Before this week I didn’t think it possible for an author to write without a singular ounce of levity. Edwidge Danticat has thoroughly corrected this assumption. Writing extensively on the narratives of Haitian-Americans, she espouses her views on events that transpire in the lives of individuals. In “Create Dangerously” Danticat explores the impact that artists have on social politics. The essay beginnings with Danticat recounting of the execution of two men by the Duvalier regimes militia. These men were executed for political reasons as such murders were common under the rule of the two Duvalier’s. The killings were meant to spread the message of fear and to serve as a warning to would be dissenters. From here Danticat explains how the Haitian people were in need of media that would inspire them to speak out against oppressive regimes. She talks about the importance of these art forms, specifically writing. Writing is one of the most powerful tools people possess in order to sow discontent among the populous, and because of this writing is dangerous. People risk their lives to read and write contentious content, and this is why it’s so important to continue producing it.

In her second essay “The Other side of the Water”, Danticat explores the difficulties that Haitians encounter when trying to move across borders. So far this semester, we’ve focused on the issues of Caribbean immigrants both domestically and abroad but we hadn’t covered the struggle that immigrants have moving freely. Every movement requires the proper documentation for everything must be accounted for. This stringent universal rule isn’t lifted even for the dead apparently. It can’t be pleasant to be stuck in one place, this goes double for those immigrants who travel illegally and are unable to return afterwards.

Moving right along to her novel, “The Dew Breaker”, Danticat by means of largely self-contained chapters discusses the issues faced by several Haitian immigrants as they live life in America. The first chapter stood out as the most poignant dealt with young Ka discovering the true nature of her father when he chucks her statue of him in a lake. I have no idea why Ka’s father would reveal himself as the “Dew Breaker” to his daughter to be honest with you, it seems like something that you’d take with you to the grave. I don’t know how this man lives with what he’s done, but you can’t just dump that information on your daughter. To me it seems like it’d just be better to pretend as though nothing happened and try to hide it as best as you can, especially because they are immigrants living in an area with other Haitian immigrants. Seriously, imagine how horrifying that is for Ka. If I found out my father was a professional torturer and murderer I don’t think anything would ever be the same, I would not care how “peaceful” he became after the fact. Yes, Nadine’s story is tragic, she committed an atrocity by the standards of her people and because of this she has been silently tortured. I cannot fathom how traumatizing having an abortion must be but I’d wager that murdering and torturing people under the moniker the “Dew Breaker” (which I learned is a Haitian colloquial term for torturer) would leave much more of an impact.

My first impressions of this book aren’t great if I’m being honest. I’m not sure where Danticat is going with these vignette like chapters. She writes with simple language and the content, as aforementioned, has absolutely zero levity. Seriously, when I was reading these first few chapters it was like the room I was in faded into monochrome. We’ve read a number of depressing tales this semester, I’m not sure I look forward to finishing this one.

In “Create Dangerously,” Danticat writes her interpretation of an execution of two men during the Haitian revolution of the 1960’s. She expands on this story,stating her role as an immigrant and as a writer who responsibility is it to tell the truth and revive the myth and heroism of a dangerous past. She compares herself to other authors, such as Camus, other French authors and Caribbean authors who often wrote about times of rebellion and had this romanticized, other worldly quality about them. She goes on with these comparisons to classical Greek literature with its anti-authoritarian nature, which Haitians performed as an act of defiance in face of the oppressive regime, and ancient Egyptian beliefs, which Danticat connects to spiritually and identifies with it on some level. She says her writing follows suit with all these great writers, exposing dangerous hidden truths, and can sometimes contradict her supposed role as an immigrant who is supposed to become an doctor- not writer. She furthers her connection as a immigrant, saying how they can maintain ties and produce change in their wistful homelands, like the two American Haitian immigrants who were executed. All of which are examples of people who have the will to resist oppressive authority, a strong theme in Haitian history.

