Project 2 (Reupload)

There is something to be said about the countless stories in history that go unheard. Millions of stories are untold due to the massive wave of history swallowing them up and leaving them in the void of time. When it comes to war, natural disasters, or any situation with victims, we rarely hear the stories of what actually happened and the victims just become a meaningless number. Books like “The Dew Breaker” by Danticat and play “Shakuntala” by Kalidasa try to show that there are people in the world that suffer from oppressive forces that need to be heard. By identifying the roles of the characters in the books, you can attach them to your own life and learn more from them. An important part of the two stories is they show the victims coping with the aftermath of a tragic situation, usually by going to a haven to avoid said oppressive force. The two stories show how an oppressive force causes the victims to lose their identity and only through family and friends can they find who they are meant to be in this cruel world.

Before you can have an injured party, there must be an evil force or party to hurt them. Natural disasters can be classified as an evil force, but there isn’t much intent on who mother nature decides to strike next. For this reason, oppressors, people who oppress others to better themselves, will be the evil force worth talking about.

The oppressors play the role of the villains and are meant to be hated by the audience. None of these characters have much appeal to them and are in the story to be representative of any real-world villains you may encounter in your life. In “Shakuntala,” the constant presence of the demon army causes a constant distraction and a lot of work for the husband. In “The Dew Breaker,” The Duvalier regime acts as the villains of the book that tortures and kills Haitian citizens. We hear through the multiple mini-stories of how the Duvalier regime ruined people’s lives in different ways. The important thing to understand about how these evil forces are utilized in both books. They are in the background of the story and a looming presence that the victims seek to avoid. 

Papa and Durvasas are the exceptions because the two are the only characters to directly interact with and impact the main character in a negative way. Durvasas would be classified as a bad character because of the curse he cast on the love-struck couple but is redeemed when his short temper was explained and he tries to reverse the curse as best he could. The same can be said about Papa. The difference between Papa and the Duvalier regime is that Duvalier is causing all this chaos in Haiti to gain power, while Papa is torturing and killing Haitians to allow him to survive, not to help the regime. We also see Papa reflect on his past actions and try to suppress his past to better himself going forward. Papa even told Ka himself “Ka, your father was the hunter, he was not the prey.”(Dew Breaker, Pg 20) The regime did not reflect on their past and thus is shown to be absolute evil within the story. The key difference is that Papa and Durvasas’ actions can be justified in a way. These oppressors are trying to make their life better, without thinking of the consequences of their actions. This causes an immediate and long-lasting impact on the victims.

The victims in the stories are meant to represent the people who don’t get a voice during tragedies caused by the coordinated assault from other people. Anne and Ka are blind to the human crimes Papa has committed. Ka making the statue of Papa during his dark era shows how blind she was to the whole situation. After Papa threw the statue in the water, Ka was frustrated because she doesn’t know her own family, which caused her to lose her self-identity. None of this would happen without the oppressor forcing people to make bad choices to help their families survive. The same can be said in “Shakuntala” when King Dushyanta and Shakuntala are victims of the short-tempered sage that cursed them. It is pretty obvious they were love at first sight, Dushyanta said this when Shakuntala had to leave him for a little bit: 

“(He reflects): Alas! I did wrong to delay when I found my love. So now

If she will grant me but one other meeting,

I’ll not delay; for happiness is fleeting;” (Shakuntala, Act 2)

This is true love, so when the curse causes Dushyanta to forget about the relationship it causes this void in this relationship. Although Dushyanta is unaware of this curse, he still knows there is some piece of him that is missing, causing a lack of self-identity. Both books have a loss of self-identity with a lack of knowledge presented to the characters. 

This critical piece of information is found in the characters’ safe haven in both books. While trying to escape their oppressors, the Duvalier regime, Ka and Papa moved to New York to sell the statue Ka made to help themselves back in Haiti. In this safe haven, Ka learns about Papa’s past and feels betrayed. After some self-reflection and a phone call to her mom, Anne, Ka now knows her family’s past. Learning this information was crucial for Ka. In “Shakuntala,” it isn’t until Dushyanta goes to Marica’s hermitage where he learns about his son, and subsequently, his wife. Even from the start of the book, the hermitage was seen as a safe haven when Dushyanta said:

“King (walking and looking about): The hermitage! Well, I will enter. (As he does so, he feels a throbbing in his arm.)

A tranquil spot! Why should I thrill?”(Shakuntala, Act 1)

Marica’s hermitage is like New York in “The Dew Breaker” because the demons haven’t plagued the hermitage, so in a sense, Shakuntala and Dushyanta are safe there. The oppressors can’t hurt the main characters, as they don’t have any power or influence in these places. The mini-story “The Funeral Singer,” shows how moving to New York, their place of safety, helped them find who they were.

In the story, three students share a common trait of all being from Haiti in an English class and tell each other stories from home. Rezia was raped by someone in the militia. Freda’s father was arrested, beaten, and then went missing one day because of the militia. Mariselle’s story I think is best described from the book:

“Mariselle left because her husband, a painter, had painted an unflattering portrait of the president, which was displayed in a gallery show. He was shot leaving the show.”

All three not only share a common trait of being from Haiti in an English class but also all have stories about how the government basically ruined their life. Once in New York, they found friends they can relate to and they all don’t have to worry about their oppressors hurting them. This is where they can find who they are really meant to be. The impact of the message is amplified when you relate the stories to your own life.

“Shakuntala” and “The Dew Breaker” each use fiction to show the reader that when there is trouble in your life, it is important to find people you can trust and go to a place where you can feel comfortable. This safe haven, with friends and family, is where you can thrive and find yourself. Moving to a safe place can be anything. It doesn’t have to be you moving to a different country, but just any space you feel comfortable in. Danticat’s writings show how situations like this occur in the real world and make it easier to connect the messages to your own life. Kalidasa took a different approach in “Shakuntala” because of the use of mythical creatures and magical realms. Although it is hard to imagine this happening in real life, it is full of metaphors. Since it takes place in a fantasy setting, you can replace the demons with anything causing you harm, Shakuntala with any significant other in your life, or the curse represents something that suppresses your love. You can replace the characters in the story with things in your own life a lot easier. By reading both “Shakuntala” and “The Dew Breaker,” you can see oppressive forces can harm people in real life and then connect it to your problems. 

The unfortunate reality that we live in is that there are a countless number of victims, with stories, we never hear about. Ka’s story is tear-jerking at times, but we would never talk about her story in a real-world context. Ka would just be another tick on the Duvalier regime victim list at the end of the day. It isn’t anyone’s fault, but rather just the way humans operate. That is why it is important to recognize there are so many stories behind every digit when a disaster occurs. This can be applied on a smaller scale as well. These stories show the reader how to handle a lack of personal identity, and show that you have a voice even if it doesn’t feel like no one is listening.