Garrett Rountree

Dear Alejo Carpientier,

As I was reading your book there were a few things that perplexed me. The use of magic sometimes overshadowed what was real. In the second half of the book when Ti Noel transforms into animals with his magical powers, I feel like he may actually be transforming into animals, but is that included purely as a story of Ti Noel being a shape shifter or are you comparing animals to people to teach us a lesson about human nature? I feel like that is included to show how people have animalistic instincts whether we realize it or not.

Secondly, I want to say the story was beautiful. As I read it, there were at first a few loose ends for me, but as time progressed all of the events in Europe and Haiti tied together with perfection. The way that you danced on lines between races and interracial relationships was controversial, but very true of the time and humans. From Leonard De Mezy, to the Henri Christophe, to the mullatos there always seemed to be some oppressor. There was never peace and always some reason to rebel and with good cause. What I gathered from this is that there is always a struggle for equality and even the strongest eventually break. The imagery of the emperor’s fall was legendary. From your descriptions of the starved priest and his perching on the rafters, I had a movie in my head, but what did you really mean by the phantom priest? Was he just a creative story for entertainment or did he have a deeper meaning What I gathered from it was that justice will prevail and that no matter what eventually the oppressed will rise even if it is from their grave.

Moving to other things from your incredible book, let’s actually backtrack a bit. I want to talk about Ti Noel and Macendol. They had a lot in common. It was almost as if you intended for Macendol to be a predecessor to Ti Noel, much like John the Baptist and Jesus. Macendol began the fight and earned the respect of Ti Noel with his famous last fight and strife towards freedom just before being burned at the stake. Ti Noel somehow found his magic of transforming into animals later in life just like Macendol, and Ti Noel was among the leaders of the rebellion against the emperor and his palace. By putting these two together what did you hope to accomplish? Was it your intention to have these two as to reflect one off of the other or some other reason?

Also, just a note here, when Ti Noel raped Mille Floridor what did you mean by that. “Ti Noel had dreamed of raping her for a while now.” That was very vivid and startling. I gathered that Ti Noel was a rapist. Was there perhaps hatred between races or some other thing that you meant to imprint on us?

Lastly, my overall question is did you mean for this book to teach us more about the Haitian revolution or about human nature? After reading the book I feel like I probably learned more about human nature. I know your book is one of the only written accounts of the Haitian revolution, but it still follows characters and shows their thoughts. I could understand the story and trace the beginnings of a revolution, but the historical value of it was unclear to me. I feel that it would be wrong to ask you to compare each event with a historical reference, but what I would like to ask you what was your goal? After reading the text did you want me to know more about social injustices, magical traditions, or the lives of people intertwined in the revolution? Each was touched on very delicately and precisely.

Thank You,

Future Man