In the “Other Side of the Water,” Danticat tells the story of her niece’s, Marius, death in America and his posthumous return to Haiti. She did not have close connections to that side of her family and came into contact with her aunt after her son died in America and she wanted to bring him back to Haiti. Her son was an illegal immigrant, which caused some legal difficulties because even dead he was considered an alien and forced to be deported. After her investigation, Danticat discovered Marius died of HIV and lived a wild lifestyle in Miami. According to Marius’ mother, her son was not misbehaving and sent her hundreds of dollars a month- an example of how illegal immigrants of send the most. After his funeral in Haiti, Danticat returned to Hatit and her relative asked if people return from when they cross the water, referring to Haiti’s large immigrant population and the larger metaphysical belief of souls transitioning to the after life. What frustrated me about this story is that Marius’ mother directly told Danticat not to write about her son and she did just that. She should have respected her family’s wishes or attempt to change names.

In her novel The Dew Breaker, Danticat combines the harsh realities of immigrant life after leaving war torn Haiti and the continuing mysticism surrounding Haitians. By mysticism, I refer to their fate in the supernatural and intense connections to symbols that stem from ancient fates in order to adapt to new circumstances and places. For example, in Water Child, Nadine expresses her grief from the abortion and the loss of her relationship with a shrine of a pebble in the water. In Anne’s story, she speaks primarily of fate and miracles, such as a women crying crystals. In Ka’s story, ancient Egyptian beliefs guide her identity and relationship to her father. In Dany’s story, his aunt Estina is blind and guides his journey like the mystic wise blind man in ancient Greek  tales. Water is an essential symbol throughout all the stories: the statue in the pond, needing a glass of water, “water child,” the drowning of relatives, living by water falls because it represents rebirth and transitioning through periods of life and metaphysical consciousness. I appreciate Danticat’s ability to weave reality with a undertone of the supernatural elements. Somehow, I did not catch the connection between Nadine’s silence with her family and the nature of her job to her silence and struggle with her accepting the consequences of her abortion, or the significance of the unlucky number 7. This just adds to the literary almost supernatural appropriateness of the stories. This type of magic extends as you read the book because you realize that all the stories are connected through their native country’s tragic past, which is reconstituting itself across international borders. It present the paradox between the beautiful homeland and its unsettling prospects and past, and the ability to create a more promising life in America while still being drawn/ repelled by your native Haitian immigrants and America itself.

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.

Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work

In the first section of this work, the author describes the gruesome execution of two Haitian revolutionaries who fought to overthrow the dictatorship of Fançois Duvalier. Duvalier was incredibly determined to find all of the members of the group that the two revolutionaries belonged to, Jeune Haiti. In the process, the Duvalier regime killed hundreds of their family members. The story of these two revolutionaries, Marcel Numa and Louis Drouin, is compared to that of Adam and Eve, who are exiled for disobeying god’s order to not eat an apple. It is in this sense that people, especially artists and thinkers, begin to fear that their words can be punished. What is incredibly interesting is that people began to start reading, instead of writing, to display their anger with the government. They would read the greek classics in rebellion, and find solace in these works. The author argues that it is important to “create dangerously” because it helps the people who “read dangerously.”

I thought this work was incredibly interesting in the sense that often, when I think about artists and why they make their work, I think that the artists do it as an act of rebellion themselves. What Danticat explains is that this is not always the case, and that the artists may be making art in order to give other rebellious people something to rebel with.

The Other Side of the Water

In this chapter, Danticus details her experience with immigration. When the author was younger, she was arranging a journey to the United States. She was to meet Marius in Port-au-Prince, as she was leaving from New York and he was leaving from Miami. After some complications, they never were able to meet and she never spoke to him for many years. The complications were a result of Marius not having his papers. Many years later, the author found out of his death, and began to look into what happened. She was able to get in touch with his roommate, but he did not have much information to offer other than to put her in contact with the funeral home that Marius was being held. The funeral home informed her that he died of AIDS, but they also expressed that it would not yet be possible to ship Marius back to Haiti, so he could be buried with his family, if he did not have his papers.

This passage describes just one of the issues that undocumented immigrants face. When they are undocumented, they do not have access to many of the necessary things that allow documented people to have, including the right to leave the country from which you are undocumented––even when you are dead.

