ISP Post #6

When reading the “Book of Negroes” and analyzing it with multiple literary criticisms, I found that the archetypal literary criticism revealed the most from within the text. The archetype theory puts emphasis on common character roles and plot events. Since the “Book of Negroes” follows Aminata’s life from a young age to near death, one can easily see the decent into danger and recognize the challenges she faces and her return to a comfortable state or the end of her journey. If one was using a different criticism; for example, the feminist theory, they would miss the major events and challenges in her journey and how Aminata matured from innocence to experience. One’s view would be more focused on her mistreatment and expected behaviour due to her gender. For example, one would see one of the largest challenges Aminata faced on the boat to America as trying to navigate the abusive toubab who abused women sexually (74). Someone reading the text from an archetypal perspective would see the boat as her decent into danger and realize that more hardships were going to be coming her way. The archetypal theory allows the reader to somewhat predict future events, where other criticisms focus more on the present.

The Archetypal literary criticism also reveals more about characters and the roles they will play in the story. Common archetypal figures are the great mother, wise old man, the trickster fox, and the hero. All of these figures can be seen within Lawrence Hill’s novel.  Georgia is the great mother, Daddy Moses was the wise old man, Applebee was the trickster fox and Aminata was the hero. To give an example of how the characters fit these roles and can be recognized, I will analyze Applebee with an archetypal view point. Applebee was an antagonist. He abused and shamed Aminata regularly when she was his slave (160). He found out information secretively and stole Aminata’s son right from under her nose (184). His sneaky traits, devious mind, and lack of morals make him the trickster fox. The way he would surprise Aminata with information she thought he wouldn’t know, also gave a slight foreshadow that he would unexpectedly show up later in the story. He did not get all that he wanted out of Aminata so it was no surprise he wanted to claim her again by surprise (306). If one was using the reader response theory, they would probably just assume that Applebee was a selfish man that just wanted to cause more trouble form Aminata. They would do an in depth analysis of his character.

 Since the archetypal theory reveals more about the characters and plot than other theories, I would make my thesis the following: When analyzing “The Book of Negroes” by Lawrence Hill with the archetypal literary criticism, one can easily recognize the hero’s quest which the main character follows and see common character roles that would be otherwise missed with a different criticism. I believe that clearly answers the thesis question.

The Book of Negroes: Fifth Analysis

When I read the last bit of the Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, I used the post colonialism literary criticism. This was my first time analyzing a piece of literature with this criticism, so I found how much more came to surface quite interesting. It is amazing what you can find when you really start looking.

During the last 5^th of the book Aminata finally started her journey back to Bayo, but after a betrayal by her guide and a month long stay in a loving village, she found her desire to go home fading away. Aminata made her way to England and found John Clarkson, who introduced her to other abolitionists. They wanted Aminata to write her life story and share it with the world to support their civil rights movement. Aminata finished her story and was able to reconnect with her lost daughter, May, who began helping the abolitionists as well. The book concludes with Aminata bedridden by age waiting for the results of an election.  

The entire book can be criticised with the post colonialism criticism. Throughout the book Aminata goes against the European colonist views of social classes. Europeans at the time this book is set, saw women as below men and every other culture below theirs on the social chain. Aminata fought for respect as a woman and freedom as an African American the entire plot of the Book of Negroes. Her self-confidence and self-love was tested everyday of imprisoned life as she was tormented and abused by racist people regularly. White people owned “Negroes [like]…. property”, they were not seen or treated as people (279).

Differences and fighting is not only present between Caucasians and African Americans in Lawrence Hill’s novel. Battles began between white cultures as well. A war between British colonists and Americans is also present in the novel, showing that anti-colonist resistance is not only between races (268). Social groups could be seen fighting and divided over race, religion, cultural beliefs, gender and much more.

