Ka Bienaimé Character Analysis in The Dew Breaker

Ka is the adult daughter of Papa and Anne. She was born in Brooklyn and has never been back to Haiti, her parents’ home country. As a result, she is somewhat disconnected from Haiti, which is amplified by the fact that her parents never discuss their life there. Ka is a sculptor and high school art teacher, but she describes herself as not having the career she wants. Danticat provides fairly little information about her personal life, including whether she has a partner, who her friends are, and whom she lives with. The reader does learn that Ka is college-educated, and that she announced to her family that she was an atheist in college. Indeed, Ka’s atheism and dismissive attitude toward her mother’s Catholic faith at times make her seem slightly cynical, although she is also shown to be someone with strong moral principles. In some ways, Ka is a rather isolated figure; an only child, she describes her parents as “a society of two,” indicating that she is therefore a society of one. This sense of isolation increases when Ka learns that her parents have been lying to her for her whole life, and that back in Haiti Papa was actually a “dew breaker,” a government agent who tortured and killed many people. This information is especially difficult for Ka to deal with because she previously idolized her father and feel great sympathy for the time she believes he spent as a prisoner (shown by the fact that he is her only artistic subject, including in the sculpture that she attempts to sell to Gabrielle Fonteneau). Ka is shocked and hurt by this revelation, to the point that she puts off dealing with it. At the end of the book it remains unclear whether she will be able to forgive her parents.

Ka Bienaimé Quotes in The Dew Breaker

The The Dew Breaker quotes below are all either spoken by Ka Bienaimé or refer to Ka Bienaimé. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

I was born and raised in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and have never even been to my parents' birthplace. Still, I answer “Haiti” because it is one more thing I've always longed to have in common with my parents.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Anne Bienaimé/Landlady, Papa

Page Number and Citation: 4

Explanation and Analysis:

My father has never liked having his picture taken. We have only a few of him at home, some awkward shots at my different school graduations, with him standing between my mother and me, his hand covering his scar. I had hoped to take some pictures of him on this trip, but he hadn't let me. At one of the rest stops I bought a disposable camera and pointed it at him anyway. As usual, he protested, covering his face with both hands like a little boy protecting his cheeks from a slap. He didn't want any more pictures taken of him for the rest of his life, he said, he was feeling too ugly.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady

Related Symbols: Papa’s Scar

Page Number and Citation: 5

Explanation and Analysis:

I’d used a piece of mahogany that was naturally flawed, with a few superficial cracks along what was now the back. I’d thought these cracks beautiful and had made no effort to sand or polish them away, as they seemed like the wood's own scars, like the one my father had on his face. But I was also a little worried about the cracks. Would they seem amateurish and unintentional, like a mistake? Could the wood come apart with simple movements or with age? Would the client be satisfied?

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa

Related Symbols: Papa’s Scar, The Sculpture

Page Number and Citation: 7

Explanation and Analysis:

Anne had closed her eyes without realizing it. Her daughter knew she reacted strongly to cemeteries, but Anne bad never told her why, since her daughter had already concluded early in life that this, like many unexplained aspects of her parents’ life, was connected to “some event that happened in Haiti.”

Related Characters: Papa , Ka Bienaimé, Anne Bienaimé/Landlady

Page Number and Citation: 72

Explanation and Analysis:

What if it were Constant? What would she do? Would she spit in his face or embrace him, acknowledging a kinship of shame and guilt that she'd inherited by marrying her husband? How would she even know whether Constant felt any guilt or shame? What if he'd come to this Mass to flaunt his freedom? To taunt those who'd been affected by his crimes? What if he didn't even see it that way? What if he considered himself innocent? Innocent enough to go anywhere he pleased? What right did she have to judge him? As a devout Catholic and the wife of a man like her husband, she didn't have the same freedom to condemn as her daughter did.