These weeks readings revolved around our new book, The Dew Breaker. Create Dangerously and The Other Side of the Water in building up to Dew Breaker presented us with different viewpoint on Caribbean immigrants. Previously, we focused on the specifics of trust networks and remittences, but in these readings there was a greater focus on individual experiences and political events that expanded our knowledge on Caribbean life and struggles. Specifically, there was the struggle artists in dictatorship Haiti and the struggle immigrants had with travel and the lies they hid from family back home.

Create Dangerously, by Daniticat, describes the execution of two Haitian men, Marcel Numa and Louis Drouin. The two were Haitian immigrants living in New York where they were part of an organization called “Young Haiti” that opposed the the dictatorship in Haiti. The two were known writers and artists who spoke out against Haitian madman Papa Doc. After writing against the oppression, the two returned to Haiti to fight against Doc’s forces where they were captured. To put on a show against all those who opposed him, Papa Doc publicly executed the two young man in a gruesome fashion. Danticat focuses on this even to promote an artist’s ability to subversively oppose oppression. Furthermore, she wants to highlight the courage it takes for artists who do oppose power, as these men and women place themselves at the greatest risk to say what others cannot. From her passionate writing, one can see that Danticat was greatly influenced by these writers and the sacrifice they made for others.

The Other Side of the Water is a personal anecdote from Danticat. In this recollection, Danticat explains how she attempted to return her cousin’s corpse back to Haiti to be buried. While trying to do so, Danticat faced opposition in that her cousin, Marius, was undocumented and even if he wasn’t alive, his body could not be returned to Haiti. Beyond this, Danticat is highlighting the hidden life some people retain from their relatives. When talking to her aunt, Danticat was told that Marius was living a peaceful life working everyday and sending money home to his mother. His mother believed he was single and died from poison which she claims was the doing of his roommates. However, when Danticat did speak to Marius’ roommate, a different truth unfolded. Marius was poor, would go out many times, drinking, doing drugs, and bringing women home. Furthermore, Marius died of AIDS, which his mother did not believe. Thus, Marius was living a life of lies in that his mother knew nothing of his ordeals as he constantly lied to her. This brings up the idea that family living back at home believes that people living in another country are much better off and happy, when in fact that is many times not the case. This theme of a life of lies is massive in Dew Breaker. As we will read, Ka’s father retains the truth of his past life in Haiti away from her. Thus, we see where an influence of Dew Breaker came from with The Other Side of the Water.

The Dew Breaker begins through the event of Ka and her father. The two are driving to Miami where they are delivering a statue Ka, an artist, made of her father to a popular Haitian celebrity. While in a hotel, Ka wakes up to find her father and her statue gone.  Later that day, when her father returns, he says he threw the statue into the water because he didn’t like its portrayal of him. This however, was a buildup to a confession. All her life, Ka was told her father was a prisoner in Haiti, which is why he has a massive scar on his face. But on his return, her father tells that in fact, he worked in the prison where he was a dew breaker, and that a prisoner lashed his face after which Ka’s father shot and killed the prisoner. Ka feels betrayed by bother her father and mother and wishes her father never told her the truth as she enjoyed portraying him as a prisoner.

The novel transitions into the life of a Haitian immigrant,  Eric. Seven years prior, Eric had left his wife in Haiti to emigrate to New York for employment. When she finally comes to New York, she spends her time in the apartment because she is scared that she will get lost outside. In the apartment, she listens to the radio, cooks, and writes letters back home to her mother and father. She has to face this isolation because she doesn’t speak english.

The novel then transitions into the life of Nadine. Nadine is Eric’s ex-girlfriend who lives alone. While with Eric, Nadine had to abort her baby, which presents an overwhelming stress in her life. Nadine a works in a hospital as a nurse where she known to be an isolated person. However, Nadine also cares for her patients, an example being Ms. Hinds, who only Nadine befriends. In her home Nadine has a shrine for her lost child. Furthermore, Nadine constantly avoids talking to her parents who constantly write letters. However, at the end of the section, she finally calls her parents, although ends the conversation quickly due to her need for isolation.

