Here Comes the Sun: Deconstructed Student Essays

"a slave girl named Heidi flung herself into the sea after finding out that she was pregnant with her master's baby"

The ocean waves are personified through the legend of Pregnant Heidi, who chose to commit suicide rather than to birth her master’s child. The romantic association between island women and tropical waters is subverted by this instance of violence and anger. This raises the question: Who are island geographies romantic for? For whom is the Caribbean romanticized? Given this explicit reference to the history of sexual violence which haunts the landscape, it is clear that the romantic illusion obscures the history of exploitation which is written into the landscape.

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