The Dew breaker Reflection

” The “dew breaker” is a nickname for the tortures who worked with Duvaliers to advance their despotism. The dew breakers tortured and even killed Haitians who dared to oppose the government. The name comes from the fact that the torturers often came for their victims at day break. They would break the dew that was just beginning to for on the grass. The novel either directly captures the traumatic events that defines the lives of the characters during the tyrannical regime of the Duvaliers or indirectly recounts the events through the daily lives of the characters as they try to handle the effects of these events on their psychosomatic and corporal existence. The author brings out the subject of family separation through the story of the never-named man who has not seen his wife in seven years.

The chapter is entitled seven because of the significance of the number seven in the man’s life. Besides waiting seven years to see his wife, “there were seven days between paychecks, seven hours, not including lunch, spent each day at his day job, seven at his night job. Seven was the last number of his age—37, and now there were seven hours left before his wife was due to arrive” (Danticat 35). Moreover, the long separation causes a somewhat strained relationship between the couple and it takes them a significant amount of time to readjust to marriage life. Whenever she reflects upon those mistakes, she is short through with guilt. She has a continuously tortured soul and her reaction is to alienate herself from family and friends. Chapter 4: The Book of Miracles: the central theme in this chapter is the miraculously transformation of the dew breaker—from a cold hearted torturer and murderer to a devote and loving family man.

Besides the miraculously transformation, the chapter also highlights the fears that people lie Ka’s father undergo on a daily basis. From the account of Emanuel Constant: a man who appears in signs all over town as wanted by the Haiti government for committing ambiguous crimes against his own people, it becomes just how much risky it is for a person like Ka’s father to be walking around. Claude killed his own parents under the influence of drugs. Unlike Dany, however, Claude has accepted the situation and forgave himself. Claude is optimistic. He has managed to convince himself that the murder of his parents was the worst thing that ever happened to him. Instead of tying his life to that incident, he has resolved to pursue the best that life can offer him.

The chapter highlights the separation of families. Michel is the main character in the story. He had already lost his dad at age 12. Michel cannot trace his friend Romain who fled Haiti at the heart of the conflict. The only account of Romain after his separation from Michel is that his father, Regulas, committed suicide to avoid being captured by the locals. In short, Anne is married to the man who not only murdered innocent citizens of Haiti but her stepbrother as well. This is a settlement of the conflict which has been raging in the collection of short stories. Apart from this unbelievable forgiveness, the dew breaker seeks to redeem himself by making a commitment never to hurt anyone. The penance and reconciliation in this chapter climax the series with a ray of hope for the victims as well as the perpetrators of the despotic regime.

Cited work Danticat, Edwidge.