Drawing inspiration from Franketienne’s novel Ready to Burst, St. Hilaire imagines a passage in which the main character, Raynand, has awoken to find himself beaten and bruised, leaning against a lamppost. Franketienne’s novel centers around Raynand’s experience and daily life during an oppressive dictatorship, though without ever directly mentioning those involved in the regime. In this scene, Raynand has been attacked by the paramilitary group Tonton Macoute, and St. Hilaire evokes the lines of the novel which describe Raynand waking in an unknown street, his body described as being on fire with pain, lost and confused.

The Tonton Macoute was created by dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier and utilized as his secret police force, backed by American funding. Duvalier grew up amid the US intervention in Haiti, which was marked by racist and anti-Haitian policies. As a response, he was influenced by Noirism, a political and cultural movement which developed after the US occupation, centering the incorporation of local, Haitian culture into social and political life. Noirism was then subverted during the Duvalier era to maintain support and legitimacy during an era of heavy repression. Despite the anti-American leanings of his Noirist policies, Duvalier accepted American funding to create his paramilitary group, as the pressure to protect American shores from the reach of Communism mounted during the Cold War. St. Hilaire references this history to underscore the non-linear, chaotic reasonings and policies of Duvalier’s regime.