The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
*The Dew Breaker* by Edwidge Danticat is a collection of interrelated stories that delve into the complexities of identity, trauma, and the consequences of violence. The central character is a Haitian American barber, known as a "dew breaker," who played a role as a torturer during the oppressive Duvalier regime in the 1960s. The narrative begins with Ka Bienaimé, a sculptor who learns the shocking truth about her father's past—contrary to her belief that he was a prisoner, he was a perpetrator of violence, responsible for the suffering of many.
Throughout the book, various characters, including Haitian immigrants, recount their experiences and the lingering effects of the dew breaker’s actions on their lives. Themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the struggle to confront a painful history are explored, leaving readers to grapple with the moral ambiguities surrounding the characters’ lives. The stories reflect a rich tapestry of human emotions and relationships, emphasizing that the scars of violence extend beyond the immediate victims to affect entire communities and families. Ultimately, *The Dew Breaker* invites readers to consider the possibility of transformation and the complexities of love and redemption in the face of a brutal past.
On this Page
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 2004
Type of work: Novel
The Work
It is not entirely accurate to call The Dew Breaker a novel. It is really a collection of interrelated stories. Each story has its own plot, setting, and group of characters. Each story also sheds light on the main character of the novel, a mild-mannered Haitian American barber and family man who had been a “dew breaker,” or torturer, during the dictatorship of François Duvalier during the 1960’s. (These torturers were known as “dew breakers” because they made their arrests very early in the morning, breaking the dew on the grass with their footsteps.)
The book opens with an encounter between Ka Bienaimé, a sculptor and teacher, and her father, the dew breaker. Ka has grown up believing that her father was once a prisoner in Haiti, and that his scarred face is a result of torture. She has created a sculpture of her father in which she has tried to capture his experience as a prisoner, and a famous Haitian American actress has expressed interest in purchasing the sculpture. However, just before Ka is to deliver the sculpture, her father suddenly disappears with it. He returns some hours later, saying that he has dumped the sculpture into a lake because he does not “deserve a statue” and confessing the truth to his daughter: He was never in prison. He was a torturer who killed and maimed people and rounded them up for prison. His scar is the result of a fight with a prisoner whom he murdered.
The chapters that follow let the reader glimpse the perspectives of several people whose lives were changed by the dew breaker. Dany, a Haitian immigrant to Brooklyn, returns to Haiti after ten years to tell his aunt that he has met the man who blinded her and killed his parents. At first, Dany wants to kill the dew breaker, but this desire fades with time, and Dany realizes that what he really wants is to know “why one single person had been given the power to destroy his entire life.” Dany gains some insight into the dew breaker’s character when he gets to know Claude, a young Haitian American who, at the age of fourteen, killed his parents for drug money and spent time in prison. Upon hearing Claude’s story, Dany says, “I’m sorry,” but Claude responds, “Sorry? . . . I’m the luckiest f——er alive. I’ve done something really bad that makes me want to live the rest of my life like a f——ing angel now.”
In another chapter, “The Bridal Seamstress,” the reader meets Beatrice, another character whose life is uprooted by the dew breaker. Now an old woman living in Brooklyn, Beatrice was once arrested and beaten in Haiti by the dew breaker simply because she refused to date him. Since moving to Brooklyn, Beatrice still lives in fear because she sees the dew breaker everywhere she goes and thinks he is looking for her. She does not know that he has reformed, and she plans to move away so that he will not be able to find her.
In the end, after hearing the truth about her father, Ka asks her mother, “How do you love him?” but she also asks, “Is there more?” expressing her willingness to hear another side of her father’s story. After all, her father’s brutal past scarred not only his victims but his own face as well. The book does not leave the reader with any answers about whether such brutality can be forgiven. At the very least, it leaves open the possibility that a person can make the transformation from a monster to a human being.
Review Sources
Booklist 100, no. 12 (February 15, 2004): 1033.
Ebony 59 (March, 2004): 28.
Kirkus Reviews 72, no. 2 (January 15, 2004): 49.
Library Journal 128, no. 20 (December 15, 2003): 164.
The New York Times, March 10, 2004, p. E1.
The New York Times Book Review 153 (March 28, 2004): 5.
Publishers Weekly 251, no. 8 (February 23, 2004): 49.