The Dew Breaker

by

Edwidge Danticat

Ka Bienaimé Character Analysis

Ka is the adult daughter of Papa and Anne. She was born in Brooklyn and has never been back to Haiti, her parents’ home country. As a result, she is somewhat disconnected from Haiti, which is amplified by the fact that her parents never discuss their life there. Ka is a sculptor and high school art teacher, but she describes herself as not having the career she wants. Danticat provides fairly little information about her personal life, including whether she has a partner, who her friends are, and whom she lives with. The reader does learn that Ka is college-educated, and that she announced to her family that she was an atheist in college. Indeed, Ka’s atheism and dismissive attitude toward her mother’s Catholic faith at times make her seem slightly cynical, although she is also shown to be someone with strong moral principles. In some ways, Ka is a rather isolated figure; an only child, she describes her parents as “a society of two,” indicating that she is therefore a society of one. This sense of isolation increases when Ka learns that her parents have been lying to her for her whole life, and that back in Haiti Papa was actually a “dew breaker,” a government agent who tortured and killed many people. This information is especially difficult for Ka to deal with because she previously idolized her father and feel great sympathy for the time she believes he spent as a prisoner (shown by the fact that he is her only artistic subject, including in the sculpture that she attempts to sell to Gabrielle Fonteneau). Ka is shocked and hurt by this revelation, to the point that she puts off dealing with it. At the end of the book it remains unclear whether she will be able to forgive her parents.

Ka Bienaimé Quotes in The Dew Breaker

The The Dew Breaker quotes below are all either spoken by Ka Bienaimé or refer to Ka Bienaimé. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Grief, Memory, and Erasure Theme Icon
).
The Book of the Dead Quotes

I was born and raised in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and have never even been to my parents' birthplace. Still, I answer “Haiti” because it is one more thing I've always longed to have in common with my parents.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:

My father has never liked having his picture taken. We have only a few of him at home, some awkward shots at my different school graduations, with him standing between my mother and me, his hand covering his scar. I had hoped to take some pictures of him on this trip, but he hadn't let me. At one of the rest stops I bought a disposable camera and pointed it at him anyway. As usual, he protested, covering his face with both hands like a little boy protecting his cheeks from a slap. He didn't want any more pictures taken of him for the rest of his life, he said, he was feeling too ugly.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady
Related Symbols: Papa’s Scar
Page Number: 5
Explanation and Analysis:

I’d used a piece of mahogany that was naturally flawed, with a few superficial cracks along what was now the back. I’d thought these cracks beautiful and had made no effort to sand or polish them away, as they seemed like the wood's own scars, like the one my father had on his face. But I was also a little worried about the cracks. Would they seem amateurish and unintentional, like a mistake? Could the wood come apart with simple movements or with age? Would the client be satisfied?

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa
Related Symbols: Papa’s Scar, The Sculpture
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
The Book of Miracles Quotes

Anne had closed her eyes without realizing it. Her daughter knew she reacted strongly to cemeteries, but Anne bad never told her why, since her daughter had already concluded early in life that this, like many unexplained aspects of her parents’ life, was connected to “some event that happened in Haiti.”

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé, Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady
Page Number: 72
Explanation and Analysis:

What if it were Constant? What would she do? Would she spit in his face or embrace him, acknowledging a kinship of shame and guilt that she'd inherited by marrying her husband? How would she even know whether Constant felt any guilt or shame? What if he'd come to this Mass to flaunt his freedom? To taunt those who'd been affected by his crimes? What if he didn't even see it that way? What if he considered himself innocent? Innocent enough to go anywhere he pleased? What right did she have to judge him? As a devout Catholic and the wife of a man like her husband, she didn't have the same freedom to condemn as her daughter did.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé, Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady, Emmanuel Constant
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ka Bienaimé Quotes in The Dew Breaker

The The Dew Breaker quotes below are all either spoken by Ka Bienaimé or refer to Ka Bienaimé. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Grief, Memory, and Erasure Theme Icon
).
The Book of the Dead Quotes

I was born and raised in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and have never even been to my parents' birthplace. Still, I answer “Haiti” because it is one more thing I've always longed to have in common with my parents.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:

My father has never liked having his picture taken. We have only a few of him at home, some awkward shots at my different school graduations, with him standing between my mother and me, his hand covering his scar. I had hoped to take some pictures of him on this trip, but he hadn't let me. At one of the rest stops I bought a disposable camera and pointed it at him anyway. As usual, he protested, covering his face with both hands like a little boy protecting his cheeks from a slap. He didn't want any more pictures taken of him for the rest of his life, he said, he was feeling too ugly.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady
Related Symbols: Papa’s Scar
Page Number: 5
Explanation and Analysis:

I’d used a piece of mahogany that was naturally flawed, with a few superficial cracks along what was now the back. I’d thought these cracks beautiful and had made no effort to sand or polish them away, as they seemed like the wood's own scars, like the one my father had on his face. But I was also a little worried about the cracks. Would they seem amateurish and unintentional, like a mistake? Could the wood come apart with simple movements or with age? Would the client be satisfied?

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé (speaker), Papa
Related Symbols: Papa’s Scar, The Sculpture
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
The Book of Miracles Quotes

Anne had closed her eyes without realizing it. Her daughter knew she reacted strongly to cemeteries, but Anne bad never told her why, since her daughter had already concluded early in life that this, like many unexplained aspects of her parents’ life, was connected to “some event that happened in Haiti.”

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé, Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady
Page Number: 72
Explanation and Analysis:

What if it were Constant? What would she do? Would she spit in his face or embrace him, acknowledging a kinship of shame and guilt that she'd inherited by marrying her husband? How would she even know whether Constant felt any guilt or shame? What if he'd come to this Mass to flaunt his freedom? To taunt those who'd been affected by his crimes? What if he didn't even see it that way? What if he considered himself innocent? Innocent enough to go anywhere he pleased? What right did she have to judge him? As a devout Catholic and the wife of a man like her husband, she didn't have the same freedom to condemn as her daughter did.

Related Characters: Ka Bienaimé, Papa , Anne Bienaimé/Landlady, Emmanuel Constant
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis: