The Dew Breaker 3 Thematic Topics
Daniel Arcega
Mrs. Emerick
IB English HL II
November 3, 2021
How our relationships with others can help us
Danticat uses the characters' relationships in The Dew Breaker in order to illustrate how people can be changed by their relationships with others. The main example of this comes from the relationship of the titular character (known as Papa) and his family. Through the first and last chapters, "The Book of the Dead" and "The Dew Breaker", we learn about Papa's past. He was a horrible man who took pleasure in carrying out terrible missions for a terrifying government. He used his power and influence to get what he wanted and killed any who got in his way. Danticat uses his actions and his physical appearance to characterize him as a monster. By the time we see him in "The Book of the Dead", he is a completely changed man. He is soft-spoken, and visually disturbed by violence. After he explains the truth of his past to his daughter, she is confused by the difference between her current father and the man he claims to once have been. When she questions her mother, she claims that his monumental change is thanks to the two of them: "You and me, we save him. When I met him, it made him stop hurt the the people. This is how I see it. He a seed thrown in rock. You, me, we make him take root"(25). Papa meeting Anne and eventually Ka set him on a path of redemption. He wants to become a better man because of them. Because of his relationship with his wife and daughter, Papa is able to regain his humanity and move forward in life. Another example of this can be seen in the chapter "Night Talkers". In it, Claude, an ex-con who murdered his father, is living a peaceful life in a mountain village that accepted him despite his actions. The village's kindness inspires Claude to "live my life like a fucking angel now"(119). Claude wants to leave behind his past of addiction and violence and enjoy a life of calm and purity. The juxtaposition of Claude's old and new selves depicts how his connection with the village people was able to save him.
Communication is important to the relationship between two people
Danticat uses the main characters of "Seven" to showcase how a lack of communication can lead to negative effects on relationships. In the former, the relationship between Eric and his wife deteriorates due to the lack of communication between them. The pair was separated for seven years after Eric left for the U.S. After reuniting, the two of them seem ecstatic at the prospect of being together again; however, both have secrets that they fail to communicate to the other. Both parties cheated on each other during the seven years they were apart. However, when the wife is contemplating revealing the truth, she decides against it: "The middle is where the truth resides. But there had been no middle for her husband and herself, just a beginning and many dream-rehearsed endings"(48). Without the truth, they will not be able to properly communicate their thoughts and feelings. They will not reach their dream endings. Without true communication, their relationship is destined to fall apart, as conveyed by the final scene of the chapter. After spending a full day together, the couple rides home on the bus in silence. As the wife reflects on their past together, she concludes: "They could carry out their public wedding march in silence, a temporary silence, unlike the one that had come over them now (52). With this quote, the author illustrates that their lack of communication will continue to drive them apart. In keeping the truth silent, they themselves have fallen under a never ending silence of half-truths and lies.
Holding on to the past will cause one to constantly flee from it
Danticat uses the focal characters of “The Bridal Seamstress'' and “Night Talkers” in order to demonstrate what happens when one cannot leave the past behind. In “Night Talkers”, main character Dany embarks on a journey to deliver important information to his Aunt Estina. The message he wants to convey is that he found the man who killed his parents and who took Estina’s sight away. Ever since the night of the attack, Dany has been traumatized by the memory of it. When he coincidently encounters the man responsible in America, his initial reaction is to take revenge. However, he instead decides to flee to Haiti and to his aunt. Later, he reflects on decision: "Even when he was back in the basement calling about flights to Port-au-Prince, he couldn't shake the feeling that after all these years the barber might finally make good on his promise to shoot him, just as he had his parents"(107-108). In this moment, Dany shows the power his memory of the past has on him. He did not or could not move on from that traumatic experience, so it continues to affect him. Dany’s irrational fear that the man is out to finish the job originates from the trauma of the past that still plagues him. It causes him to flee despite little evidence suggesting that he is in danger.
In “The Bridal Seamstress”, the main character Aline interviews Beatrice, a Haitian seamstress soon to retire. When showing Aline around her neighborhood, Beatrice mentions a man she knew from Haiti. When Aline questions her further, Beatrice explains that he was a prison guard who once tortured her after she refused to dance with him. Intrigued, Aline investigates the house where the man supposedly lives, but learns that it has been vacant for some time. When Aline confronts Beatrice about this she claims that he hides out there, and that, "This man, wherever I rent or buy a house in this city, I find him, living on my street"(132). Beatrice’s irrational conclusion stems from her trauma. It constantly reminds her of the horrors she faced, so she becomes paranoid trying to avoid that man, no matter how unlikely that he would stalk her. Beatrice says that once she retires, she will move again without telling anyone where she is going. She runs away blinded by the fear of the past that still haunts her.
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