Children of the Sea | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Children of the Sea Critical Overview

The collection Krick? Krak!, in which "Children of the Sea" appeared, garnered impressive reviews by critics. The title of the book comes from the Haitian tradition of the storyteller who asks the audience "Krik?" to see if anyone wants to hear a story. The reply, "Krak!" indicates that audience's enthusiasm and willingness to listen. In many reviews, "Children of the Sea" has been singled out as one of Danticat's most poignant and effective stones. Like most of her work, it concerns the lives of ordinary Haitians and bears witness to the tragedies she witnessed firsthand as a child living in the country. Danticat tells Renee Shea in Poets and Writers that the story is about the "need to be remembered." Some of the refugees Danticat had spoken with following their arrival in the United States, particularly the women, "feared that no one would know they had been alive, no one...
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