Originality, Heaviness, and Identity in Untwine

When I read Untwine, it was impossible for me to not compare it to If I Stay by Gayle Forman, which is a widely popular young adult book.  In If I Stay, the protagonist Mia, a musician,  goes for a drive with her younger brother, Teddy, and their parents.  There is a car accident and Mia is the only survivor.  The book takes place during flashbacks and while Mia is aware of her surroundings and able to see what is going on around her while her body is in a coma.  The main theme is about finding the strength to go on and about whether or not it is worth it to stay after losing everything.  
Having read If I Stay several times before picking up Untwine, it was impossible for me not to notice the similarities and compare the two.  I was bothered by the amount of similarities between the two, but going deeper, I appreciate the amount of diversity Danticat brought to her novel.  I appreciated the Haitian culture that was represented and the divorcing parents.  It brings to life a more realistic family situation than the often idyllic family that is shown in If I Stay.  This shows how YA literature has become much more comfortable with showing divorced families and different cultures as the “norm.”  Even in 2009, when If I Stay was published, the publishing industry, parents, and librarians were still learning to become comfortable with this trend in YA.
While I appreciated that difference, I was bothered by how heavy Untwine felt.  There was never any comic relief or any flashbacks that showed happier times.  The flashbacks often portrayed the family unraveling, such as the scene with the mother calling the father while on his bed.  Danticat fails to give any relief to the heaviness of this topic, and while writing it this way does reflect how one experiences grief, as oppressive and unrelenting, it is a difficult book to get through and after setting it down, I found it difficult to motivate myself to pick it up again because of the heaviness and sadness of it.  Comparing it to If I Stay, the flashback scenes often show happy times with the family, to show what Mia lost, as well as happy times with her and her friends and boyfriend.  The happy flashbacks represented how hard it is to return after losing so much, but how much else she would lose if she chose not to return.  They added another complicated layer to the story, which I think Untwine could do if it gave us a better idea of how it felt in the family and in their lives before things fell apart, before the divorce and before the accident.  It would add to the heartbreak of losing Isabelle.*
I thought the writing of Untwine was gorgeous and hypnotic.  I just wish it had strayed farther from the plot of If I Stay, so I didn’t feel so obligated to compare them.  I also wish there was a refrain from how heavy it was.  I felt like I needed a long time to recover after reading it, and I think I’m still recovering after reading that novel.  It is a novel that will stay with me for a long time though.  So I am conflicted with Untwine.  
-Anna
*Footnote: I couldn’t think of a way to fit this into my piece, but I would like to discuss why Giselle was mistaken for Isabelle.  How was that functioning in the story?  I was very confused by that.  Weren’t their birthmarks recorded in their medical records?  Why did the author choose to do that?  What is she trying to say about identity?

Comments

  1. MelodyOctober 17, 2017 at 6:41 PM

    I also appreciated the Haitian component to Untwine. I hope that you are right, that YA publishers are becoming more interested in representing the diversity of cultures that we now have in the US, and this book makes me hopeful that YA is becoming more progressive.

    I agree, it would have made the book more enjoyable, and also more emotional, if there had been more funny or uplifting scenes to serve as stark contrast to the grief.

    I think that Arya explains the meaning of the mistaken-twin-hospital-scene well in her post. I also didn't really get this, other than the fact that twins' bodies are often seen as one and the same, even to each other.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 18, 2017 at 12:00 AM

    Hey Anna,

    Your footnote is also something I pondered. I think it has to do with Isabelle and Giselle trying to find themselves, having someone identical to them, in a point of life that is already so full of self-discovery. It also could have something to do with Giselle wishing she could take Isabelle's place. I don't know if either of these thoughts are true or what the Danticat had in mind, but they're possibilities. I wonder what it was about the body, Giselle's body, that made her parents think it was Isabelle. Why would it be more plausibly her than Giselle. Plus, Isabelle's side of the car was most damaged so wouldn't it be the logical conclusion that she was the most injured and passed away?

    -Erin

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