Blog Post #6

Rape culture, misogyny and the wage gap are all things that many females in North America face today. The fact of the matter is though, female slaves faced much harder and terrifying hardships than women in today’s society do.

The evil of slavery that occurred in North America is downplayed in our white, male dominated society on the whole, but specifically we’re made unaware of the trials that female slaves faced. However, The Book of Negroes more genuinely portrays the hardships that female slaves encountered on their ultimate journey to either death or eventual freedom.

Some examples of these are: female slaves faced sexual abuse by slave owners and traders, when they were on their period, pregnant or in labour, they were left without any supplies or medical care as well as women could get in trouble for being too knowledgeable or having any skills that were taboo for women at the time, such as reading or writing.

Blog Post #5

Reader Response to The book of Negroes

I believe that this novel was created to draw to the reader’s attention the hate and cruelty which has been a part of the fairly recent history of North America, and perhaps give them a call to action. I believe that Lawrence Hill absolutely had to include all of the details that make readers cringe in order to convince them of just how difficult times were for the slaves of this period. Had there not been physical, sexual and emotional abuse in the novel the audience may forget that slaves were beaten down to the point that they no longer had their own humanity. This is important for readers to understand in both a historical aspect but also in looking forward at our future. Perhaps Hill is attempting to convince us that we need to learn tolerance, acceptance and above all that when we take away someone else’s humanity we also lose our own. Additionally, I think it was extremely important that the audience was given hope occasionally in The Book of Negroes so that we could join the characters on the rollercoaster of hope and hopelessness. For example, when Aminata is hopeful about moving to Nova Scotia and her future is finally looking brighter the readers were allowed only a few fleeting moments to rejoice with her before she arrives to find that her husband never showed up in Nova Scotia (and eventually that he had perished). I think sections of the plot such as this one are important so that the audience can perhaps take a little piece of empathy with them when they put down this read.

Blog Post #4

The Book of Negroes from a Feminist Standpoint 

Of course slavery was bad for all slaves. However, it was particularly hard on the female population. Slave women were not only sexually abused as I spoke about in one of my previous posts, but they also dealt with the hardships we deal with today in exponentially worse conditions. Slave women were not supposed to be educated, they could be punished for the ability to read or write because slave owners desired slaves who were not smart enough to revolt. Female slaves were also forced to bear the children of their rapists and/or men who they did not desire to have intercourse with in order for the slave owners to use eugenics. When the women were pregnant they were not given proper medical care that their rich, white counterpart would have access to. The slaves often gave birth in horrendous conditions because they were considered expendable. Within this novel many of these issues were brought to daylight by author Lawrence Hill. The first example is when Aminata assists a woman in labour after she had been forced to walk through desolate conditions in the middle of the desert with few supplies. Aminata then continues to catch babies throughout the novel, often in quite dire conditions, placing both the mother and child in harm’s way. On the whole women who were enslaved were treated extremely inhumanely in many ways and this novel displays many of the harsh realities of being a black woman at this time. 

Blog Post #3

Sexual Abuse of Slaves 

Many slaves were sexually abused by their masters, and often in more ways than one would expect. Not men selected by the master in order to produce offspring which could be sold at a high price point. When the women were impregnated by the master his wife may become angry and seek revenge on this slave, potentially leading to physical harm, separation from family members or even death as punishment. Not only were these women raped directly by the master they were also forced to comply to breeding to create designer babies who could be sold with a price tag much higher than babies who perhaps had 1 or both parent being average. Following a series of interviews in 1927 with survivors of slavery the interviewer made this statement “On this plantation were more than 100 slaves who were mated indiscriminately and without any regard for family unions. If their master thought that a certain man and woman might have strong, healthy offspring, he forced them to have sexual relation, even though they were married to other slaves,”(On Slavesholders’). Similar to how prevalent sexual abuse of slaves was in reality during this time period, this theme also had a major role in The Book of Negroes. In fact, the protagonist herself was sexually assaulted, and had to face the psychological trauma that followed this experience. Other minor characters were also forced to submit to the sexual advances of men throughout the novel. 

Works Cited 

"On Slaveholders' Sexual Abuse of Slaves." National Humanities Centre 1: 1. National Humanities Centre. Web. 14 June 2015. .

Blog Post #2

An Archetypal Perspective on The Book of Negroes

Many of the characters in this work follow archetypes as you would expect. However, not all characters fit the mould, some of the characters are almost anti-archetypal. The slave traders in this novel are a fantastic example of the archetypal slave trader that readers would assume. The traders are extremely cruel, quick tempered and physically abusive. Additionally, the slave owners also seem to be pure evil, creating conflict for the protagonist and the other slaves, again following the archetypal idea of a slave owner quite closely. Even most of the slaves seem to follow our preconceived ideas about how a slave should exist. The slaves are largely submissive and fearful, but seem to have that glimmering hope--when they are allowed to interact with one another—that we always see in groups of slaves in novels and movies. You know the hope, where they all sing some cheery sounding song, or reassure one another that they may find their lost loved ones. Also, our idea of slaves would usually suggest that they are uneducated but somehow wise, and we see this deep wisdom in some of the minor characters. Aminata, the protagonist does not quite fit the archetype of a slave however, she is educated (at least for a black, female slave) and knows not only how to catch babies as her mother had taught her, but she also knows how to read. Additionally, although she was somewhat submissive, when reading her first person account the reader gets to view her psyche, and Aminata would certainly not a submissive girl had she been born at a different place or time. I think she will end up turning into an extremely strong minded character that will stand up for herself and others. I also think that she might lack the hope that some of the other slaves have, she seems to know deep in her heart when she is in a dire state and I believe with this true self-awareness she probably knows that the outcome of her life may be extremely unpleasant. Overall, I think that the minor characters following archetypes closely allows for a backdrop in which Aminata can shine as a very three dimensional character who is not simply “the black slave woman.”

Blog Post #1

The Book of Negroes 

My general impression of this novel is that it is a highly detailed and very accurate depiction of a possible life story for a female slave who was taken from her home in Africa. This novel reminded me a lot of 12 Years a Slave which also follows a slave as he is removed from his family and shuffled across the country by various slave traders and owners. The similarities between both of the journeys on the whole—ultimately leading to freedom in both stories—and the detailed accounts of the cruelty of what was done to these slaves created a bit of a patchwork quilt in my head between the 2 stories and it was almost as though I expected the characters might cross paths with each other. I have found this novel to be extremely graphic and descriptive which creates vivid images for the reader, although these images tend to be rather unpleasant. For example, when the slave ship landed in the U.S. many of the slaves had diarrhea which was graphically described, as was the solution of plugging their rectums with grass. Also, the first person narrative stays true to who the protagonist is, things are not described how we would in the society we live in, they are described by a female slave. One example of this accurate narrative is when Aminata gets her first period, but instead of describing it as such she refers to it as her “first bleeding” and “coming of womanhood”. Additionally, I find that Aminata is an extremely interesting character to follow through this journey because she has skills that will create events in the plot that would surely otherwise not be possible. During her journey in the desert Aminata displays her skills as a midwife when she has to deliver an infant with virtually no help and very few supplies. She also is developing the ability to read the Qur’an and most African girls at this time were not given the opportunity to learn to read. Overall, I think that this strong female lead paired with a graphic and gut wrenching plot will create a very strong literary work that will keep readers on the edge of their seat.