The Dew Breaker

“Ka, your father was the hunter, he was not the prey.” 

Ka’s father says this after revealing that he was a perpetrator of the Haitian regime. Framing the regime and its citizens as hunter and prey emphasizes the unequal relationship between them: The totalitarian government was armed with all the power, while the general populace was defenseless, with no recourse to fight back. Casting the conflict in this way suggests that Ka’s father feels deep guilt for his crimes.

“‘People here are more practical maybe,’ the daughter said, ‘but there, in Haiti or the Philippines, that’s where people see everything, even things they’re not supposed to see.’”

This line, spoken by Ka, addresses the cultural differences between America and countries like Haiti. She also touches upon differences between immigrants like her parents and their Haitian American children, who must negotiate between two cultures. As part of that process, Ka observes that Americans focus more the concrete or empirical, particularly in areas like religion or medicine. The culture in Haiti, however, is influenced indigenous and other traditions that may foster a less rigid, more open perspective.

“Nadine was tempted to warn Ms. Hinds that whatever form of relief she must be feeling now would only last for a while, the dread of being voiceless hitting her anew each day as though it had just happened, when she would awake from dreams in which she’d spoken to find that she had no voice, or when she would see something alarming and realize that she couldn’t scream for help, or even when she would realize that she herself was slowly forgetting, without the help of old audio or videocassettes or answering-machine greetings, what her own voice used to sound like.”

This passage addresses the sense of voicelessness that plagues Nadine. She exists in a state of isolation, separated from her family and withdrawn among coworkers, and unable to express or pursue her desires in life. Here Nadine projects her misery and resentment onto Ms. Hinds, who is rendered voiceless not by cultural trauma but a medical procedure.

“It was the dread of being wrong, of harming the wrong man, of making the wrong woman a widow and the wrong child an orphan. It was the realization that he would never know why—why one single person had been given the power to destroy his entire life.”

When Dany discovers that his landlord is Ka’s father, the dew breaker who burned down his family’s house and killed his parents, he intends to take revenge. However, when he sneaks upstairs with plans of murder, he’s paralyzed by doubt and compassion. This demonstrates a difference between Dany and the dew breaker: One committed violence and perpetuated oppression without regard for human life, while the other values life too much to risk making the wrong choice. That Dany would rather have answers than take revenge also suggests truth’s pivotal role in healing and finding peace.

“Growing up poor but sheltered in Somerville, Massachusetts, Aline had never imagined that people like Beatrice existed, men and women whose tremendous agonies filled every blank space in their lives.”

Part 6 uses the characters of Beatrice and Aline to embody first- and second-generation immigrants, and to depict the harm that occurs when cultural trauma is ignored or forgotten. Beatrice is haunted by her past, while Aline has no concept of such persistent and all-consuming pain. Ignoring or forgetting this very real, very painful history prevents Aline’s generation from understanding their cultural history and learning from the past, and it denies Beatrice’s generation the healing that comes from acknowledging and discussing traumatic experiences.

“Strange […] how people with means can make the less fortunate feel special by putting them to work.”

Michel expresses this thought when recalling how he helped turn off the water valves to prevent the townspeople from accessing free water. That alone highlights the power discrepancy between those who control resources and those who depend upon distribution of resources for survival. Michel’s observation further highlights the imbalance between social classes, as those in power use the poor as tools, justifying the unequal power dynamic by calling it work.

“I thought exposing a few details of my life would inspire them to do the same and slowly we’d parcel out our sorrows, each walking out with fewer than we’d carried in.”

The funeral singer explains her motivation for bonding with the other Haitian women in her English class. The narrator gravitates toward these women not only because they speak the same language but also because they endured similar trauma. Her hesitance, apparent through words like “few” and “slowly,” shows the difficulty of verbalizing the past, but her hope for healing highlights how necessary empathy and community is to the healing process.

“The wound on the fat man’s face wasn’t what he had hoped for; he hadn’t blinded him or removed some of his teeth, but at least he’d left a mark on him, a brand that he would carry for the rest of his life. Every time he looked in the mirror, he would have to confront this mark and remember him. Whenever people asked what happened to his face, he would have to tell a lie, a lie that would further remind him of the truth.”

This passage details the moment after the preacher wounds the dew breaker’s face. The preacher takes solace in marking the dew breaker with a permanent, prominent, conspicuous brand of his crimes. Indeed, this scar plagues Ka’s father in the ensuing years. The scar’s permanence reflects the fixed nature of the past. The dew breaker’s habit of concealing both the scar and its origins suggests his shame and perpetual awareness of his culpability.