The Dew Breaker

The title of Part 4 should prompt readers to think about parallels with Part 1, “The Book of the Dead.” In fact, this part deals with the Dew Breaker, Ka, and Ka’s mother Anne, though we do not necessarily know this at the beginning.

Like the previous two parts, this story is recounted in the third person, with Anne’s point of view and experiences dominating the narrative. At the start, Anne is relating miracles that she has heard about on a religious radio program to her husband and adolescent daughter. Anne is frustrated because her daughter acts distracted during her story, but her husband helps by drawing out details of the story from her. We are clued in to the identities of the characters when Anne reflects on her disappointment that her daughter is an atheist and that her husband visits the ancient Egyptian statues in the Brooklyn Museum as if to pay them religious tribute. Anne is driving them to Christmas Eve Mass in hope of counteracting some of their religious failings.

They drive through a cemetery, and Anne finds it upsetting that the cemetery is bisected by the highway. Like many superstitious people, Anne holds her breath as they pass. When her daughter asks to hear another miracle for entertainment, Anne involuntarily reflects on what amounts to a miracle for her: that Ka’s father once harmed and killed people in a Haitian prison but now lives patiently and calmly with her family. Anne relates another miracle involving a Filipino man, and Ka questions why these stories are always about foreigners and not Americans. Ka theorizes that Americans are superior in terms of practicality, but that less practical people retain the power to witness “even things they’re not supposed to see” (46).

Anne ponders how throughout the years the family has celebrated Christmas in a much subtler manner than the rest of their Brooklyn neighborhood. Foregoing the lights and nativity scenes and even the exchanging of gifts, Anne marks Christmas by placing mistletoe over her daughter’s doorway to create harmony between them and by secretly placing shredded paper (representing the hay from the manger of the Christmas story) under Ka’s bed.

During the Mass service, Anne thinks of her family’s situation. She regrets that they have not gotten closer to others. She considers that since her husband became a barber, lost weight, and changed his name, he has become virtually unrecognizable from his former life.

As the service progresses and midnight arrives, Anne has a transcendent moment. She views this moment as a special time during the year, when the gates of heaven are open for souls who might otherwise be caught in purgatory. She thinks of her “young brother,” who died but was left unburied, and prays that he will be selected to ascend to heaven.

Meanwhile, Ka is muttering to her father that she thinks she sees a man named Emmanuel Constant among the worshippers. He is a wanted Haitian political criminal accused of rape, torture, and murder. Wanted posters have recently appeared in the neighborhood; Anne considered pulling them down due to the anxiety they caused regarding the possible fate of her husband. The three eagerly wonder whether this man is in fact Emmanuel Constant. As Anne returns from Communion (Ka and her father remain seated), she lingers by the man’s pew until she catches his glance and makes certain that this is not Constant but someone who looks slightly like him.

Regardless, Mass is nearly ruined for Anne. She realizes that she should not bring her husband to mass again. After all, someone might recognize him just like Constant would be recognized if he appeared at such a large public gathering. As everyone is departing from the Mass, Ka makes a move as if to detain the man to inspect him further. However, she apologizes for this overreaction, which she can tell upsets her mother (though not for what reason). The story closes with Ka telling her mother that she does not see what is so special about Mass and that it does not compare to the miracles of which her mother speaks. Unaware of the truth, Ka has no idea of the thoughts experienced by Anne during the Mass.