The loss of individual identity, which is revealed by the post colonialism point of view, can also be seen throughout the text. One’s name, personality, experiences, and beliefs are of little interest to many characters in the story. Characters would rather know which “umbrella” term one falls under, like British, Afro American, or American. For example, upon first meeting with a woman, Aminata was asked "'Have you come from New York...And are you of African persuasion?” instead of “How are you? What is your name?” (322). People were not seen as individuals but as their associated groups. Analyzing text with a post colonialism view reveals a lot of prejudice beliefs between culturally different groups. No gender, race, religion, culture or class is safe from discrimination.

 Prejudice beliefs are littered throughout the text. As Europeans believed they were superior to the black race, they had low standards for an African American’s abilities. The superiority men have in their culture is also evident. For example, before Aminata wrote her “book of negroes” “Clarkson asked for an assistant... [She] stepped forward, so he asked [her], 'Would you point me to Mr. Meena?'" (Hill 367). Clarkson, at first, couldn’t believe that an African American, let alone an African American woman, could be educated enough to assist him. Before European Colonialism, these standards did not exist. Aminata was seen as a valuable slave to the white population, but as a valuable member of society to her peers and to any white person who treated her as a human being. Her attributes and abilities made her unique, but she still fell under a social identity with many prejudice people.

With the positive aspects of colonialization also came many negative factors. Discrimination, war, slavery and much more came along with homes, farming, social institutions etc. The formation of governments and social classes had many “ups and downs”. Differences of opinion, racial and prejudice views, and feelings of entitlement lead to the mistreatment of many people. These colonial oppressions still exist today in our society. 

ISP post #4

For this post I have decided to use the archetypal literary criticism to analyze the Book of Negroes. Previously, I used the feminist criticism and have discovered that the archetypal criticism reveals a lot more about the plot and the characters than the feminist point of view does. Archetypal Literary Criticism focuses on reoccurring patterns in character traits and plots lines of stories in general. When analyzing The Book of Negroes from an archetypal point of view one can easily see the development of the hero’s journey within the text and also find common archetypal figures.

                The archetypal hero’s journey begins in their comfortable environment and at a point of their life where they have all their innocence. For Aminata, this was as a young girl in her home village in Bayo, Africa. As she begins her imprisoned journey to the shore she begins to gain experience and starts her “decent into danger”. Her month long walk is symbolism for the hard journey and the tasks she is going to face, or the steps in the coming hero’s quest.

                 As the quest goes on, the hero is supposed to mature and gain experience according to the archetypal criticism. Aminata developing into an experienced protagonist is symbolised by her new name given by Georgia upon her arrival on Applebee’s plantation. “Georgia made me repeat it, but the best she could do was to say ‘Meena.’”, Aminata was no longer known as her homeland name, and this symbolizes how she has grown as a character (130). Within the plot there are many small tasks which Aminata needs to overcome, but her main goal of returning home has yet to be achieved. “In this new land, I had a different name…A new name for the second life of a girl who survived” (130).  This quote represents how Aminata has overcome one of her challenges but she is still yet to complete her archetypal hero’s quest.

                As Aminata traveled across the world from Bayo Africa to Applebee’s plantation, Lindo’s home, her home in Canvastown New York, to Nova Scotia and then Sierra Leone Africa, Aminata has gained wisdom and developed into a true hero. She is close to reaching her goal of returning home which would also complete the hero’s journey.

                Not only does the plot follow closely to the archetypal hero’s quest, many of the characters follow archetypal pattern. Aminata is obviously the hero, but she has come across many foxes, wise old men and great mothers. In my opinion the main Trickster Fox is Master Applebee. He was her first master and showed little respect to Aminata as a person. He would beat her, sexually abuse her, and humiliate her consistently as she was his slave (129). He also stole and sold Mamadu, Aminata’s son while she was sleeping (184). He was heartless and cunning like the archetypal fox. Applebee also reappears later on in the story. When Meena was finally boarding the vessel that would be taking her to Nova Scotia, Applebee tried to claim her as his property once again (306). No matter how far Aminata traveled she could not escape his presence. That is what makes me feel that he is the main “Fox” of the story.

