Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson Book Analysis Essay Example

At the very beginning of the book “Harbor Me '' Jaqueline Woodson, Haley (the narrator) quotes a novel called A Tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Haley quotes this book because it talks about memories frozen in time; and she and her friends are frozen in the dark, despairing events that are now inflicting negativity on their lives. The novel itself starts with a recording of Esteban, a supporting character reclaiming, “We think they took my Papi''. Haley had been sitting on her bed at the end of summer recollecting on this recording that she and her five friends had made the previous school year in the ARTT room. But, this brought Haley flashbacks because she too resonated with having your father taken away, as her father had been in prison just a few hours away from where they all lived. Haley had been living with her uncle because her dad was imprisoned and her mother was dead. Harbor Me Jaqueline Woodson is about the foundation of family, fear of societal issues, and racism. 

The infamous voice recorder was given to Haley by her uncle, she used it every day that she and her friends went into the ARTT room to record the conversations they had. The voice recorder has a very impactful influence on the story because Esteban and Haley both recorded their thoughts on it. But, the recorder was also used to record the conversations in the ARTT room. Esteban always talked about the time when immigration took his father, this moment changed everything for Esteban because he grew up in a Hispanic household. In that particular dynamic of household, the father is the foundation of the family. When Esteban had first told the story to his friends about immigration taking his father, Amari was infuriated. Amari couldn’t grasp the idea that someone could be detained in the United States because it is supposed to be the land of the free. He continues to exclaim the systematic problems of racism and his fears that he may be racially profiled by police and possibly attacked. Amari’s father had warned him that he could no longer play with toy weapons in the city parks because police had just killed a Black boy for doing the same thing. This frustrated him because his friend Ashton, who is a “white boy” seems to be permitted to do what he cannot.

Despite Amari’s frustrations towards Ashton, Haley has seen firsthand that Ashton gets bullied at their Brooklyn school for being a White boy. But this came as a surprise when Ashton revels to his friends in one of the ARTT meetings that he had never thought about being white until he came to the Brooklyn school. He continues his story by adding on the fact that he came from an out-of-state school where other kids were white just like him. But, when he got to the Brooklyn school he was the only white boy in all of the fifth grade. Ashton even recollected the time when Amari had asked him if he was an albino black boy because no one white was seen at the Brooklyn school. After Ashton expresses his feelings about being the only white kid in the Brooklyn school, Tiago took a turn in the conversation and talks about the discrimination he and his family receive for being from Puerto Rico. Tiago recollects the fact that he and his family are constantly told to “go back to their own country” even though they are U.S citizens. Tiago identifies as American, but he struggles with the language barrier in school and at home. He has to switch between English and Spanish depending on where he is at and who he is with.

Haley could understand where everyone was coming from as they shared their stories in the ARTT room. But, Holly wouldn’t stop pestering Haley about sharing her story. So, Haley opened up about her situation with her father. She explains to the group that according to her uncle, her mother had died when her father accidentally crashed the car. Her father was then charged with vehicular homicide and was thrown into prison. Haley and her friends are about to go on Easter break, but they do not want to return after they learned that Esteban and his family were deported back to the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately for the students, they had to return to school the following week. But, to remember Esteban and his family, they would listen to the poetry that was written by Esteban’s father that Esteban had recited on Haley’s voice recorder. At the last ARTT meeting, the remaining friends vow to meet at the ARTT room 20 years later to celebrate their friendship. They know that even though their days in the ARTT room had ended, they would all fulfill the vow and see each other again. Eventually, Haley’s father is released from prison and goes back to live with Haley and her uncle. Even though Haley will miss her friends at the ARTT room, she is excited to start her new journey and learn new things from her father. This story was written about real-life events. Jaqueline Woodson wanted to express that there is no age limit on who can experience the dangers of life. I presume that she wanted to share her experience to educate young minds on societal issues in a form of entertainment.