What Storm, What Thunder Essay Questions

What Storm, What Thunder is narrated through multiple perspectives. How does this contribute to the meaning in the novel?

Chancy chooses to tell the story of the 2010 earthquake through multiple narrators. In doing so she provides individual voices to a national trauma that affected millions. Through providing a cross-cut of Haitian society, Chancy can explore the varied ways that age, class, gender, and geography impacted Haitians' experiences of and reactions to the earthquake.

What is the significance of the Haitian proverb, “Like reeds we bend, but do not break” in the novel?

Many of the characters in What Storm, What Thunder demonstrate tenacity and resilience in the face of suffering and loss. They are scared by hardship and it affects their lives profoundly, but they find a way to continue forward. Olivier gives Sara the nickname wozo, the Kreyòl word for reed. Through community and spirituality, Sara finds a way through the darkest moment of her life, the loss of her entire family, without letting it break her completely.

How does Chancy’s novel address racism?

Chancy does not shy away from depicting the extreme poverty in Haiti. However, she makes it clear that Haiti and its people are not poor by chance; historical racism and colonialist attitudes have contributed to the country's current conditions. Chancy reveals the harm that both overt racism and more concealed attitudes and politics have. She is highly critical of the paternalistic attitudes many white saviors have about trying to fix Haiti without respecting or trusting the people who live there.

What are the different ways the earthquake brings out the best and worst in people?

Everyone experiences suffering and loss in the earthquake. For some, the chaos and destruction bring out the worst in them. For the bands of young boys in the camp, they turn to lawlessness: taking what they want and inflicting more pain on those who have already suffered so much. However, for others the earthquake brings out their humanity. People band together to survive and find strength and healing in community.

What is the significance of having the perspective of Rwanda alongside Haiti?

While there was immediate attention on Haiti after the earthquake, global attention soon moved on. However the scars and devastation in Haiti did not. Rwanda, like Haiti, went through a nationwide tragedy. As Anne witnesses, ten years later the country is still rebuilding and healing. Published eleven years after the earthquake, Chancy reminds us not to forget.