                As I read, I saw Daddy Moses as the wise old man. Even his name symbolizes wisdom and authority. Daddy Moses helps Aminata get settled in Nova Scotia and gives her advice and comfort all throughout her stay (316). Of all the people in Nova Scotia, Aminata found the most comfort with Daddy Moses. I feel that Aminata saw Daddy Moses as a father figure the same way she saw Georgia as a Mother figure in the beginning. Georgia was one of the archetypal “Great Mother’s” Aminata met along her journey. She nursed her back to health and taught her how to survive and take care of herself as a slave in the United States. Georgia made sure Chekura was a good man for Aminata, and she helped Aminata be the best mother she could be to Mamadu. Since Aminata was so young and vulnerable at the time, I believe Lawrence Hill wrote Georgia to be a mother figure Aminata on purpose.

                With that said, I do not believe Lawrence Hill wrote the Book of Negroes with an archetypal perspective. I feel that when you purposefully look for patterns and connections they are not hard to find in any well written and developed story. Lawrence Hill wrote a story of a slave’s life. There are going to be ups and downs, and there is going to be a goal that motivates the main character to survive and thrive. I feel this may get mistaken for a purposeful archetypal hero’s quest. I also believe that Lawrence wrote characters like Georgia and Daddy Moses to be helpful and caring, which Aminata and the reader are able to connect to, but not deliberately as the Wise Man and Great Mother as the criticism would imply. The archetypal literary theory could be applied to almost every story written.

ISP Post #3: Identifying Issues in the Book of Negroes

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill is littered with social issues. Discrimination, abuse, and slavery are the main problems in this novel. As I continue to read through into the fourth section it becomes evident that slavery will not end by the conclusion of the Book of Negroes. Aminata has experienced abuse, discrimination and slavery since her kidnapping from Bayo.

As soon as Aminata was taken from her home she was inhumanely treated. She, and the other prisoners, were stripped of their clothes and shoes, their possessions stolen, and they were beaten if they did not follow instruction (29) (129). Black people were not treated as persons but as property with no societal rights. Her abuse continued to follow her on to the slave ship as well. The toubab man who took a liking to Aminata tried to rename her “Mary” and take advantage of her sexually (74). He also treated her like a pet, making her stay in his cabin and help him do chores (75). White children would never be on the slave ship in the first place, but they surely wouldn’t be treated like animals if they were. The black passengers were partnered with chains and left to live in their own filth like rodents (66). Even as a free adult, when Appleby tried to claim her before her trip to Canada, the guards put her in a cell with her legs and wrists shackled like a wild animal (306). Abuse towards slaves would continue for their entire lives unless they found a way to escape. With that said, even with freedom discrimination towards blacks continued.

White people felt more important than the black population. It is evident in every aspect of the book. Certain stores didn’t even let black people enter their business or near their homes. When the economy fell during the fighting with the British, black people were the first to lose work and starve. This was seen when Aminata was left under the supervision of Lindo’s sister. Since Aminata was a self-hire, Leah refused to feed her or let her into the house (217). Aminata was left to wander the streets for food and for somewhere to go during the day. White people did all they could in their power to exclude Aminata and the rest of the Black population from society.

Slavery is the most evident social issue in the Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. The majority of the plot line is based on Aminata’s life as a slave. Slavery is wrong and inhumane. People know this now, but during the time period which the book is set in, people believed it was black people’s purpose. Freedom was stolen from African people and they were treated as objects. Even free born African-Americans lived in fear of being hunted, sold, and claimed by the slave trade (269). When black people became slaves they lost all control of their lives. They were used as butlers and servants, for labour work, and bred to create more slaves. Aminata had her baby stolen and sold by Appleby with no way of stopping the situation (184). She didn’t even have control of her baby’s fate. Their lives were completely controlled by their owner’s desires. Aminata and her husband Chekura weren’t even able to spend more than a couple nights together because they had different owners. Even if Aminata would have left Lindo to go with Chekura, Chekura would have to ask his owner to spend the night with his wife (220). Slaves were either treated like small children or like animals, that’s what makes slavery such a large issue in this book.