The next chapter discusses Anne. Anne is Ka’s mother and she tells stories of miracles but the best miracle, she believes,  is the transformation of her husband from a torturer to a peaceful man. The chapter focuses on the family’s trip to church on Christmas Eve. Although Ka is an theist, which her parents resent, they still take her to chruch to try and infuse faith into her, Furthermore, Ka’s parents dislike her diction and which she would speak more like an adult. In church, Ka believes she spots Emmanuel Constant in the crowd.  Constant is a murderer responsible for the death of thousands, and wanted posters are riddled around New York. Constant reminds Anne of her husband in that someone might recognize him for the murderer he was, just as they recognized Constant.

The final section of this reading talks about Dany. Dany’s parents were killed by Ka’s father. Dany and his aunt were the only survivors of the fire that engulfed their house. Dany moved to New York to find his parent’s killer. When Dany found the man, he 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 knowing the killer of her siblings.

In all the readings of this week, the overall motif was the recurring distressing scenes described in Danticat’s writing. In the essay, “Create Dangerously” Danticat talks about the barbaric executions of Marcel Numa and Louis Drouin, who tried to aid in the coup to overthrow the dictatorship. This sets the abhorrent and dreadful setting of Haiti, along with the other harsh conditions witnessed by the individuals during the time. This led many of them to migrate to America, however, the immigrants still faced problems here, as seen with Eric’s wife in “Dew Breaker.” In chapter two of “Dew Breaker,” Eric’s wife faces the hardships of being an immigrant by being essentially stuck at home, incapable of exploring her surroundings, due to the hardships in communication. This reveals how the hardships were far from over for the immigrants trying to escape their previous deplorable conditions back home.

In the second reading, “The Other Side of the Water,” Danticat persists to distress the reader by revealing the harsh conditions for the immigrants. In this reading, Danticat mentions the passing away of her cousin Marius due to AIDS. Danticat focuses on the idea of how hard it was to send Marius’ dead body back home to Haiti, because of legal issues due to the fact that he was a undocumented resident in the United States. Danticat emphasizes how these actions were racist, and ostracizing the immigrants, treating them as unequals, even after they have passed away! This goes to prove the poignant conditions of racism and unrest in the community amongst the immigrants during this time.

In the “Dew Breaker,” Danticat continues to topple on the grievous encounters of the immigrants, centralizing it around the family of Ka. Ka is the daughter of Anne and her torturer father, previously from Haiti. The central disturbing theme of the book revolves around the idea of family relationship between Ka and her father, along with redemption. The story is quite disturbing considering that a daughter learns the true nature of her father, and realizes that he was not a prisoner, but actually a torturer. Along with being a torturer, Ka’s father killed numerous people back home in Haiti, and that blood will probably never wash off. The theme of redemption is emphasized in the chapter “Night Talkers,” in which Dany seeks redemption by wanting to kill Ka’s father, whom he suspects to be the person responsible for killing his parents.

Along with the disconcerting discovery of Ka’s father true identity, Danticat imbeds numerous other perplexing instances in the book. In the chapter “The Book of Miracles.” the grotesque character of the Emmanuel Constant, who killed thousands of innocent people back in Haiti, is mentioned as having been seen by the church by Ka. In “Water Child” the disturbing mentioning of aborting a baby along with ideas of complete isolation and depression are mentioned which discomfort the reader extremely. This is seen throughout the chapter, as Nadine is continuously reminded of abort her baby, which goes against the norms of Haitian tradition, which continues in the disturbing mood established through Danticat’s writing. In all, Danticat imbeds numerous serious/stoic instances of extremely distressing scenes into her writing, leaving to room for comfort for the reader.

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.

