Night_Talkers

Desiree Fuller Carolyn Geraci 1302 February 6, 2010 Night Talkers In the story Night Talkers by Edwidge Danticat, the main character is known as Dany, or Da, as so called by his aunt Estina. Since this story was written in the third person, and told by a limited omniscient narrator, the reader is able to know most of Dany’s thoughts and feelings throughout the entire story from which we can determine the tpe of person he is. For example, in the beginning of the story when he wakes up under a large cactus he notices a small flower. His first thought was to pick the flower and take it to his aunt as a gift, but he knew that “most cactus flowers only bloomed for a few short days…” and that his aunt would have wanted him to allow “the cactus to enjoy its flower” for that short period of time. From this excerpt we are able to see that he respects his aunt and appreciates her regard toward nature. When Dany first meets Claude he realizes that his aunt loves to listen to the two of them speak English. Watching her take pleasure in listening to their exotic language “made him want to talk even more… tell a story…even recite some poetry, if only he knew any.” He loved making his aunt happy. One can tell through this fragment of the story that Dany has an unequivocal love for his aunt Estina, and would do anything for her. During Dany’s dream, we learn the story of how his parents died. Some time after the incident Dany moved to New York, and we are told through his dream that he met the man that killed his parents. The man was a barber in New York, and was renting out a room that eventually Dany rented. While the barber’s wife was away, Dany snuck into the man’s room and watched the barber sleep. After pondering how he would kill the man, “he lost his desire to kill.” He was not afraid nor did he have any thoughts of pity, but “it was the dread of… harming the wrong man.” Although he was quite sure that this was the man that had killed his parents so many years ago, he simply would not be able to bear the possibility of killing the wrong man. This passage shows the reader that Dany has a conscience and is not heartless because of his parent’s deaths. After the passing of Dany’s aunt Estina, he finally learns the name of the girl that had been helping him during his stay. Her name was Ti Fanm which meant little woman. After the ceremony we learn that Dany “didn’t like her nickname…” he thought it felt too generic “as though she were one of many from a single mold…” This feeling shows us that Dany had a certain respect for women, and that he did not view them as cookie cutter molds, all the same. Just from these few passages the reader is able to infer what type of character Dany is. He is a caring, respectful person with a lot of hurt inside, but he does not let that pain overcome who he truly is.