Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain - Book Report/Review Example

?Masters of the Dew By Jacques Roumain Love knows no boundaries and knowledge conquers ignorance. Written by an acclaimed Haitian of affluent and respected descent, Masters of the Dew was originally published in 1944 in French and translated by Langston Hughes and Mercer Cook. The author vividly described the traditional ways of the peasants in the town of Fonds Rouge, the strong faith in Providence, the fate of the black people, and the miseries and pain suffered in a society engulfed by extreme poverty. The story revolved around the traditional life of the Haitian peasants and how the convictions of the main character, Manuel, influenced the ways of the peasants. In the end, the story portrayed how strong love redeemed a divided race and how knowledge conquered ignorance. After working for 15 years in Cuban cane plantations, Manuel returned to Haiti only to discover that the people his part of, has been suffering from extreme poverty because the land was no longer as productive as before he left. The streams that watered the farms were drying up and the harvests were not enough to feed the families. There was no concerted effort on the villagers to find a solution because of a long standing blood feud that divided them into factions. The peasants have abandoned the old tradition known as coumbite, a cooperative group of peasants who worked as one in order to find solutions to a common problem in the village. These two factors, the drought and the feud, brought about strings of miseries to the people. Starvation and famine can no longer be averted. Some had left the village and those who stayed deplored for the intervention of Divine Providence. Delira, Manuel’s mother feared that they will all die from famine. Her prayers reflect the religious conviction of the peasants and how such faith was firmly stitched into their traditional practices as when they planted seeds in the field. This is shown in the following lines: At daybreak, watched by the red and vigilant eye of the sun, before she sowed the corn, she called on the Lord Jesus Christ, turning to the east, called on the Angels of Guinea, turning to the south, called on the Spirits of the Dead, turning to the South, and she called on the Saints, turning to the north; she told them all, throwing the seeds in the four sacred directions: Jesus Christ, the Angels, the Dead, the Saints, here is the corn I give you, give me in return the courage to work and the satisfaction of reaping (Masters of the Dew, p. 54). Manuel knew he must do something to save the village from starvation. He endlessly searched for water sources to supply the parched field with water. The black people must realistically and positively act to resolve problems and redeem their race. Prayers and faith cannot save them. According to him, even in the heavens, the “black angels” do the hard work of “sweeping the rain and cleaning the sun after the storm” while the “white angels” are singing or blowing trumpets “like the pictures we see in church” (Masters of the Dew, p. 36). After a long search, Manuel found a rich reservoir of water in a distant valley. The water can be channeled through pipelines to irrigate the fields but the task was so gigantic for one man. It could not be done alone. Manuel needed to revived the spirit of the traditional coumbite to cooperatively worked together and construct pipelines that would bring the water down to their village. He knew that this would be impossible without first uniting the factions that divided them. There was an urgent need for reconciliation to end the long standing feud. While waiting for this to happen, Manuel kept his find secret except to his beloved Annaise, who was a fine young lady of the opposite side of the feud. He also needed to educate the peasants not to trust their future to the gods. They needed to unite and work hard and master their fate. Manuel reached out to the people with the following lines: Being resigned is no good; it amounts to the same as being discouraged. It breaks your two arms, and you wait around for miracles and for Providence, holding your rosary, doing nothing. You pray for rain, you pray for the harvest, you do your litanies to the saints and to the lords. But, let me tell you, Providence is nothing but man's will not to accept hardship, to tame, day to day, the earth's bad will, to bend the water's whims to fit his needs (Master of the Dew p.47). Manuel’s deep concern for the lives at stake moved him to act and search for water. And this deep concern transformed into love when he found Annaise. The couple didn’t allow the feud between their families to separate them and watched them die of starvation. Inspired by their love, Manuel and Annaise, designed a plan and worked together to educate and reunite their families. Manuel took charged of the men in his faction while Annaise did the same thing with her family and found the support of Larivoire, a respected elder in her faction. Soon the two factions agreed to meet together and to settle the differences between them. Manuel and Annaise had high hope, optimistic about the future and of the bright prospect of happily living together ever after. Larivoire called for a general assembly of his faction of which Manuel attended. He delivered with strong conviction the message of reconciliation and the invitation to revive the coumbite so as to fight poverty and starvation. He said the lines that carried the title of the book: We're miserable, that's true. But do you know why, brother? Because of our ignorance. We don't know yet what a force we are, what a single force - all the peasants, all the Negroes of the plain and hill, all united. Some day, when we get wise to that, we'll rise up from one end of the country to the other. Then we'll call a General Assembly of the Masters of the Dew, a great big coumbite of farmers and we'll clear out poverty and plant a new life (Masters of the Dew, p. 106). Manuel’s act of heroism ended on that meeting as he was fatally stabbed by Gervilen, his rival for the love of Annaise. Before his death he requested his mother to hide the cause of his death to end the feud between the factions. He did not ask his kin to avenge of his blood but offered it as a blood of reconciliation to reunite the peasants once again. Larivoire once again, delivered Manuel’s last wish and both factions finally reconciled. Annaise revealed the secret reservoir of water and the coumbite was revived. Together, the peasants construct the irrigation system and the people found new hope, peace and life. Manuel’s experience and interaction with the educated in Cuba liberated him from ignorance but his profound love for the natives of his town and his true love for Annaise moved him to work hard and in turn liberate the peasants from poverty and ignorance. His strong influence on the two women closest to his life, his mother, Delira, and lover, Annaise changed the role women play in the story. In the end of the story these two women carried on Manuel’s last wish and they played significant role in the restoration of peace and prosperity in the village. Annaise revelation of carrying in her womb Manuel’s child is symbolic of the new life and happy future for the peasants. His influence, his love and teachings, shifted the women’s role out of Manuel’s perception about women in the beginning of the story when he said that “women were the meanest”, and most naive as they were conscious of their looks and their voices were “just like noise the wind makes” (Masters of the Dew, p.74). Love and education spelled the difference on these women, and they became agents of positive influence in the village. No divide can separate true love and that education ends ignorance and its consequences. This message makes the Masters of the Dew worth reading. Read More