The Rhetoric of Suffering, Hope, and Redemption in Masters of the Dew: A Rhetorical and Politico-Theological Analysis of Manuel as Peasant-messiah and Redeemer

Abstract

Jacques Roumain’s 1944 peasant novel, Gouverneurs de la roséé ( Masters of the Dew, 1947) is not only a testament to stunning literary skill but also a masterwork of profound theological and philosophical reflection that articulates a robust humanistic and theo-political response to the problem of evil, suffering, pain, and poverty in the world. The objective of this article is twofold. First, it explores the intersections of the rhetoric of suffering, hope, and redemption in the novel. Second, it analyses Roumain’s creative theological construction of the atonement language and the presentation of Manuel Jean-Joseph as the Christ-figure and peasant-redeemer in the narrative. This article interprets Masters of the Dew’s atonement theology first in the light of René Gerard’s theory of scapegoating as articulated in his 1972 book, La violence et le sacré ( Violence and the Sacred, 1977), and, second, against the backdrop of the biblical story of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. I argue that Roumain intends the death of Manuel to be read as a vicarious atonement for the salvation and reconciliation of the community at Fonds Rouge in the same manner as New Testament writers understood the death of Jesus vicariously as a substitution for the sins and salvation of the world. Against the Girardian framework, I contend that Manuel’s death is depicted as a substitution for the peace of Fonds Rouge villagers and to prevent the cycle of violence from erupting among the peasants.