The Dew Breaker (Second Half)

“The Bridal Seamstress” follows Beatrice Saint Fort on the last day of her job as a bridal seamstress. She is interviewed by Aline, an intern for the Haitian American Weekly, for an article about her retirement. After a series of direct questions by Aline and rather indirect answers by Beatrice, Beatrice abruptly decides to take Aline out to see the block she lives on. During this impromptu tour, Beatrice mentions (rather angrily) that one of the houses belonged to a Haitian prison guard and that she would recognize him anywhere. Aline investigates the house and finds that it belongs to someone named Dolly who has not lived in the house for over a year. In the story, we also learn that Aline took the internship position she works in because it was the first job she was offered after she broke up with her girlfriend. The story ends with Aline contemplating about what she will do next in her life.

“Monkey Tails” follows a young Michel during the time when Jean-Claude Duvalier was forced into exile in France (in 1986). He and his mother hear people creating mobs to go after the macoutes, or dew breakers. After running away from helping Monsieur Christophe with his broken water station faucets, he goes to visit his best friend, Romain, whose father, Regulus, is a macoute. After a while, Romain decides to escape with Michel in order to make Michel “a man.” They make their way to a nearby hotel, where Romain eventually decides to flee the country but sends Michel back to his home. We eventually learn that Regulus eventually shot himself after being cornered. On a side note, this whole story is being told by present-day (or 2004) Michel who is sleeping next to his very pregnant wife.

“The Funeral Singer” follows three women: Freda (the narrator of the story), Mariselle, and Rezia as they attempt to pursue (what appears to be) their GEDs. Freda was a professional funeral singer who was asked to leave the country (by her mother) after her father disappeared and she refused an invitation to sing at the national palace. Mariselle left Haiti after her husband was shot for painting an “unflattering” portrait of Haiti’s president. Rezia owns a Haitian restaurant on the Upper West Side and recounts the story of when she was raped by a macoute as a girl. We follow them as they prepare for the final test for their GEDs and as Freda recounts portions of her life in Haiti to the reader.

“The Dew Breaker (circa 1967)” follows the “former” life of the main subject of the book, the Dew Breaker we are introduced to in chapter one. His eventual demise starts off with an order to kill a preacher in the town of Bel-Air. The dew breaker has contemplated leaving the country but wanted to carry out this one last order before leaving. During this part, we also follow the preacher, as it seems that most people know that he is about to be arrested or killed. We also learn that the preacher’s wife was poisoned just several months earlier as well as the dew breaker’s own story. Basically, he was inspired to become a macoute in order to not “work the land” like his parents did. We are also introduced to the preacher’s stepsister, Anne, who has just started a course in cosmetology.

During the preacher’s service, the dew breaker comes in with a group of other macoutes, has the preacher arrested, and has him severely beaten. However, he later learns that he made a mistake: He was ordered to kill the preacher, not arrest him. He forces the preacher to come to his “office” to warn him and let him go. The small chair that the preacher is sitting on breaks; and, in a rage, the preacher takes one of the broken wood pieces, stabs the dew breaker’s right cheek with it, and drags it down his cheek (creating a long-lasting scar). This puts the dew breaker in a rage, and he shoots and kills the preacher. However, in the process, he disobeyed the order to release the preacher since he was not initially killed.

The dew breaker escapes and meets Anne (who ran to the prison to look for her stepbrother) outside the prison. They go to his house together where he has his face fixed up. He and Anne eventually flee to the U.S. together. The story ends in the present time with their only daughter asking Anne if there is more to her father’s story.

In “The Bridal Seamstress,” I got quite annoyed by Beatrice’s personality. She would not respond to Aline’s questions properly. She took longer than usual to get ready, and she ended the interview quite abruptly. In addition, houses were somehow connected to their occupants’ occupations. However, I believe that her personality stems from something that happened in the past, as was evidenced from her “somber” face in front of the “prison guard’s house.” So, I (somewhat) forgave her by the end of the vignette.

