Grief, Memory, and Erasure
Through a set of linked stories about Haitians during and after the oppressive Duvalier regime, The Dew Breaker considers how people respond to traumatic memories from the past, particularly violence and death. Some of the characters, such as Papa and Claude, feel grief over acts of violence they have committed, whereas many others, including Anne, Dany, Beatrice, Rézia, Mariselle, and Freda, grieve over losing loved ones to violence…
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Victims vs. Perpetrators
The Dew Breaker explores how life under a dictatorship and its aftermath unsettles clear distinctions between victims and perpetrators. While the book at no point suggests that perpetrators of violence should be excused for their actions, it also highlights how the Haitian Duvalier regime compelled many people to commit violence who might not otherwise have done so. Furthermore, it shows how the regime forced people to make difficult or impossible choices, which often placed them…
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Love, Hope, and Redemption
The Dew Breaker is a book filled with violence, suffering, and death, but it is not without hope. For many of the characters, hope and redemption emerge from their relationships with others—particularly parent-child relationships, but also romantic partnerships, friendships, and even connections between strangers. Yet the book also interrogates the limits of the hope and redemption that can be found through such relationships. Although connection to others can provide comfort, solidarity, and a sense of…
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Violence vs. Care
The Dew Breaker contains harrowing depictions of violence, but also many descriptions of care. In a sense, violence and care represent the process of destruction versus reconstruction, on both personal and societal levels. Through violence, the Duvalier regime was a powerfully destructive force, and in its aftermath the book’s characters are left trying to rebuild themselves, their lives, and their country. Yet Danticat also shows how violence and care, despite being opposites, have a very…
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Diaspora, Interconnection, and Haunting
Although some of The Dew Breaker is set in Haiti and some takes place during the Duvalier regime (1957-1986), most of the stories in the book are set in the U.S. after the regime has ended. In this sense, the book explores how members of the Haitian diaspora remain connected to one another and are haunted by the terrible past of the Duvalier years. Indeed, interconnection is shown to be both a positive and negative…
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