After reading the first half of The Dew Breaker I began to put together why we read those selected chapters from Danitcat’s collection of essays. I felt like I was introduced to her style of writing, which I believe feels rush, but in a very good way. As I was reading the novel, I kept trying to read faster, hoping to keep pace with the events that were unfolding in the story. Our two introductory essays on Danticat sort of braced me for what was to come. In “Create Dangerously,” we were introduced to two men, Marcel Numa and Louis Drouin, who were basically made martyrs by the very government they sought to tear down. The leader of the government, “Papa Doc” Duvalier, wanted to make an example out of the men; anyone who decided to stand against him would face the same consequences. I think this essay is incredibly powerful, especially in a modern context. All over the world there are many who face injustices everyday, and these victims are left virtually powerless, except for the power of art. By art, I don’t mean paintings, but mean all sorts of arts, such as writing, music, performances and many others. These arts reach global scales and peacefully bring attention to many of the problems faced in our world. Ironically, the song mentioned at the beginning of the second essay, “The Other Side of the Water,” happens to be one of these songs. “Beds Are Burning,” by Midnight Oil, is a protest song that calls for the returning of Australian land to the native peoples who occupied the Australian deserts. Modern artists, to raise awareness about climate change, recently even covered the song. Using a catchy song, these issues were propelled to the spotlight, by people who would be otherwise powerless.

Moving into the novel, I was sort of confused after reading the first fifty or so pages. At first, it felt like each chapter was very unrelated to the last. For example, one moment the reader is with a mother and her family at Christmas mass, and the next they are under a hot red sun in the Haitian mountains. As I said earlier, it feels like you are taken on a thrill ride, one you really don’t have much control over. As for the content of each chapter, they feel like vignettes; each one simply starts, focuses in one a specific person, ordeal or location, and then quickly ends without much closure. It took me a hundred or so pages to realize what was actually going on. Each story is very much related; in fact, many people in each chapter end up having very profound effects on another person in a later chapter. The constant between the first half of the book appears to be a single family, that of Ka’s. Ka’s family does not seem like the typical immigrant family we have been studying. Her father left Cuba after working in a prison, where he brutally hurt and occasionally killed prisoners, while we only know that her mother is a devout, church going Catholic.

Even though I’m just halfway through the book, some serious themes seem to be present. One that seems to be in every chapter is on family, and how your family members will always be with you, regardless if you want them to or not. Ka, though she resents her father, is still his daughter and is bonded by blood, just as Dany, who lost his aunt, is still bonded to his village “family” through a place of origin. Another theme that just starts to pop up towards the end of the “Night Talkers” chapter is retribution and revenge. Dany went to New York, and after finding his parents’ killer, devoted his life to exacting revenge. Even though he had the chance to kill Ka’s Father, he decided not to, whether it was because he would be guilty if it was the wrong man, as he says, or because he experienced a sort of moral dilemma, perhaps wondering if the fathers death would really fill the hole left inside him by the death of his parents.

“Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work” and “The Other Side of the Water”

In the beginning of the essay “Create Dangerously,” Danticat recounts the brutal executions of Marcel Numa and Louis Drouin, two Haitian men from New York who returned to Haiti in order to topple the dictatorship of François Duvalier. She compares these executions to the secret performances of “subversive” pieces of literature during this time period. Both involved disobeying a higher authority and (potentially) facing the punishment that came along with doing so. The purpose of these secret performances was, according to Danticat, to “convince them [the people] that they would not die the same way Numa and Drouin did.” However, the courage of the reader can be compared to the courage of the writer. She states this by saying that the writers of these works:

“Create dangerously, for people who read dangerously” (10).

That is, someone somewhere will risk their life to read these works. Thus, according to her, it is only right that the author write just as dangerously. She goes on to say how the immigrant artist must always ponder movement on a global scale as well as the deaths that brought them to where they are now. Thus, she sees the deaths of Numa and Drouin as sacrifices because their deaths motivated many (including Danticat’s parents) to leave Haiti and lead a better life elsewhere.

First of all, I was struck by the introduction. She recounted the executions as if she herself was there and described the men as if she knew them. It felt as if the executions were something she lived by and was grateful for. It was because of their executions that she and her parents migrated to the United States. It was because she and her parents migrated to the United States that she was given the opportunity to write about these executions. She called this story her “creation myth” (5), and it makes sense that she would call it such.

