StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The of Negroes Analysis - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The book review 'The Book of Negroes Analysis' is devoted to the historical novel of Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist, The Book of Negroes published in 2007, which recount of the life and experiences of a young African woman from west Africa…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.1% of users find it useful
The Book of Negroes Analysis
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The of Negroes Analysis"

CGS The book is a first hand recount of the life and experiences of a young African woman from west Africa. The concept of perpetual migration in book starts with the abduction of Aminata from her home and being taken into slavery. Her first destination was in America. Her parents were slaughtered and the only way for her to survive was to accept her fate as a slave. Her father was a muslim scholar besides being the village jeweler while her mother was a midwife. The book describes that as she continued struggling with the experiences life presented her, she would learn that for an African, there was no safe place on earth. An African’s survival depended on perpetual migration and adaptation to the conditions one found in the new destination. On the slave ship, she depended on her skills in midwifery that she had learned from her mother to survive. Her destination in America was South Carolina where she was auctioned off to an indigo plantation. In this plantation, she has to adapt herself to her environment by learning the Buckra language (Hill 345). The aspect of migration here is not only physical and geographical but also mental and psychological. Aminata was forced to migrate from the native challenges of Africa to those of new diseases and illnesses. Aminata was forced to migrate from the indigo plantation when her master took away her baby. She abandoned her duty of working on the farm, which was the reason her master’s decision to sell her off to Lindo. Her new master treats her as a servant, which is better than a slave was treated. Under this status, she has to pay rent and take care of her own expenses. She has to relocate to Charles town where her new master resides. The outbreak of the American Revolution brings with it an opportunity for Aminata to escape from Charles town. Her master returns to the Carolinas while Aminata goes back to midwifery for survival. Her knowledge of many languages comes in handy to help her survive in Nova Scotia where she is involved in the writing of the book of Negroes. The book contains the names of blacks who have agreed to fight for the British army. The British were beaten during the American Revolution and they had to retreat out of the 13 colonies they had in America. They carried with them the black slaves who had fought alongside them in the war. These were the names contained in the book of Negroes. This serves as a reminder of the history of the black community in the USA and a unification factor. Her ability to adapt to different situations is one of the most important factors that helped her survive. During the voyage to Nova Scotia, Aminata is separated from her husband and is put to trial for desertion. This was after her first master Appleby claims her in an attempt to prevent her from progressing in life. Her second master Lindo sets her free and she eventually reaches Shelburne (Hill 262). After this migration, she relies on her skills as a midwife and a teacher to help her survive. She makes another attempt at reuniting with her husband taking a voyage on the Annapolis Royal. This attempt however fails and things get worse when her friends the Witherspoons kidnap her three year old child. She was deeply depressed and this worsens when she hears of her husband’s death. Her reaction was to make her way back to her homeland in Africa. She crosses the Indian Ocean to the newly formed Sierra Leone colony. The colony’s proximity to her original homeland of Bance island complicate the process of maintaining the colony under the strict rule of the company. This is however the reason why she decides to go back to the island to her native village. However, the ongoing slave trade on Bance strains the relations between the colony and the island (Hill 412). She finds out a plot to sell her back into slavery. She runs away and seeks sanctuary in some village. After it dawns on her that there is no hope for her returning to her homeland, Aminata migrates to Europe, further illustrating the essence of perpetual migration to the survival of Africans in the novel. She moves to London and joins other abolitionists to clamor for the end of slavery and slave trade. Her memories of the life she has lived are documented and presented to parliament. The media spotlight on her leads to her reunion with her long-lost daughter. This was eighteen years after she had been abducted. Throughout the novel, Aminata has to go through a lot of pain and suffering. Her masters inflict a lot of physical and emotional pain on her. This starts with her having to witness as her parents are slaughtered and she is taken captive and sold into slavery. When she lost her first baby, she had to endure a lot of emotional pain for the loss. In addition to the emotional strife, her master also publicly whipped her naked. She still keeps hoping she will be reunited with her child in future. These are the thoughts that give her the courage to go on with the struggles. Through all the struggle, she did not lose her identity. Though she had to migrate several times, she always knew deep inside her who she really was. Her discipline and morals were always upheld which was important to keep her from being swallowed up by the events going on around her. When Appleby steals her son Mamadu, she had to migrate because her pride and sense of self-worth could not let her continue working for him. The movement from place to place gives Aminata an idea of the misery and sadness that slavery brought to the people it affected. This was essential in her decision to join the abolitionists and campaign for an end to slavery and slave trade. Her knowledge was one of the greatest weapons she had for fighting the effects of slavery. She could understand the conversations her masters held with other people. Her ability to communicate clearly and concisely in these languages made her a suitable witness for the abolitionists as they sought to abolish slave trade. Besides her oral testimony as they petitioned for the end of slave trade, her ability to write in the languages made it possible to give a detailed recount of her life. The migration from Africa to Indigo’s plantation gave her the opportunity to be introduced to reading and writing. At this plantation, she meets Georgia who teaches her how to read and write. This was her first essential lesson that played an important part in her development and survival. The skills she developed here had a lasting impact on her survival for the rest of the book. Her second major migration was being sold to Lindo. Here, she got the opportunity to expand her literary skills. Besides language, she also gained important skills in bookkeeping and basic arithmetic. These skills enabled her survive and enjoy better living conditions. Rather than being a mere slave, she became like the personal assistant to her master. Under her new position, she had to organize her master’s schedule and business life. She kept his accounts and ensured that he did not incur unnecessary money losses. The knowledge and skill she gained working for Lindo placed her in an advantageous position during the American Revolution. Some of the major roles she played in the revolution included announcement of news and organizing her fellow Africans for various causes. She also spread her knowledge of reading and writing to the rest of the Africans. Therefore, the survival of Africans in the novel is greatly enhanced by Aminata’s perpetual migration. Later on, Lindo would be instrumental in setting Aminata free from trial so that she could join the abolitionists in Europe. Migration enables people to meet others of similar interests or who share the same experiences as they do. Companionship and fellowship are some of the factors that enable people deal with common problems. Meeting Georgia was important to her survival because besides introducing her to the foreign languages, he also showed her how to ward odd diseases like pox. Many of the slaves who made it across the ocean to America succumbed to the disease and this would have been Aminata’s fate had she not met him. The friends that she made were important in helping her survive the troubles that she had to go through. These included people like the tavern’s boss and the navy officer who helped her on her journey to join the abolitionists. Migration helps people make new friends and these are important for survival. Reading the story, a reader gets the feeling that despite the difficulties she may face, Aminata will find a way to conquer. She is fearless and very brave. This was evident since her capture when she tells Chekura that she would be willing to walk for days on end to escape capture. She promises she will return to her home someday and she does so and is instrumental in alleviating her people’s misery by abolishing slavery. Works cited Hill, Lawrence. The Book of Negroes. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(The Book of Negroes Analysis Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1, n.d.)
The Book of Negroes Analysis Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1. https://studentshare.org/history/1799463-cgs
(The Book of Negroes Analysis Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words - 1)
The Book of Negroes Analysis Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words - 1. https://studentshare.org/history/1799463-cgs.
“The Book of Negroes Analysis Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words - 1”. https://studentshare.org/history/1799463-cgs.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Book of Negroes Analysis

