Edwidge Danticat
These week’s readings were great introductions to the style of Edwidge Danticat, and what it means for her to be a writer. She makes sure her writing is worth the read; she wants her writing to be as influential as the writing of those she admires. The excerpts of Danticat’s writing that I have read are very captivating and tell a story from the time that Haiti was under the rule of the Duvaliers. She did not live in Haiti during this time, so she uses an outsider perspective of the situation. Through this view, Danticat also notices that a family in Haiti never knows the whole truth of the life of one of its members that lives abroad.
The first chapter of Danticat’s Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work told of the ruthlessness of the then Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier. She wrote about the execution of Marcel Numas and Louis Drouin as if she had been there. The rebellious attitude of these men had led them to be executed in front of all of Haiti. Papa Doc even called for the schools to bring the children for the execution rather than to take them to classes. These two men were not only fighters; they were also writers and prominent immigrants in the United States. They were radical activists that used their words to stir rebellion against the cruel and bloody regime of Papa Doc Duvalier.
Art and literature were two things that dictatorship tends to destroy and suppress from their reign. They know it leads to rebellious thought, but they are never fully able to take it from the ones that really search for it. Those who read literature that speaks against authority risk their lives. According to Danicat, it is up to the authors to make sure that their work is worth reading. Through her first chapter she keeps the rebellion alive, as well as the legacy of Marcel Numas and Louis Drouin. Although I do not risk my life to read this, I do believe that it was a very motivational piece.
The other chapter that was assigned, Chapter 6, also showed another thing that she focused on. She also writes about the relationship between family in Haiti and family in the United States. From the death of her cousin, she learns that the true lifestyle of someone in the United States is not really known by his family back at home. The family only sees the dedication put into sending remittances, while in truth he seemed to spend whatever he didn’t send to live a party lifestyle. For both people, the other side of the water is not clear. Another thing that I found interesting from this reading was that the aunt talked about everything told to Edwidge Danticat goes into writing. Her response was to quote another writer, “that everything in the world exists to end up in a book.” As an immigrant artist, she must take everything around her and latch on to it.
The Dew Breaker tells a story in my favorite way, from each character’s perspective. It is exciting to find the link between characters. It is also interesting to see the same situation under multiple perspectives. Ka’s father seems reformed from the cruel acts that he committed in Haiti, but those affected by his cruelty still live, and are in constant search for him. Dany has found out that his landlord killed his parents, and his landlord is Ka’s father. I think this way of writing is very complex, and she does a good job in keeping me on the edge of my seat and adding little symbols and themes to give the characters life.
