Final answer:
Sebastien, Amabelle's love interest in Edwidge Danticat's 'The Farming of Bones,' works as a sugarcane harvester, a prevalent and arduous occupation in the valley reflecting the historical significance of sugar plantations in Haiti.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones, Amabelle is indeed a housemaid for a wealthy family. Her love interest, Sebastien, has the common job of a sugarcane harvester in the valley.
The job of sugarcane harvesting has deep historical roots in Haiti, dating back to the colonial period when plantation agriculture was established, producing lucrative crops such as sugar and coffee.
The work on sugar plantations was extremely labor-intensive and often performed by enslaved African people who outnumbered Europeans on the island.
As a sugarcane harvester, Sebastien would be involved in the physically demanding and hazardous tasks of cutting cane close to the ground with machetes, making this a fitting representation of the arduous labor that characterizes the lives of many in the valley.
The grueling work involved weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting the cane, often under dangerous conditions, as machete accidents could cause serious injuries or even death.