ISP post #6 - The Most Insight

Now that I have completed the novel The Book of Negroes I can gladly say it is now among one of my all time favourite novels. It was very entertaining to read, and provided me with a new insight on the slave trade. I was able to look at this book with multiple different criticisms which allowed me to have a more thorough understanding of it. Each literary theory provided me with new information about the book that I wouldn't have known otherwise. By looking at the post colonial literary criticism I was able to see how history between the British and the Americans effected slaves. It also showed me what an unexpected character Aminata would have been in those times.  On the other hand by looking at this book with a feminist criticism I gained much more respect for the women in this book. They all were extremely strong even though they had to deal with many hardships.

Although both of these criticisms were very helpful I found that the Archetypal criticism provided me with the most insight on the text. This type of criticism allowed me to find typical patterns that appear  in this type of text and see how they worked in this novel. I was also able to view what patterns the author kept and the areas that he chose to take some creative freedom. This criticism allowed me to analyze the characters in the book and compare how they develop to other novels.

Studying this novel with the Archetypal point of view allowed me to see the choices the author made about his book, and how these choices effected the development of the characters and the plot.

Some character archetypes that are seen in this book are, the great mother, and the wise old man. There are many characters in this novel that could fall under "The great mother" archetype. For example there is Aminata's mother from her homeland. Her mother teaches her everything she knows and is a great role model for Aminata as a child. Another mother like figure in this novel is Georgia. Georgia takes Meena under her wing when she arrives at the Appleby plantation and helps her survive. Although Georgia was not an actual mother she was like one to Aminata. Dolly was another character that was a great mother. Aminata was very scared and lonely when she arrived in Charles Town. Dolly made her feel welcome and in her times of sorrow she comforted her: " 'What's the matter, honey chile?' The sympathy in her voice made me cry even more. Dolly got up out of bed and came to put her arm over my shoulders.'One day your man come back and you start all over again,' she said." (Hill, 236). The next mother we encounter is Aminata herself. Aminata becomes a leader to the people she teaches in New York and many of them rely on her for guidance. She also gives birth to two children who sadly were both stolen from her. Even though she looses both of her children her motherly instincts remain. Aminata is able to take the knowledge she has gained from the other motherly figures in her life and used it to help her become a strong motherly figure to her community.

In many novels there is the "Wise old man" character that people can go to for guidance. In this novel the wise old man is Daddy Moses. He is one of the first people that Aminata meets when she arrives in Nova Scotia. He brings her to Birchtown and helps her find a place to live. The entire community respects and cares for Daddy Moses. They all come together to hear him speak whenever they can and they help him move about as he is blind.

By studying the text with this view I developed a stronger understanding of the reasoning behind using these archetypal character and leaving some others out. For example "the hero" character is not really involved in this novel. Some may argue that Aminata is the hero but she isn't really. She helps many people in many different ways but she is still just an average person. And at the end of the day she cared about herself before she helped others. Aminata was a real person, she may have been a hero in some peoples eyes but she was not the hero of the book. I think it was a smart decision to not have her as the hero of the book. If she had been an outstanding hero I don't think the book would have felt as real, and it would have definitely made Aminata more difficult to relate to.

These are just some of the many archetypes that make this novel so interesting to read! The way Lawrence Hill carefully selected which archetypes to use and which ones to exclude made this novel diverse from many others that I have read. This type of criticism allows the reader to understand why the characters and plot are the way they are based off of the authors choices.

Works Cited

 Hill, Lawrence. "The Book of Negroes." (2011): n. pag. Abstract. (n.d.): n. pag. Print.