important that Alexis portrayed this idea. Sometimes these men are psychologically disturbed, they do not realize the harm they are causing is not directly related to their duties as an officer, or sometimes their power blinds them so much that they feel it is their CALLING to try and fix society through inflicting pain on others.
ReplyDeleteI believe the communistic idea of sharing the wealth as Alexis advocates is wrong. I understand that if many of the citizens are poor and cannot afford to eat, the government should take it upon themselves and create minimum wages enough to sustain life at the minimum. Other than that, free trade should be allowed to take control, there is more benefit than loss as a global society. As long as it is relatively better to work in a factory for a U.S company, then it should be allowed. If the citizens prefer the factory over worse labor on farm lands, then it should be permitted. As for Hilarion, the fact he stole from the wallet because he needed to eat is completely legitimate, It is only human nature to become more and more "animal" like as you your needs must be met(food). This is the main reason why areas of great poverty have high crime rates.
ReplyDeleteThe General Sun was a book that shed light on the way in which Dominicans treated and saw Haitians. While i have witnessed many Latinos outwardly display their dislike towards Blacks, the books helped me to gain a better knowledge on the history of this hatred. I didn’t understand why they saw Kreyol as a language that was inferior. Throughout the book it showed it really showed how Haitians and Dominicans relied on one another to get through their daily lives. Bringing this text to modern times, a lot of the minds sets of people have not change, and it is a harmful cycle of internalized racism that continues.
ReplyDeleteRochelle Stewart
I enjoyed this book because we learned about the other side, the other side being how the people are living and the struggles that they go through while they are under a dictatorship. It is really sad to see how Hilarion has to transition to live a better life, just to find out that he is going to be treated just the same or worst in another country. Another part that I liked about the book is the fact that it really showed us how the people under Trujillo's regime were being affected within the Dominican republic and also Haiti.
ReplyDelete