I agree with the statement: “Create dangerously, for people who read dangerously” (10). It seems only right that those who risk their lives to read something have the opportunity to read something that is “worth” the risk. I do not mean to say that reading something on the safer side is not worth it. However, considering that such an action might be subversive to authority and can have deadly consequences, it makes sense that the author should write something just as subversive.

I was also struck by the prose in which Danticat writes. Word after word, line after line. It all seemed to flow together nicely. Although it was short, it seemed as if Danticat was easily able to get her point across.

In the second essay, Danticat recounts the events after the death of her cousin Marius, including the difficulties she had to face in order to have his body sent back from Miami to Haiti. Since Marius was undocumented, he needed special papers in order to leave the United States. In addition, since he died from AIDS, there were special procedures that needed to be followed. Eventually, with money wired from Marius’ mother, the body was eventually sent back to Haiti.

One thing in particular that struck me about the second essay was the question Danticat posed when hearing that her dead cousin would need papers to exit the country since he was undocumented:

“Were we still aliens in death, I asked, our corpses unwanted visitors still?” (91)

Are we still aliens even though we have left this world through death? Are we still considered aliens whether dead or alive? Will we ever belong? It seemed as if, through that one question, she was asking a multitude of other questions. It looked like she was questioning the purpose of Marius’ existence in that one question: if he ever belonged or if he will ever have a chance at being treated “normally.”

The Dew Breaker (First Half)

The first half of The Dew Breaker is comprised of five vignettes: “The Book of the Dead,” “Seven,” “Water Child,” “The Book of Miracles,” and “Night Talkers.”

In “The Book of the Dead,” we see that the narrator’s father has gone missing and has taken with him a statue that they were supposed to sell to a famous actress, Gabrielle Fonteneau. The statue, called Dad, is a wood-carved depiction of the narrator’s father. When he returns, we learn that he threw the statue into a lake because he feels like he does not deserve the recognition. He reveals to his daughter that, although he did spend time in a prison, he was not a prisoner. Instead, he was a torturer (a “dew breaker”) and killed many people. It was on this job that he received a deep scar on his right cheek. Without the statue, the narrator and her father still go to Fonteneau’s house to tell her that the statue is gone. Fonteneau is clearly disappointed.

“Seven” follows a tenant in the basement of what seems to be the house of the narrator and her father from “The Book of the Dead.” He lives with two roommates, Michel and Dany, and is preparing for the arrival of his wife, whom he has not seen in seven years. He left for the United States the day after their wedding and has been working to get a green card and bring his wife over. Both the narrator and his wife seem to be joyful at their reunion. They even go out for a stroll through Brooklyn. However, the vignette ends with signs of a strong disconnect between the two.

“Water Child” follows Nadine, a nurse who works in the Ear, Nose, and Throat ward at a hospital in Brooklyn. Nadine seems to be disconnected from everyone around her and has even received the label of “not a friendly woman” (58). She even tries to avoid calling her parents despite their numerous letters asking her to do so and keeps the television in her apartment on all day to hear some voices. We also learn that Nadine had a relationship with a man named Eric, became pregnant, and had an abortion. As a memorial to the unborn baby, she has created a small altar with a drawing of a baby, microcassettes with messages from Eric, and a glass of water with a pebble in it. She cares for a woman (referred to as Ms. Hinds) who has gone through a total laryngectomy and who is discharged from the hospital at the end of the vignette.

“The Book of Miracles” follows Anne, who is on her way with her husband and grown daughter to Christmas Eve Mass, something they do every year when the daughter is home for Christmas. During the mass, the daughter sees someone who looks like Emmanuel Constant, a man who set up a death squad after the exile of Haiti’s president and killed thousands of people. Anne confirms that the man is not Constant but worries that someone might be looking the same way at her husband (who used to be a “dew breaker” or torturer). The vignette ends with the Mass ending, and the daughter remarking that it’s the same thing every year.

“Night Talkers” follows Dany, one of the roommates from “Seven.” Dany is traveling through Haiti to visit his aunt. The aunt, Estina Esteme, raised Dany after his parents died and the aunt herself was blinded when their house was set on fire by a dew breaker. On his visit, he meets with many villagers as well as Claude, a boy who was deported from the United States and killed his father. Dany later reveals to his aunt the real reason for why he visited: He found the man who killed his parents and is now living in the same man’s basement. However, just after this revelation, the aunt dies. In a conversation with Claude, Dany finds out the reason why Claude killed his father: His father took drugs that Claude was hustling for someone else and shot him because he would not give them back.