Related Characters: Papa , Ka Bienaimé, Emmanuel Constant, Anne Bienaimé/Landlady

Page Number and Citation: 81

Explanation and Analysis:

Ka Bienaimé Character Timeline in The Dew Breaker

The timeline below shows where the character Ka Bienaimé appears in The Dew Breaker. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Ka Bienaimé’s father, Papa, is missing. She is sitting next to two men: the manager of... (full context)

...has had to wear dentures. Officer Bo asks if he has any mental illnesses, and Ka responds that he doesn’t. She doesn’t have pictures to give the officer because Papa dislikes... (full context)

...night, before Papa disappeared, he commented that their hotel room was “like paradise.” The sculpture Ka made has cracks along its surface, which she chose not to polish down because she... (full context)

Gabrielle is currently visiting her parents in Tampa. Ka imagined that Papa would enjoy meeting Gabrielle because he watches lots of television. Yet now... (full context)

Around midday Ka calls the salon, but an employee tells her that Anne is still at Mass. She... (full context)

Papa reappears at sunset and immediately complains about the smoke in the hotel room. Ka notices that the sculpture is missing, and Papa says he needs to talk to her... (full context)

...to a man-made lake. He sits on a bench in front of the lake and Ka joins him. Papa confirms that the sculpture is in the lake, and although Ka tries... (full context)

...body as a guide in the afterlife. Papa compares a ka to the soul. When Ka was born, Papa felt that she was his “good angel,” and thus chose this name.... (full context)

Suddenly worried, Ka asks if Papa has brought her here because he is dying. She immediately thinks about... (full context)

Ka waves her arms when she laughs, and now Papa aggressively grabs her wrist, hurting her.... (full context)

...says that he killed the man who gave it to him, along with many others. Ka wonders if Anne was also a perpetrator of violence, and then wonders if every time... (full context)

Ka asks about Papa’s nightmares, and he replies that they are traumatic dreams about what he... (full context)

Ka thinks about how similar her parents are, how they are a “society of two.” Anne... (full context)

Ka and Papa are silent during the drive to Gabrielle’s house. As they pull up, Papa... (full context)

...Mrs. Fonteneau says that they go often, effusively describing how much she loves being back. Ka reflects that, for Papa, returning would be like a nightmare. After lunch, Mr. and Mrs.... (full context)

Gabrielle curtly excuses herself, and Ka watches Mr. Fonteneau and Mrs. Fonteneau hand Papa a bag of lemongrass from the garden.... (full context)

Papa and Ka wave goodbye to Mr. Fonteneau and Mrs. Fonteneau, who may not have understood why they... (full context)

Anne, Papa, and Ka are driving to Christmas Eve Mass, and Anne is talking about miracles. Ka announces that... (full context)

Every time Anne passes a cemetery she also closes her eyes. Ka vaguely knows that her mother’s intense relationship to cemeteries has something to do with her... (full context)

When Ka was little, all the families in the neighborhood would compete to put up the most... (full context)

...enchanted moment. Anne prays that the Virgin Mary welcomed her little brother into heaven. Meanwhile, Ka whispers to Papa, pointing at someone sitting nearby. Papa explains that Ka thinks she has... (full context)

...Now, in church, she asks Papa if the man near them could really be Constant. Ka seems furious, which makes Anne proud, but also terrified of the possibility of Ka learning... (full context)

As Anne gets closer, she realizes that the man is certainly not Constant. She tells Ka and Papa this. As the choir sing her favorite hymn, “Silent Night,” Anne panics that... (full context)

Outside, Anne says hello to the priest and other members of the congregation while Ka and Papa wait, eager to go. Anne nervously asks Ka if she enjoyed the mass,... (full context)

What happens next would be impossible for Anne to explain to anyone, including Ka. Part of her felt that Papa was her drowned brother, or was connected to him... (full context)

Anne tells Ka that Papa had been wanting to tell her the truth for a long time. In... (full context)

...reality, neither of them believe themselves or the other. Anne has been speaking incoherently to Ka, and only now realizes that her daughter has hung up. Anne feels lonely; she wishes... (full context)

The Dew Breaker

Ka Bienaimé Character Analysis

Ka Bienaimé Quotes in The Dew Breaker

The Book of the Dead Quotes

The Book of Miracles Quotes

Ka Bienaimé Character Timeline in The Dew Breaker