Libertie

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Character Analysis

Themes

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Important Quotes

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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4, Pages 121-134 Summary

Libertie travels east with Louisa and Experience. They reach Philadelphia and stay with Elizabeth. They talk about Emmanuel, and Elizabeth assures Libertie that he is not competing for her mother’s affections. Libertie also talks to Elizabeth’s son, Lucien, whom she remembers from the night Ben Daisy arrived in her home. They talk about Ben and Daisy until Libertie tires of Lucien’s jokes and departs for bed. The bedroom she shares with Louisa and Experience is locked. When Libertie looks through the keyhole, she catches the women in an intimate moment and returns downstairs. She falls asleep thinking of the relationship between Louisa and Experience, longing to understand the love they feel for one another. She also realizes that her bond with them will never be the same as the one they share with each other, and she worries what to do about her future.

The next day, Elizabeth and Lucien accompany the young women on the train to New York. Louisa and Experience do not mention the previous night, while Lucien seems awkward. Cathy and Emmanuel meet them at the station. Libertie is shocked by how much her mother has aged in their time apart. Libertie shakes Emmanuel’s hand and notices that he is “most nearly white” except for his full lips (127), which he deliberately sucks in.

Everyone dines together that evening. When Cathy asks about her daughter’s studies, Libertie changes the subject to Emmanuel. He launches into a long biography of himself, describing how he was born a slave in the United States but escaped to Maryland before travelling to Haiti during the Civil War. He now sees Haiti as the best possible place for African Americans and wants to return once his training is complete. Others at the table disagree, and they debate the meaning of freedom in Haiti and the United States. At bedtime, Libertie realizes that she will be sharing a room with Louisa and Experience. She wants to give them some privacy and avoid awkward questions, so she sits alone on the porch. Emmanuel joins her, and Libertie realizes that she is glad for his company.

Part 4, Pages 135-149 Summary

Libertie and Emmanuel walk in the garden. Libertie listens to Emmanuel talk about Haiti and a god the slaves brought there from Africa. This god is a beautiful woman named La Siren. She lives beneath the water and tempts men down to join her. Libertie associates La Siren with the woman who tempted Ben Daisy to his death. Emmanuel suggests that the woman beneath the water was actually Erzulie Freda, the goddess of love. Eventually Libertie sees that her bedroom window is dark and bids Emmanuel goodnight.

Libertie’s preparations for the concert include a Tom Thumb wedding—a theatrical ceremony in which two young children dress up and pretend to marry. As Libertie tries to convince a reluctant child named Caroline to be the bride, Emmanuel appears. He convinces Caroline to take part, and when she leaves, Libertie and Emmanuel are alone. Their conversation is stilted and uncertain at first, but Libertie eventually realizes that they are flirting. She feels an urge to talk to him, even revealing stories about her past that she would never tell anyone else. They hold hands briefly before they part ways. Libertie reflects on their relationship and thinks that he understands her. Even though she knows that her mother will not approve, she begins to consider a romantic relationship with Emmanuel.

The concert is a great success. Libertie studies the crowd and thinks about a note Emmanuel slipped to her earlier that morning, referring to her as Erzulie. He finds her as she tries to organize the children for the pretend wedding. Libertie reveals her doubts about his letter, in which Emmanuel asked her to marry him. She worries that he is not sincere, but he insists that he is. Before they can finish the conversation, the wedding begins. After the pretend ceremony, Louisa and Experience sing. They hold hands while they recite songs sung by slaves to help navigate their painful lives. As Louisa and Elizabeth sing, the entire crowd begins to sing with them. The emotion is almost overwhelming for Libertie.

Part 4, Pages 150-163 Summary

After the concert, a large meal and a party take place. Lucien notices Libertie watching Emmanuel and, realizing that she is in love, mocks her. Libertie is angry, so she reads Emmanuel’s letter again to herself when she is alone. Hannah, Ben Daisy’s sister, interrupts her reflections. Hannah cries at the mention of her brother’s name, but she leads Libertie to a wooden marker erected in Ben’s honor. Libertie accidently leaves Emmanuel’s letter on a table beneath a pile of gloves. When she returns later, the letter is gone, and she searches for it anxiously. When she returns home, her mother is already waiting for her.