As the book goes on, Aminata herself seems to be suffering less and less mistreatment from the slave trade, discrimination and abusive white people. With that said, the presence of these issues are still evident in the text and effect many of the major and minor characters. The impact of her past still haunts Aminata as she continues her journey as well. 

ISP Post #2 : Feminist Criticism

When reading the Book of Negroes, it becomes obvious that the book is written to have a strong female role. Meena, the voice and main character of the story, is a young girl but is very mature and wise for someone her age. I chose to analyze the text with the feminist literary criticism because of Aminata’s strong female presence and because gender roles and suppression of women is evident in the text. When one reads the story, they can easily see Meena as a role model which supports feminism or equality for the sexes.

The story is about slavery, so mistreatment of both genders of African American people occur, but it is evident that women are not worth as much as men even in the trade. Although some would say that this goes against feminism, when Aminata witnesses the mistreatment she makes her disgust with the situation known, so she makes it obvious that she supports women’s rights. If one analyzes the text through the feminist eye they would see that emphasis is placed on the mistreatment of women to show it is wrong. For example, during the first section of reading, the toubab man tried to take advantage of Aminata in his cabin (74). At his touch she clamped her legs together, turned away and hissed at him, protesting his desires (74). This is an obvious example of what men feel a woman’s role is, and an example of a woman showing her power. She could of fallen victim to his treatment and her fear, but instead she stood up for what she knew was right.

Aminata respected that men and women had different roles in society in that day and age, but she still saw the two genders as equally important regardless of their differences. Lawrence Hill also writes prominent female characters to have strong opinions and personalities. For example, everyone who knew Fanta respected her as a person and saw her as a leader. Georgia, Aminata’s caregiver at Applebee’s plantation, also holds a lot of respect from other characters. This is seen when Aminata first arrives at the indigo plantation. When Aminata was being inspected at her first arrival, her refusal to follow orders almost got her hit, but Georgia stopped the men and took her away (125). This is another example of women are perceived and how women exercise their power. When Aminata stood up to the men she was going to have to face consequences, but because Georgia had more respect in the area when she stood up the men they backed off. As the reader, this showed me how Aminata saw some women as strong and capable, and how she believed she would later have that potential. When girls have strong female role models they tend to have higher standards for themselves.

Analyzing the book with a feminist point of view is easier to do than other criticisms not only because Aminata is the main character who holds feminist beliefs, but also because Aminata is left to survive on her own. After her parents were killed Aminata had no one to rely on. Yes, she has received help from people along her journey like Chekura, Georgia, and Mamed, but she had to become the breadwinner for herself and later her baby (155) (182).

Aminata’s desire to learn and defy suppression of women and Africans is another reason I used the feminist criticism. There is no denying that Meena knows exactly what she wants for herself and will do anything to reach her goals. For example, she studied for years with her father and worked hard with Mamed and later Lindo to further her knowledge of the world and many languages and beliefs (190). She also strives to make it home one day, and I believe if she keeps her motivation she will make it there. 

The Book of Negroes: First Blog Post

So far I have read book one of The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. The novel is told by Aminata Diallo who is an elderly woman in England who survived decades in the slave trade. The story is fictional, but is based on true facts and events that took place in American and African History. Her retelling starts at the age of about 11 in Bayo, Africa with her midwife mother and Jeweller father. They were loving parents that taught Aminata, or “Meena”, many skills and languages in the short time they had.

           As they walked on the trails, Meena and her mother were captured by slavers, and her father came to help shortly after the attack. Both her parents were murdered during their fight to get free once again. Aminata was then placed in chains with two others from her village, Fomba and Fanta. The coffle was being guided to the shore to be held in a boat heading to the United States. Meena made friends with a boy who was aiding the captors, named Chekura, who helped her survive the journey. With the help of the lessons she had been taught by her mother and father along with Chekura, she made it to the vessel which concluded the first section of the book.