The Making of A Ghetto Negro New York 1830-1930 by Gilbert Osofsky

There have been many books previously written around the same topic but in most of these books the authors have only tried to look for the history of negroes from the surface.... [Professor Name] [Course Number] [Professor Name] [Date] Harlem: The Making of A Ghetto' Negro New York 1830-1930 by Gilbert Osofsky the book Harlem: the making of a ghetto: New York 1830-1930 has been regarded as one of the most impressive and well written books about Harlem.... Throughout the book, Osofsky uses his great appealing writing to attract the reader till the end....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Book Analysis on The Frontier Against Slavery

the book author, Eugene Berwanger discusses the adoption of Congress' Northwest Ordinance and its establishment of the Northwest Ohio Territory consisting of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.... By studying the book, it is quite clear that the written content is for scholars, instructors, students of history and law and other people interested in history.... the book is quite analytical in its content and not only gives detailed information about the events related to slavery and anti-slavery issues in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but also a critical overview of the author related to the situations occurring at the time....
5 Pages (1250 words) Book Report/Review

Analysis of the Story Entitled from Black Boy by Robert Wright

Falk is shown as a need to get a library card as a way to borrow the book by Mencken by asking Mr.... The report "analysis of the Story Entitled 'from Black Boy' by Robert Wright" is the surprising feeling of awareness or new discoveries in knowing the whites that the black boy, Richard, has discovered after reading different stories from the library.... lso the theme emphasis the negro people being prejudice since it was stated that he would like to borrow a book in the library but knows that 'negroes were not allowed its shelves any more than they were the parks and playgrounds of the city' (Wright 635)....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

World Literature Course: 'The Blacks' by Jean Jenet

37---39) Of course, to provide the analysis correctly it should be added some additional information from other plays, as well as from playwriter's personal backgrounds.... So, let us start with this (I mean personal background); then, will go to few key emphases in a whole book 'The Blacks'; afterwards, we will make a truly conceptual job on the current fragment/episode....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

On the Negro Question by Cyril Lionel Robert James

the book is a blending of autobiography and a thorough examination of sport and politics.... (James, 1996, Pg XXVI - 64)the book C.... the book has many chapters and the total number of pages is are hundred and fifteen.... This dual movement is the key to the Marxist analysis of the Negro question in the U.... The paper "On the Negro Question by Cyril Lionel Robert James" states that all grave evils occurring from the Negro question rotate more or less the correlation of the self-determining mass proceedings of the negroes for self-governing rights to the lower-class great effort for communism....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Will email details

 The Atlantic — News and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international, and life – TheAtlantic....  The Atlantic – News and analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, And Life.... Johnson responded by depicting that blacks could be beautiful by literally portraying negroes in his painting in accordance with Locke's philosophy as what we can see from his painting in Poor Parlor, Self Portrait and Chain Gang....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Standpoint Theory

Fanon's specific standpoint and the insightful attempts to maintain the highest level of objectivity makes the book a significant work that could be analyzed under the major precepts of standpoint theory.... A true understanding of the discriminations against the black people can come only from a careful reading of a book like this.... Fanon's book strikes a clear discord with the white philosophies of understanding and saving the black from their innately inferior position....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

Book Analysis on The Frontier Against Slavery

The paper contains the book analysis on "The Frontier Against Slavery" by Eugene Berwanger in which he discusses the adoption of Congress' Northwest Ordinance and its establishment of the Northwest Ohio Territory consisting of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.... The author provided a well-researched topic in the book.... For a typical reader, the book would be the best he/she can have.... If the reader reads occasionally, he/she at first finds the book less interesting This ordinance limits slavery's expansion and banned slavery immediately....
5 Pages (1250 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us