Major themes of this Edwidge Danticat story are mother-daughter relationships and cultural identity. Out of curiosity, an Americanised Haitian woman secretly follows her mother through the streets of central Manhattan after coming across her window shopping in expensive stores. The mother’s presence in Manhattan and confidence in navigating the crowded streets is a surprise, as is her destination. Over the course of the afternoon the girl begins to see her mother in a different light, with annoyance over her retaining many Haitian ways of life giving way to respect and admiration. Other themes include love, sacrifice, tradition, assimilation, understanding.
“Day woman” is an outdated slang term for a domestic worker such as a maid, housekeeper, or babysitter who does do not live in their employer’s home. To add context to the woman’s observations, the story is interspersed with snippets of related dialogue she would have heard from her mother. These are shown in bold print.