{"id":1939,"date":"2021-12-19T16:20:20","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T10:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sibha.in\/RR\/?p=1939"},"modified":"2021-12-19T16:20:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T10:50:20","slug":"book-review-home-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sibha.in\/RR\/2021\/12\/19\/book-review-home-going\/","title":{"rendered":"Book review: Home going"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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What a story !<\/p>\r\n

A story that spans across two centuries in time and two continents in space. A story of human greed and hope, of the incredible capacity for human beings to inflict cruelty on fellow humans.<\/p>\r\n

No animal , however strong, enslaves another animal, same species or different. But we humans not only enslave animals, but also homo sapiens. Even today, the visible chains are not there but exploitation exists everywhere.<\/p>\r\n

Coming to the book “home going” , it traces the lives of seven generations of two sisters born in the present African Republic of Ghana . One is enslaved and shipped to America and another is married to a slave trader but her descendants go back to their people , an Asante village.<\/p>\r\n

The story meanders along two parallel lines one in Ghana and another in America. Both tracks run along the lives of\u00a0 seven generations . The story ends where, a descendant of one line from Asante tribe of the eighth generation, Marjorie Agyekum<\/em><\/strong> , meets a descendant of the sister sold into slavery , Marcus Clifton<\/strong><\/em>. Of course , the characters themselves are not aware of their lineage as victors write history , not the vanquished ,least of all, slaves.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Obviously it is not history but only fiction ,but a very probable story.\u00a0 The\u00a0 Cape Coast Castle and the dungeons were slaves were kept stacked like cargo still exists.<\/p>\r\n

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Former President Obama Visiting Cape Coast Castle in 2009<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The narration is weaved around historical events like British-Asante wars and American Civil War.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

A history of slave trade as taken from Wikipaedia…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n

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The large quantity of\u00a0gold dust\u00a0found in\u00a0Ghana\u00a0was what primarily attracted\u00a0Europe, and many natives of\u00a0Cape Coast\u00a0used this to their advantage. In exchange for\u00a0gold,\u00a0mahogany, other locally produced goods, and enslaved captives, local Africans received clothing,\u00a0 blankets,\u00a0spices,\u00a0 sugar,\u00a0silk\u00a0and many other items. The castle at Cape Coast was a market where these transactions took place.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

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\u00a0<\/div>\r\nInside the dungeon of Cape Coast Castle, where hundreds of slaves were held in cramped conditions before being transferred to boats bound for the western hemisphere<\/div>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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At the time\u00a0enslaved\u00a0Africans\u00a0were a valuable commodity in the\u00a0Americas\u00a0and elsewhere, and slaves were the main trade in\u00a0Cape Coast. Due to this, many changes were made to Cape Coast Castle. One of the alterations was the addition of large underground\u00a0dungeons\u00a0that could hold as many as a thousand slaves awaiting\u00a0export.<\/p>\r\n

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Many European nations flocked to Cape Coast in order to get a foothold in the\u00a0slave trade.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

The business was very competitive, which led to conflict and for this reason, the castle at Cape Coast changed hands many times during the course of its commercial history.<\/p>\r\n

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What we read as history does not touch\u00a0 the trials and tribulations that natives world over went through , due to\u00a0 the greed of the White-man. Where-ever they went, be it Asia, Africa , America or Australia , their industry and zeal for\u00a0 exploration brought untold misery to the natives caught up in their adventurism. The European powers fought among themselves and also the local powers. Whatever, it is the simple innocent people who suffered ; after all, when elephants fight, it is the grass that gets crushed.<\/p>\r\n

Long after slave trade was abolished the African Americans continue to suffer. The book brings out the problems faced by them in US leaving one wondering ,whether a slave was actually better off than a freeman who is still struggling with poverty, unemployment, drug menace and just plain racism that puts every black a suspect in the eyes of law.<\/p>\r\n

In Akan<\/a> region, the term for a white man was ‘Oburoni’ which according to the author translates to ‘wicked or cunning man’. Some tribes called him ‘the cunning dog’ ; a being that comes licking but ends up biting the hand that feeds.<\/p>\r\n

It is Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel . But\u00a0 considering the kind of research that has gone into it and the\u00a0 style of narration , the story comes across as the work of a mature writer. The author is born in Ghana and raised in US. The character\u00a0 ‘Marjori’ seems to be the narrator of the story. In all probability, her US counterpart Marcus is also based on some real person.<\/p>\r\n

The novel does remind a reader of the Famous true story “The Roots” by Alex Haley.<\/p>\r\n

The book leaves the reader pondering over many questions.<\/p>\r\n