In “The Funeral Singer,” the three women seem to idolize Jackie Kennedy. However, what is important here is that this seems to represent a motif found in the book: a longing for a better life. Here, the women remark how Kennedy could come and go from Haiti any time she pleases. However, conditions prevent the three women from ever going back to Haiti. We can see a similar longing by other characters throughout the book. Most notably, the Dew Breaker and the descriptions of his cheek scar seem to imply a longing for a better life.

In the last vignette, we see how the Dew Breaker gives a boy some money because of a longing to “buy that child a future” (194). Despite the image of a dew breaker being hostile and downright evil, it seems that this particular one possesses a rather gentle side. I was actually surprised by what he was thinking in his scene. The scene seems to bring up the question: Is the dew breaker doing what he does (killing, etc.) because of pure evil or because circumstances have forced him to act this way? I do not see how an inherently evil person could simply act this way.

Speaking on the entire book, I have to say that I enjoyed it more than any of the other books we have read. I liked how the book was not in strict chronological order. In addition, I liked how the point of view kept changing from vignette to vignette, from first-person to third-person and back to first. As I have mentioned before, I am a fan of Danticat’s writing style, and this book was no exception. The words seemed to flow together, just like poetry. So, all in all, I really liked this book.

“Transnationalism in the Aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake: Reinforcing Ties and Second-Generation Identity” – Garvey Lundy

This article examines the Haitian Earthquake in two respects: (1) considering transnationalism to examine how the Haitian Diaspora responded to the earthquake and (2) how the earthquake affected the identity of the members of the second generation. After the earthquake, transnational connections (that existed beforehand) created networks and connections that allowed those in the Haitian diaspora to quickly help those affected in Haiti. Haitian families (both individually and collectively) were able to take in orphans or even go to Haiti itself to assist in the recovery. The Haitian church enabled those living abroad to receive information about loved ones in Haiti. The author mentioned that the importance of the church is based on historical and social factors: (1) churches often follow the legacy of African spirituality and (2) reveal an apparently American contribution. Professional organizations in the United States also played a role in the rebuilding (for example, by sending medical professionals).

Lundy also mentions that the struggle by Haitians abroad to establish communications with loved ones in Haiti was one of the “most visible displays of transnationalism” (210). This was facilitated by inexpensive cell phones (namely, from Digicel), the networks for which were back up and running about a week after the earthquake. In addition, remittances played a huge role in the recovery effort. They have enabled relatives to leave Haiti temporarily (thanks to Haitians’ temporary protected status in the U.S.) and have made up a sizeable portion of Haiti’s GDP.

The earthquake also prompted a reexamination of the diaspora’s role in Haitian politics. This was following a time when the diaspora was put at arm’s length because they were seen as a threat to authority. Things have improved; however, there is still a level of suspicion of the diaspora, and Haitians are resentful of the diaspora for not doing enough for the country.

With Wyclef Jean’s attempt at entering the Haitian presidential race, the second-generation became very visible. Identity for the second-generation was originally one of distancing oneself from one’s Haitian ancestry. However, a series of negative “classifications” by various organizations actually created a somewhat positive Haitian identity. However, the earthquake caused many of the second-generation to “come out” as Haitians. These people felt an obligation to their homeland and expressed solidarity with Haiti, even though many of them have never visited the country. Despite mixed messages from parents, many have adhered to a positive image of Haiti.

I found Figure 1 quite interesting. According to the chart, almost 40% of Haitian-Americans surveyed contributed more than $100. Undoubtedly, $100+ is a hefty amount. In addition, many of these Haitian-Americans may not even be making a lot of money from their jobs. Even so, it appears that the diaspora was ready to help even if it may have been relatively difficult to do so.

This article brought up a point that I brought up in my media assignment: the tension between Haiti and the diaspora. There was an editorial in the Haitian Times that said that the diaspora was not doing enough to help Haiti. It also said that the diaspora must have resigned itself to Haiti’s fate. Reactionary comments on the Haitian Times’ social media page seemed to imply that the diaspora was not welcome in Haiti. This is an example of the suspicion that the article we have read mentions.

However, despite all this, Haitians from all parts of the diaspora did everything they could to help the earthquake-ravaged country. This seems to imply that ties still do exist between Haiti and the diaspora and that these ties are very strong. Despite external appearances, there exists a transnational connection between Haitians living abroad and their homelands that cannot be broken.