The Dew Breaker begins by introducing two characters, a father and his daughter. The father remains unnamed throughout the first half of the novel because his character is still a mystery. His own daughter, Ka didn’t find out about his past until she got older. Therefore, when Ka created a sculpture of him, resembling a prisoner, he threw it away under the lake. The water holds significance in the novel because water represents a connection between life and death in Haitian culture. Water acts as a link where the dead can cross over to meet their family or return to Africa. That is why when the father submerged the sculpture under the water; he was actually getting rid of his old life. Ka was always told that her father was a prisoner in jail that was how he got the scar on his face. However, he was actually a torturer who was given the scar when a person he was torturing attacked him.
The novel transitions into the life of a man named Eric. Eric is a Haitian immigrant that has been apart from his wife for seven years. He came to New York to get a job and eventually to acquire a green card for his wife to move from Haiti to New York. Eric is actually one of the tenets of the father in the first part of the novel. Eric’s wife finally arrived in New York to be reunited with her husband. When she came she carried a significant amount of food and other accessories that got confiscated by the airport. The wife spends most of her time in the apartment because she is scared that she will get lost while venturing outside. In the apartment, she listens to the radio, cooks, and writes letters back home. This describes the life of Haitian immigrants. She has to face these hardships because she does not speak the language.
The novel then talks about a woman named Nadine. Nadine is Eric’s ex-girlfriend who lives alone and in separation of her family. She faces mental stress and instability because she aborted the baby that she had with Eric. Nadine also works in a hospital as a nurse in the Ears, Nose, and Throats department. This department in the hospital deals with people who can’t talk because they undergo laryngectomy. A woman in particular, Ms. Hinds, falls under the supervision of Nadine. Nadine’s situation is comparable to Ms. Hinds because she also can’t speak. Nadine is shunned for aborting her baby because it goes against the Haitian culture. She restricts communication with her parents and everyone else around her. She is constantly reminded of the abortion and it haunts her deeply.
Anne is the next character that is described. Anne is the mother of Ka. She is given a name in this section of the novel because it is focused on her viewpoints. Anne loves to tell stories of miracles but the best miracle she has ever experienced is the transformation of her husband from a torturer to a peaceful man. Anne goes to church with her family on Christmas Eve. She describes that every year this is the best time of the year because it is the only time her husband and daughter goes with her to church. In church Ka, spots a man that looks like Emmanuel Constant. Emmanuel Constant is a murderer that led a Haitian death squad and is wanted in New York. Constant reminds Anne of her husband in that someone might recognize him the same way they recognized Constant.
The final section talks about a man named Dany. Dany is the son of two parents that were killed by Ka’s father. Dany who moved to New York, returned to the Haiti countryside to tell his aunt that he found his parent’s killer. Dany and his aunt were the only survivors from the fire that engulfed his house. After the incident his aunt went blind. Dany found where the man was living and attempted to kill him but failed because he wasn’t sure if he got the right person. In telling this story to his aunt she passed away peacefully one night. She died in knowing the killer of Dany’s parents.
