Searching for Resolutions in The Dew Breaker
November 10th, 2006 MattSarmiento
While I enjoyed The Dew Breaker very much, I feel that it lacks any real sense of resolution. Much like Dream Jungle, this novel follows several characters and their individual stories, yet none of them really end with any kind of resolution. Instead, their stories just stop. The last chapter was interesting, however, in how it alternates between The Dew Breaker and Anne. We learn how he got his scar on his face as well as his last assignmetn as a Dew Breaker and how he ultimately meets Anne. Maybe I was expecting some sort of climax or for the Dew Breaker to finally find redemption for his crimes, but that is why I felt the novel lacked any sort of closure. I doubt that Danticat simply ran out of ideas. Perhaps the lack of closure is meant to reflect a more realistic look at life, how few things really have closure and not all can find peace or redemption for their crimes or sins. On the other hand, maybe the real ending and closure is actually in the first chapter of the novel, in which the Dew Breaker finally finds the courage to confess to his daughter his terrible past, not as the victim she both pitied and loved but rather the torturer. Together, his daughter and wife serve as “his kas, his good angels, his masks against his own face.” Perhaps it is here that he finally finds redemption, finally is able to mask the scars, both physical and psychological, of his past. However, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps a victim of his past, perhaps Dany or someone else, might try take revenge for his terrible acts.
Entry Filed under: Reflections
