Throughout “Children of the Sea” there are constant references to violence, a “son’s head” being carried down the street and fathers being forced to “lie down down in bed” with daughters. The downtrodden are subservient to those in power and desire freedom, but are inundated with so much disturbing imagery as to have the concept remain a foggy dream. Concurrently, the masses, when voicing its displeasure become a nuisance to the powerful.

Recognizing that either perception of Haiti’s political situation is valid to a degree, doesn’t reconcile the problems inherent in that nation, but obfuscates truth, events and how it affects individuals. There are two sets of good guys and bad guys. Each exists in a different conceptual plane just as Dybek’s childhood Chicago emerges only in recollections and stories not as one walks down the street.

Examining perception, a 1950 film directed by Akira Kurosawa and based on a short story by Ry?nosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon shows several characters struggling to make sense of a single incident and investigating the absolute truth. Recast subsequent to each proffered perspective, the murder and theft that Rashomon revolves around at once humanizes and demonizes characters alongside revealing motivation. A thief is a thief, but when he has a reason for his actions can the situation be forgiven? The Tonton Macoutes murdered untold scores of Haitians, but at the behest of its government.

Possessing unifying precepts, humanity continually struggles with defining right and wrong. Everyone wants good to triumph over evil and truth to win out. It’s just that all of these abstract ideas conflict with each other as different people seek out myriad ways to find them.