Themes in The Dew Breaker include the idea of Marasa,[7] meaning to double or twin, and the theme of forgetting and invalidation of traumatic experiences.[8]
Marasa, The Rule of Two
The reoccurring, cyclical events, the parallels between characters, and the symbolic imagery in each of the short stories is emblematic of Danticat's tale of Marasa. Danticat uses the binary of physical and emotional trauma in power imbalances to expose key thematic issues in the Haitian struggles resulting from the Duvalier totalitarian dictatorship. From Bienaimé's (Papa's) behavioral change transitioning from Haiti to the United States in the chapter “The Dew Breaker,” to the generational split between Beatrice Saint Fort and Aline Cajuste in “The Bridal Seamstress,” the rule of two thrives in each chapter and across sections.[9] Duality is especially seen in the character of Ka who exists both as the child of a Tonton Macoute torturer and as the niece of a man who was killed by that same Tonton Macoute member.[7] Inhabiting a liminal position, Ka represents Haiti where the victimizers and victims live together in shared memory. Likewise, the statue carved by Ka representing her “Papa,” Bienaimé, represents the duality between hunter and hunted, good and bad. By symbolically drowning the statue, Bienaimé's actions surface questions of remembrance, forgiveness, and remorse in “The Book of the Dead."[10] By placing the reader in a story of Marasa, Danticat calls attention to the act of the writer as a “witness” to political, structural, and personal struggles, exposing other thematic issues as a consequence.[11]
Forgetting and Invalidation
The inability to validate traumatic experiences of victims through memory is also a crucial theme in The Dew Breaker.[8] The lack of memory especially plays cru\ter her relationship with Eric ends with the arrival of his wife, Nadine too is left in isolation. Unwilling to discuss their relationship nor her abortion of their child, she too lives in domestic trauma.[10]