I liked how, even though each vignette could probably stand on its own, they are all connected in some way. In “Water Child,” it is mentioned that Nadine had a relationship with a man by the name of Eric who was a night janitor at Medgar Evers College (62). The man in “Seven” was mentioned to have many lovers and was also a night janitor at Medgar Evers College (38). In addition, we see that the man in “Seven” changed his phone number when his wife was about to arrive. When Nadine tries to call Eric, she finds out that his number has also changed. So, it seems that Eric is the man we follow in “Seven.”

In “The Book of Miracles,” Anne seems to be the mother of the narrator from “Book of the Dead” and wife of the father from the same story. This is because Anne repeatedly mentions that her husband “worked in a prison, where he hurt many people” (72), implying that her husband is the dew breaker.

In “Seven,” the men are living in the basement of the house of the narrator and father from “The Book of the Dead.” We know this because one of the men, Dany, mentions (in “Night Talkers”) that he is living in the basement of the dew breaker’s house and that the dew breaker is a barber. In addition, Anne mentions in “The Book of Miracles” that they rented the rooms in their basement to “three younger Haitian men” (76), who it seems are Eric, Michel, and Dany.

As with the essays, I was struck by the flow with which Danticat writes. The writing in The Dew Breaker seems like poetry because the words flow together so well. I also like how, even though the dew breaker is the subject of this book, he has an air of mystery surrounding his character. We still don’t know much else about him other than that he tortured many people. However, his presence seems to affect (albeit indirectly) the characters in all of the stories.

Danticat- Create Dangerously

Danticat begins this chapter by describing two Haitian men getting ready for their execution. These men were members of a group that organized guerillas against the Haitian government. One thing that is important to note about these men is that both of them were immigrants that live in the United States. As the essay continues, it discusses the topic of the battle between the oppressed and the oppressors. She mostly focuses on how the arts battles corrupt regimes. There are many authors in Haiti that write against the government. Even though they understand this is illegal, they still do it in hopes that people read it. Danticat explains that people do read it. They understand that they can get in deep trouble if caught, but people still read because the authors’ courage inspired them. We also notice that there were other forms of art that spoke against the government such as plays. These plays would be held in secret theaters and spoke out against the government. These art works and literature were created with great caution and were created in absolute secrecy in order to effectively disobey authority.

Other Side of the Water:

In this chapter, Danticat talks about the death of her cousin. Her cousin, Marius, was an immigrant from Haiti that lived in Miami. He moved to Miami by boat. So, Danticat’s cousin did not have the luxury of mobility that Danticat enjoyed. He was stuck in Miami and if he were to return to Haiti, he would not be able to come back to the states. Therefore, when he died and his body was requested to be transported back to Haiti a few obstacles got in the way. Before his body was sent back to Haiti, Danticat had to provide quite a few documentations. These documentations included his passport, information about his property, and information about the disease he carried. At the end of the essay, after Marius’s mother received the body back in Haiti, she begins to allude to the water that once separated her from her son. The water is an important symbol in Haiti. It is a symbol of connection with Africa and at the same time it is a barrier that isolates Haiti.

Reflection:

One of the things that really got me thinking and made me contemplate a bit was the scene where Danticat had the conversation with Dr. Freedman about transferring Marius’s body to Haiti. Danticat says:

“He’s a dead man whose cadaver needs to be shipped to the country where he was born. Why is it so complicated?” I asked.

“In part,” he answered calmly, “because he’s an alien.”

Were we still aliens in death, I asked, our corpses unwanted visitors still?

How can two dead bodies be treated differently? At the end of the day the dead body of Abraham Lincoln is as useless as the dead body of a slave. Yes they might have held different statuses before death, but now their bodies are nothing but useless corpses. I just found it very disturbing to see that even after death people are still labeled and categorized.