                The novel is filled with very unique characters which have very distinct characteristics that either compliment or clash with one another. Within the story, Meena tends to get along with most people, but she has a hard time connecting with Fanta. Fanta seems to be a very angry person, who struggled with her average life and is having an even harder time as a captive. For these reasons I am curious to how her character develops. I believe she is selfish and cocky, but with that said, I feel she is misunderstood and her anger towards Aminata is fuelled by something. Fanta is a very clever woman who knows what needs to be done to survive. Her anger makes me believe that she will cause a large protest later on in the story.

                As I read the story I am finding it very easy to relate with Aminata and other characters. Lawrence Hill writes with such description that I can place myself right in the scene with the characters.  My imagination and Lawrence’s writing style is giving me what I believe is my greatest strength as a reader: the ability to empathise with characters. As I read the book my point of view changes from being Aminata herself, to being a bystander in the chains with them. The connection I build lets me almost completely understand what is happening in the novel and predict future events and actions of characters.  The imagery formed in my head also keeps me “hooked” and reading far past my goal.

                When Lawrence Hill wrote The Book of Negroes I believe he wrote it with the intention of teenage girls and women reading it. I feel this way because there is an obvious strong female role and he goes deep into Meena’s feelings and struggles of being a young girl. For example, the helplessness and embarrassment she felt when she experienced her first period is something every girl can relate to on some level. That is not to say that men and boys cannot sympathise with young girls, it is just that the experience is very unique and something they will never truly understand.  Lawrence also focuses on her being strong through all of her struggles and depicts her as a role model for all women.  He also portrays Meena as a very insightful, caring and intelligent girl; qualities we all wish to have for ourselves and our children.

Essay Writing

My ability to write strong essays greatly improved over grade 10 and 11. I have started to enjoy writing them and would choose to write an essay over making a poster or other projects. One of my strengths when writing essays is that I can easily formulate my supporting statements for my thesis. As soon as I make my thesis my brain just gets started on my body paragraphs. I also can make fairly strong conclusions that use the thesis to wrap up my essay but does not just repeat my thesis from the introduction.

Although I believe I am fairly good at writing essays there are still many things I need to work on. For example, I have a hard time coming up with one strong opinion for a thesis. When writing my thesis I almost always want to argue for the "other side" as well. I would prefer to work in the grey but I realize with most essays you have to choose black or white. When writing essays I also need to work on my connecting sentences within the body paragraphs. I hope to make smooth transitions from one "PIE" (Point, Illustrate, and Explain) to the next by the end of this unit. Occasionally when I  form PIEs in my paragraphs I do not make the required two or three but make one point and illustrate it multiple times with a couple supporting quotes and evidence from texts. I believe I have formed multiple different supporting statements but to the reader it is just one large proof. I want to be able to make fluent but clear transitions. 

About Me!

My name is Alyssa and I am in grade 11 at West Elgin Secondary School. English has never been my strongest subject but school has never been too hard for me so I am sure this course will go fine. I prefer math and science, but due to course conflicts I was put into two online courses this year and I chose to do English and geography to get them over with. Do not get me wrong though, I do enjoy writing and reading. I do not hate English class.

When I am not in school I am playing ringette for London, reading, eating, sleeping, going to the gym or watching t.v. I also work at a Tim Horton's along the 401, but I have applied for a job at a vet clinic and am hoping I get it.

The coolest thing I have probably ever done was volunteer in the Dominican Republic. I went down for just over two weeks and built two schools and a home in that time period. My friend and I plan on doing another trip next year and I couldn't be more excited. We hope to go the "Go. See. and Do." again. This is the link to the home page: http://www.goseedo.ca/

This is my friend and I on the trip... I am on the right.

I would like to say I have some sort of idea what career I want to get into, but I really have no idea. I am just aiming for a career in animal or environmental sciences and hoping for the best. I cannot see my 16 year old self wanting the same career as my future 40 year old self.

So ya, that is a bit about me.