Ghosts

by Edwidge Danticat

This Haitian story was published in The New Yorker’s weekly fiction newsletter.

Genres: Short Stories

First published November 24, 2008

About the author

Edwidge Danticat is a Haitian American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, was published in 1994 and went on to become an Oprah's Book Club selection. Danticat has since written or edited several books and has been the recipient of many awards and honors. Her work has dealt with themes of national identity, mother-daughter relationships, and diasporic politics. In 2023, she was named the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University.

Reviews

[To Da · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ghosts” by Danticat (2008) is an eye-opener story of the difficulties facing the Haitian slum’s inhabitants, and the reasons why some people become gang members. Danticat shows that in slum’s life everything will face death, from ambitions to souls. No matter how good the person is, the circumstances or the bad people will force him to be part of the gangster’s life. This appears when the gang member assured Pascal to not be worry “but also, it seemed, to himself. “As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to us tonight.””(para. 82). Thus, no one can survive from the gang’s life except by leaving the place. Furthermore, by referring to the gang members’ tough background, how they raised and how they became like that, Danticat presents the causes. Those who were homeless orphans in a city that was not governed by a law, they were armed and used to gather crowds of protesters against the government, then they turned to become killers, kidnappers and drug dealers.(para. 5). So, this cruel way of living drove them from bad to worse until they formed a criminal group.
The story was touching, filled with details; sometimes excessively, and sometimes it is presented the readers with a full image of the surroundings. All in all, this story convey the tragedies that occur in places that its news are rarely heard about, and gives hints of the solutions in posing the reasons of the problems.

[M. Rahman · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Ghost'-by Edwidge Danticat (2008) has so much to say about our society, no matter where we live.

Pascal Dorien, the central protagonist of the story, might have a happy and prosperous life because he was hardworking as seen in the story, "When he wasn’t helping out at the restaurant or going to computer-programming classes at a vocational school, Pascal worked as a news writer for Radio Zòrèy" (Danticat, 2008, para. 8), and he was genius too, which showed when he made a beautiful idea for a radio program and later the biggest radio station of the country stole the idea (Danticat, 2008, para. 16). But instead, he ended up getting arrested and sent to jail.
This story shows that intentionally or unintentionally you will get involved in the criminal activity when you are living in a neighborhood like Bel Air.
I love this story because it shows behind a society, which we usually avoid and blindly blame them when sometimes they are the victims.
"He wanted the rest of the country to know what made these men cry. They cannot remain chimès to us forever" (Danticat, 2008, para. 8).
Even in a cruel neighborhood, there is still friendship. Max lost his job because he stood for his friend (Danticat, 2008, para. 21).

[Md. Ismiel Hossen Abir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tale is "Ghosts" which is writing by Edwidge Danticat (2008).

Ghosts is a Haitian story, which is about the social problem, social chaos, and gang culture.


Pascal is the main character in this story. Pascal's parents run a restaurant, and he is helping his parents work in the restaurant. "Pascal was also going to a vocational school and worked as a news writer for radio Zorey"(Danticat, 2008, para 8). In the Bel Air, there was a gang named ghosts. "Pascal thinks to create a news report for the radio station, to analysis that, why country people faced problem." (Danticat, 2008). But unfortunately, the radio station stole his idea. After that, although Pascal wasn't involved in any criminal activity, he was arrested and sent to jail.
I liked this story, because this story told the untold about our social problem and gang culture. Here, Pascal is a victim of the situation.

Reference: Danticat, E. (2008, November 24). Ghosts. The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/200...

[Ali Cherif · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's story is so interesting and engaging. It is an eye-opening about the unspoken truth of victimization and social problems of unprivileged areas, and the impact of one’s background on future prospects.

[Itzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best thing I might have read this year.