Laurence Hill’s novel, The Book of Negroes, uses first-person narrator to depict the whole life of Aminata Diallo, beginning with Bayo, a small village in West Africa, abducting from her family at eleven years old. She witnessed the death of her parents with her own eyes when she was stolen. She was then sent to America and began her slave life. She went through a lot: she lost her children and was informed that her husband was dead. At last she gained freedom again and became an abolitionist against the slave trade.
This book uses slave narrative as its genre to present a powerful woman’s life. She was a slave, yes, but she was also an abolitionist. She always held hope in the heart, she resist her dehumanization. Aminata remains positive all the time; even if she lost her first baby, she didn’t lose hope to find him; even if her owner robbed all her clothes off and whipped her in public; even if she lost her child again and it seems she was never going to find her. Aminata was a very independent female with strong morality and discipline. She refused changes from her nature. She knows exactly who she was.
She resists the name “Mary” or “Meena”; after her son Mamadu was sold by Appleby, her owner, she refused to work for him. She resisted when Mr. Lindo wrote “Guinea wench” on her notice. “ ‘I’m not from Guinea,’ I said suddenly. The anger in my own voice surprised me…. “Guinea means nothing to me, so how can I be from it? ” (Hill, 2011) They could not force her do anything she does not have aspiration to. She would never surrender under toubab’s whips, sticks, or any kinds of violence. As a male writer, Laurence Hill perfectly describes everything from a girl’s perspective.
She was one of three thousands slaves that were transfer from West Africa to America since 1700s. Among those three thousand lives, every single one had their own story, their lifetime long stories, and different ones. However, Aminata’s story was no doubt a particular one, a splendid one, and a story full of emotion and strength. She had strong faith in her heart that supports her to insist till the end. After Aminata was set free, she actually went back to Africa, to her homeland village, Bayo. Even when she was first capped, she had that thought in heart.
In the captives’ queue, she was talking to Chekura: “‘where will they take us now? ’ I whispered. ‘Across the water. ’ ‘I won’t go. ’ ‘You will go or you will die,’ he said. ‘Then I will return. ’ ‘I have taken many men to the sea,’ Chekura said, ‘but not once have I seen one return to his village. ’ ‘Then I will sleep by the day and walk at night. But listen to me, friend. I will come back. And I will come home. ’” Yes, she came back to Africa eventually, from West Africa, through South Carolina, Charles Town, New York City, and Nova Scotia, to Sierra Leone, to her homeland.
As she travels from place to place she became aware of the extent that slavery had penetrated into every society around the world. How Aminata went through all these misery? I mentioned personality part. Another obvious point is that she used Toubab’s language as a weapon against them and chased freedom. She was smart and eager for any kinds of knowledge that she rencounterd. She can read and write, she can perfectly understand the master’s orders and all the conversation, and she also can completely express her thoughts.
That is also the reason that she became the witness of the abolitionists who are petitioning to end the slave trade and recounted her remarkable life on paper. When she first arrived at Robinson Appleby’s indigo plantation, she met Georgia, an America-born African slave, who taught her how to speak and write. That was her first formal language lesson. Then she was sold to Solomon Lindo, from where, she got an opportunity to truly enter the literature world.
Mr. Lindo taught her arithmetic, coins and keeping ledgers (Hill, 2011) and Mrs. Lindo gave her lessons in the art of writing. On account of her reading and writing ability, Aminata then became Mr. Lindo’s some sort of secretary. She was built to an academic since then. She wrote business letters for Mr. Lindo and managed accounts for him. After she got rid of Solomon Lindo during the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, she announced notices to other Africans, read news in the cafe and taught people to read and write. Aminata Diallo was almost famous as a spirit leader, both in African community and buckra community.
So she helped finish The Book of Negroes, which is a list of all the slaves’ names, due to her extraordinary language ability. Aminata survived that cruel and criminal slave trade which try every way to dehumanize the slaves. The captors put their captives into coffles and robbed all their clothes off. Buckra believe that slaves do not have emotions and dignity. Aminata survives the passage to America because she is able to apply the knowledge and skills passed on to her by her parents, especially the ability to “catch” babies and to understand some African languages.
After she escaped from Solomon Lindo, she survived on her baby catching, reading and writing skills. She was also going to teach her children and other black children. At her daughter May’s school, she finally became a djeli, which she dreamt for a long time ago. “May’s school expanded to include forty and eventually fifty students…. May renamed it the Aminata Academy, and I became known as the school’s grand djeli. Every student in the school knew that the word meant storyteller, and each one looked forward to may Friday morning tales.” (Hill, 2011)
Apart of her language skill, there are still some reasons why Aminata could went through the miserable slave life. For instance, the majority of people she met were good ones. She was so lucky to meet Georgia, who took care of her all the time and gave her herbal medicine to prevent pox. Also Solomon Lindo, who bought her from that previous evil master, treated her as a “servant” instead of “slave”. It’s him too, who set Aminata free eventually. Sam Fraunces, the tavern’s boss, made a big contribution in her escape plan, and John Clarkson the Navy officer did his in sending her to abolitionists as well.
To say that Aminata was a lucky person to have them all, I’ll rather say that she attracts true friends as a consequence of her shinny personality. Aminata Diallo is an excellent slave narrative shaped by Laurence Hill. Like other slave narratives, she presents us the violence during the slave trade and denounces the slave traders who bring African people great misery and pain. Unlike the others, Aminata keep learning and never lose herself in that dangerous criminal society. I guess that is the core point of her survival.