Cathy accuses Libertie of betraying her by abandoning her studies and planning to marry Emmanuel. She refuses to allow Libertie to stay in the house, saying she cannot trust her. Libertie weeps as Cathy thrusts the crumpled letter before her. Libertie realizes that her mother does not yet know that she failed her studies, and her short burst of laughter compels Cathy to slap her. This shocks both women, and in her distress, Libertie reveals that she will “never be a doctor” (155). They sit together on the ground outside the house, where Emmanuel, Louisa, Experience, and the other guests join them. As Cathy offers Emmanuel her hand in mocking congratulations, she vomits down herself.

Later, Emmanuel and Libertie attempt to plan their wedding. They do not want to elope, nor does Libertie want to wait. The ceremony will take place soon, and they will marry near the grave of Libertie’s father. Cathy barely talks to her daughter but continues to work alongside Emmanuel. Louisa and Experience depart for other concerts, and Libertie wonders whether she would prefer to join them. Emmanuel tells Libertie about Haiti as Elizabeth makes Libertie’s wedding dress. Libertie begins to feel sexual urges toward Emmanuel and can barely wait for their wedding night.

On the day of the wedding, Hannah falls sick. Cathy and Emmanuel rush to treat her as Libertie wanders through the garden in her dress. Hannah dies, and Libertie barely remembers her wedding. Cathy does not allow the newlyweds to sleep in the same room, but later that night, Libertie hears a sound at the door and welcomes Emmanuel into her room. He kisses her once and then leaves. Three days later, they leave for Haiti.

Part 4 Analysis

The time Libertie spends with Louisa and Experience provides her with a new perspective on the world. As they travel east, she realizes that the two women are lovers. The idea of a homosexual relationship is completely new to Libertie, and she is unsure how to react. While she harbors no ill will toward her friends, she does envy the closeness of their relationship and worries that she will never be able to feel a comparable level of love. At the same time, she is annoyed that she misinterpreted their friendship; she understands now that she will never be as close to either Louisa or Experience as she is not a part of their intimate bond.

With Louisa and Experience’s relationship, the novel also introduces yet another form of marginalization—one based on sexual orientation. Louisa and Experience must keep their love behind closed doors and cannot expose their true selves to other people for fear of judgement. True freedom may never be possible for women who are discriminated against because of their race, gender, and sexuality. As Libertie learns more about the way in which society limits freedoms, she learns that there are limitations that she may never experience herself. This lesson creates a greater sense of empathy in Libertie and helps her to see the world from a more nuanced perspective that recognizes her own privilege.

Newly interested in romance thanks to Louisa and Experience’s relationship, Libertie quickly falls in love with Emmanuel. Emmanuel fascinates Libertie partly because he offers her a new lens through which to view the world. Their discussion of Haitian gods is a good example. Libertie grew up in a Christian society in which religion took a very fixed form. The variety and complexity of the Haitian religion is a new framework with which to understand the world. Gods such as Erzulie Freda and La Siren provide meaning and context for Libertie’s own memories and tragedies, teaching her that the death of Ben Daisy was not necessarily a tragic suicide but part of a greater cycle of life. In addition, many Haitian beliefs originated in Africa, whereas the history of African American Christianity is intertwined with slavery.

Libertie and Emmanuel’s later discussions of Haiti continue in a similar vein, with Emmanuel framing it as a land of potential and opportunity for freed slaves and their descendants. While Libertie is unhappy in America, Haiti seems like a place where she can live an entirely different life. After a sheltered childhood and a struggle to define her own identity, the version of Haiti that Emmanuel presents to Libertie provides her with a blank slate—an opportunity to discover who she truly is in a land where she will be considered equal and not subject to others’ expectations.

The wedding between Emmanuel and Libertie angers Cathy. She feels betrayed by her daughter, but her anger reveals her own personal failings. Cathy is not necessarily angry that her daughter failed at school or that Emmanuel has left her hospital. Instead, she is furious that her longtime ambitions have come to nothing. Cathy imagined that Libertie would follow in her footsteps, but this ambition was always selfish, as it reflected only Cathy’s desires. Libertie has spent her entire life trying to carry her mother’s expectations, and the wedding represents her rejection of them. Cathy is not angry because her daughter is getting married; she is angry because Libertie has spoiled her ambitions, revealing her selfishness for the world to see.