Ten Generations of Bondage in the US - Book Report/Review Example

Name Course Tutor Date Ten Generations of Bondage Generations of Bondage may be referred to as a tale that had been based on a true event that happened way back in history, and involved a black family that had lived in the US right from the era of enslavement into the 21st century. This historical account may be said to have begun in the 1740 whereby, the black family under review had to go through the harsh and horrific reality of slavery in the hands of the white man. The touching narrative may be said to contain various atrocities committed against the black family. The author artistically incorporates a variety of characters in the narrative in order to build on the plot and to give the narrative an authentic meaning. From all the characters, a few of them moved me and made me realize the importance of a family set up and the immense effect, it may have in the moral upbringing of the younger generation as regards role models and team spirit. One of the main characters who struck me all through the narrative is Violet. Her bold nature left me amazed, and I came to realize that there can never be a greater power than that of a strong-willed woman. In this narrative, she could be viewed as an extremely determined woman, and despite the whites’ perception about the blacks; she goes ahead to sue her then employer citing unjust extension to her indentured servitude. She struggles relentlessly to defend her family against the brutal hands of slavery, although their freedom eventually oozes out and slavery engrosses her entire family’s life. I had been entirely taken aback by the character of Cynthia too. A black woman who may be said to be strong enough to be sold more than 6times to the white man, yet not lose faith in her freedom. The author artistically makes use of this author to build up on the theme of suffering throughout the tale. I grew extremely empathetic every time I could notice that Cynthia had to undergo all that. This character purposely created the environment of social injustice within the tale. Feelings of sorrow and pity got the better of me every time I read about Cynthia’s experiences. I realized that this character built the mood of the narrative exactly the way the author had wanted her to build. I had also been amazed at the character of Tom, who had been a Native American. Tom relentlessly struggles to rescue his wife although he does not succeed. Instead, he ends up in the cruel arms of slavery. This character still builds on the theme of a family’s strong ties. I could not just understand how a man could struggle extremely hard to do what seemed impossible without losing any qualm of hope. Even after the Dred Scott decision, Kitty may not have understood how an African could be kidnapped from his own homeland and transported all the way to a foreign land in chains. Having been an extremely proud African, she felt that this had been entirely out of order and disrespect to her own rights to freedom. The decision may have been aimed at curbing slavery although not every single American’s attitude and treatment towards Africans could be changed. According to Huey, slaves could do a lot of work all day and even through the night. They had about twenty minutes to interact and spent time with their families. Freedom, to them, would be referred to as the little time they would find to spend with their loved ones as a show of strength and solidarity. It may be through these interactions that they had been able to retain their hopes. Public school segregation still took centre stage even after the ruling of Brown v Board of Education. A school had testified that it was necessary for such an act since the children of Mexican American had been inferior to those of the whites. It had then been stipulated that the question of race had not been covered in that case. The two parties had deduced that Mexican Americans had been a part of the White Race hence the case could not touch on racial discrimination. The defense resumed to language ability (an issue, which the board had made use of so as to replace race), to justify the act of segregation. When freedom finally came to the slaves, the organization of religious communities had been the remaining element to the need to come up with new lives, reunite families, look for jobs and to find out the meaning of living in America as citizens and not property. The church would do all these activities for them. White denominations including Presbyterian and Episcopal churches had an upper hand in sponsoring missions, opening schools for the emancipated slaves and aiding the welfare of the blacks. The black church oversaw these activities and had been the bridge between the white church and the blacks. Between 1980s and 1990s, the rate of homicide within the black male population aged 15 to 18 had doubled while the rate of homicide for black male population aged 19 to 25 also doubled. Within the same period, the blacks had also experienced increased fatal death rates, low baby weights at birth, weapon arrests. All these effects had been as a result of drug distribution, which mainly took place within low-income neighborhoods since it gave these residents a chance to climb the financial ladder. During her trip to Gore, the author realizes how hard the blacks had been struggling to get their lives back to normalcy. Her interaction with a couple of them makes them realize the way these peoples’ lives had been changed by the whites’ lifestyle. They wanted to emulate the culture of the white man and, in fact, some of them had entirely forgotten their own and adopted the foreign one. She cannot understand how these people, who had been treated in a cruel manner by the whites, would end up preferring their lifestyle to the rich African culture. A pilgrimage according to the context of this narrative had been aimed at being a tool for spiritual awakening of the blacks, who might have lost their faith while in the hands of the white. It had mainly been set to signify the onset of a new start in their lives and create new spiritual beings. It had also been used to signify the glorious end of an era of horror to the beginning of a new pure life in the land of their ancestors. A visit to the shrine may have been used to depict the spiritual devotion of this family and the healing into new beings. From this act of faith, the author reveals to us that this may be a family that does not accept to give up on its faith despite the cruel circumstances. Eventually, the main revelation brought out may be a formidable testament of a Black family’s strength. The author makes sure that the end does not just depict Lewis-Green’s history but a Black American’s history. Works cited Darlene Clark Hine., William C. Hine. & Stanley Harold. African American a Concise History 4th Edition. New York: 2012. Print. Read More