The Dew Breaker Analysis

The dew breaker is a collection of stories, most of them correlated, about the lives of Haitians and hatian-americans in relation to the harrowing events that occurred due to the totalitarian regime of Haiti under the Duvalier’s rule. In the last chapter of this book, the reader is at last introduced to the true identity of the main character in this story, Ka’s father. Also referred by as the prison guard, the fat man, he has been corrupted by participating in the violent acts of a totalitarian regime. This character represents an individual who tricks himself into thinking that his actions, such as killing and torturing are justifiable. On page 188, “In Slaying the Preacher, he could tell himself, he would actually be freeing an entire section of Bel-Air”. The dew breaker remarks that because he was Catholic, he wasn’t supposed to like the Protestants anyways. Such words echo this characters false sense of justice, therefore portraying him as a man of no morals. However, the first chapter of this book, The book of the dead, the dew breaker is an individual who is a revered father to his daughter who adores him, until she learns the truth about him further on. Therefore, the reader is now left with a complex
They are all in one way or another, victims of the Duvalier’s regime. Even though, so many of the characters are living in post Haitian totalitarian era and in New York, the stories show that the life and future of the characters are continuing to suffer emotionally or physically. The dew breaker and Anne, both exploited religion for their own means and justifications. The dew breaker used religion to justify his actions, and Anne uses religion as protection by creating a false sense of truth, because she believes that is the only way left for her pursue in