to push again for Auntie Mer" (pg. 25). Using both similes and metaphors, Hopkinson gives the text a richness that echoes its bold text and vivid images. She also uses nature, as in the simile, "brown like rich riverbank mud," to appeal to the senses and return to a more natural and intrinsic view of each statement set forth. Returning to such sentiments, Hopkinson allows readers to connect to her ethnically-rooted characters and to tie images of oranges, mud, and rivers, all very familiar, to ideas that are represented in the novel, such as skin color, physical appearance, and identity. Multiple perspectives Hopkinson's use of the many distinct perspectives serves to illustrate the varied views of each of the characters in their respective situations. By shifting from Mer to Jeanne to Thais, the author gives each of the characters the ability to voice their opinions, beliefs, and, most importantly, their struggles. Only through each of their eyes can readers truly experience and observe their stations. As opposed to a third person, impersonal point of view, a first person narrative can give so much more and can enrich the text by allowing thoughts and passion to be transferred from the character to the reader. Wise words from The Salt Roads "Lie down with the dog, get up with fleas" (pg. 2). "People only see what they see" (pg. 24). "Money' seems to also be a kind of food, and the woman wants for it often" (pg. 57). "They sometimes say that the maddest fools have been touched by God" (pg. 86). "Desire makes us all babies again" (pg. 180). "Do not ask your future, or you will forget to live in your present" (pg. 184). "Sometimes the machete slips in your hand and cuts you. It's not the machete at fault then, it's your carelessness" (pg. 201). "Every act of love, of healing, strikes a blow to the evil we fight" (pg. 306). "There is a time to fight, fierce as a cornered dog, for your freedom... It is ugly in this world, and when the killing starts, the same stick will beat the black dog and the white" (pg. 376). Literary significance and reception "A book of wonder, courage, and magic... an electrifying bravura performance by one of our most important writers" -Junot Diaz, author of Drown "THE SALT ROADS is a story we all should know." -Nikki Giovani, author