From Deseret News archives:
'Breaker' sends a spiritual message
At the age of 35, Edwidge Danticat has written probably her most important and most impressive book, a collection of fictional stories that interconnect with the central character — "The Dew Breaker." The title refers to a man who spent the better part of his life employed by the tyrannical government of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier (1957-1986) in the torturing and killing of people who opposed or disagreed with the dictatorship.
Finally, his duties became "a job" like any other, and he wanted to escape to the United States like many other Haitians.
After killing a preacher who marked the dew breaker's face with an ugly scar, the dew breaker emigrates to the United States, where he becomes a gentle barber in Brooklyn. Always, he is quietly the subject of speculation behind his back as people wonder if this barber could be the same man who hurt them or members of their families. Could a man guilty of such horrendous acts have even managed to leave his homeland? He seems familiar.
Meanwhile, the dew breaker tries to camouflage his past, answering questions vaguely, determined that no one should pin him down.
Only the first and the last story in this collection deal directly with this character, but others refer to his horrible deeds in an indirect manner. Together these stories give the impression of a powerful, thought-provoking novel about the role of violence in a controlled society and about the possibilities for repentance for past sins.
Yet the book is not really a novel. Danticat tells stories about the water child, the bridal seamstress and the funeral singer — each tale complementing the major story of "The Dew Breaker." The result is many enlightening cultural pieces put together in bound form.
This is a beautiful book, written with dramatic flair by an author of exceptional talent. She writes to create an atmosphere in which hopes and values clash — one in which humanity is constantly endangered and never fully appreciated. It is astonishing that a writer for whom English is a second language could have mastered it so completely. She speaks humbly and gently to the reader, creating colorful images and building a variety of earnest personalities.
Danticat manages to instill within the reader the truth of identity, the tendency all of us have to live and breathe the culture in which we are born. Now that she is released from its violence, she is able to treat it lovingly at the same time that she acknowledges its flaws and its history. For those who read this book carefully, the current crisis in Haiti will take on added dimensions.
But the story Danticat tells emerges full blown from her rich imagination, as she has lived in the United States since she was 12. She is a born storyteller, one who invokes visible emotions at all levels. In fact, this collection sends a spiritual message about the possibilities of redemption for all humanity.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com
