Abina and Her Historians With so much history in the past it would be impossible for historians to tell the story of every human and every case. Historians use Abina and the Important Men to summaries how life was in her time. Historians are tasked with a hard job, explaining the past and helping others understand how the World is the way it is. In this story historians use three different sources to explain the past. This story, while not all of it may have actually happened, is an example of how historians take a small true story and expand it and interpret this history. While using a comic strip, a court case, and some historical background; the author reconstructs a time with using just one story. The story follows the life of Abina …show more content…
Most of the court case is in “The Transcript” but the historical background helps the reader picture her life before and after. The first two pages of the comic come from the historical background. It explains the setting of the story while “The Transcript” only says the date. “The Gold Coast is a name bestowed by Europeans upon a stretch of West Africa roughly approximating the southern half of the modern-day state of Ghana” (99). This gives us a sense of where she is and what is happening right now in that area. It provides a map that points out the physical location. In the comic strip there are bubbles with words in them. These come from the four other slave girls (Accosuah, Abina, Adjuah, and Ambah) and two other men (Attah and Senegay). The things they say are not directly stated in the primary source document. They are inferred to add more understanding to the story. In the comic, the important men argue about if prosecuting Eddoo will be worth it to the economy. “If just any unhappy worker can accuse their employer of slavery, what will it do to our young economy” (69). “Their labor is necessary for the smooth functioning of the household, of the clan, and eventually the state” (69). This is not in “The Transcript” but is imagined by the historians using the historical content. The British had recently created Colonies and Protectorates in Africa and were being careful not to mess up the new system. “Out of the chaos left by the Asante retreat, the British managed to create a system of agreements with local rulers” (103). “…more and more children, especially girls, were enslaved outside the Colony and Protectorate and brought in to serve as slaves” (108). “They feared that actively liberation enslaved people would cause chaos, which they wished to avoid” (108). The historical context provides the important roll of making the story whole. Historians do this so
Abina and the Important Men: a Graphical History was written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. The story of Abina Mansah is somewhat an inspiring graphical history based on an 1876 court transcript. Abina, a woman of West Africa, was wrongfully enslaved and as a consequence, she took her former master, Quamina Eddoo, to court. The overall setting took place on the Gold Coast during the 19th century. The main scenes take place in the court room, which is filled with many “important men.” The men included a British judge, two Euro African attorneys, countrymen, and an entire jury of wealthy, high class local town leaders. This book is broken down into several parts; the graphical history, transcript, historical
The author agrees with the idea of women as victims through the characterisation of women in the short story. The women are portrayed as helpless to the torment inflicted upon them by the boy in the story. This positions readers to feel sympathy for the women but also think of the world outside the text in which women are also seen as inferior to men. “Each season provided him new ways of frightening the little girls who sat in front of him or behind him”. This statement shows that the boy’s primary target were the girls who sat next to him. This supports the tradition idea of women as the victims and compels readers to see that the women in the text are treated more or less the same as the women in the outside world. Characterisation has been used by the author to reinforce the traditional idea of women as the helpless victims.
Abina and the Important Men: a Graphical History was written by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. The story of Abina Mansah is somewhat an inspiring graphical history based on an 1876 court transcript. Abina, a woman of West Africa, was wrongfully enslaved and as a consequence, she took her former master, Quamina Eddoo, to court. The overall setting took place on the Gold Coast during the 19th century. The main scenes take place in the court room, which is filled with many “important men.” The men included a British judge, two Euro African attorneys, countrymen, and an entire jury of wealthy, high class local town leaders. This book is broken down into several parts; the graphical history, transcript, historical
Do you think besides literature have another ways to display history? Can historians show you the picture about the historic event instead of imagining them by yourselves? “Abina and the Important Men” is a graphic history book, so the authors not only gives readers literal record but also give images to illustrate the history. The story happened in west Africa in 1876. In story includes phenomenon of the society, and certain African cultures. Abina Mansah, Quamina Eddoo and William Meltonare most important characters in the story because they represent different hierarchies in the society and display different condition in these hierarchies.
In the novel A Mercy, poetry collection of Thrall, and the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano the author use historical events and rewrite them based on the black experience. Both Thrall and A Mercy are neo-slave narratives in which the author did extensive research on the history of slavery and rewrote certain aspects in the form of a story to educate the masses. Olaudah Equiano however, being written by the author about his own experience of being stolen from his village as a boy and later on in life coming to realize that he identifies as a European is a true story. A Mercy rewrites the experience of black voodoo culture and witchcraft during the time of slave codes with striking similarities to the story of Tituba. Thrall has several poems inspired by true story and paintings from Europe during the times of slavery. Despite the contrast in how both of these are written they all share a common thread on the treatment of black slave during that time. In A Mercy, Thrall, and the autobiography of Equiano all being to take on the culture of their slavers and are labeled as barbaric for their culture and are forced to see culture through the eyes of others.
The main contention the defense used was the Abina was never truly a slave, rather Eddoo was a father figure who was simply looking out for a child who did not know what was best for herself. This is seen prior to the arranged engagement, according to the defense, the cutting of her beads was not the start of her time as a slave on Eddoo’s land, but rather her transition to adulthood and start of her life as a marriage ready woman. It was said that, “The question of free will is at the heart of the question of slavery, yet this girl cannot understand such a complex concept”.1 Much of what was said by the defense showed that they viewed Abina as a simple, childlike creature rather than an adult human being. In response to the fact that Abina was never paid for her work, it was claimed that Abina was paid in food, clothing, and shelter. Lastly, due to the fact that Abina did not work in the fields and saw no money exchanged with no additional ceremonies taken place, she was never really sold. The defense argued that Abina was not a slave, but rather, a
As having a historical aspect in novels and films can have an major impact on plots, one must look at the various ways history and historicity can be used. Both the novel Kindred and the film Watermelon Woman utilize these historical aspects in similar and opposing ways to tell their stories. With matters such as the knowledge (and/or lack of knowledge) and creating a imagine of history, the stories of Dana and Cheryl provide readers and viewers with a look at the variety of impacts that can be affected.
In Chester Brown’s “Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography” and in Sarah Ovcjak’s “The Facebook Profile of Louis Riel,” the authors attempt to criticize historical representations by presenting the history of Louis Riel in conflicting lights. Both authors allow Louis Riel to have a voice in their respective works; however, Ovcjak’s Facebook profile allows Riel’s character to speak in the first person perspective narrating his own life, while the story within Brown’s graphic novel unfolds through a third person frame narrative. Ovcjak’s first person narrator uses emotional dialogue and images to clarify Louis Riel’s character. Brown’s frame narrative uses flat dialogue, imagery and extensive notes to present a more impartial understanding of Louis Riel that is rooted in a subjective framing viewpoint. These techniques help shape each author’s arguments about the subject they are describing. Despite these differences, the works reveal the significance of perspective and objectivity, alluding to their importance for historical veracity. Reading Ovcjak's “The Facebook Profile of Louis Riel” against Chester Brown's “Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography” articulates Brown’s argument of presenting Louis Riel in the graphic novel context as a means to demonstrate the importance of looking at history from different perspectives. The implication of reading these creative works as historical documents identifies a need for an authoritative and objective historical lens that is often
As having a historical aspect to novels and films can have an important impact on plots, one must look at the various ways history and historicity can be used. Both the novel Kindred and the film Watermelon Woman utilize these historical aspects in similar and opposing ways to tell their stories. With matters such as the knowledge (and/or lack of knowledge) and creating a imagine of history, the stories of Dana and Cheryl provide readers with a look at the variety of impacts that can affect them.
At first glance the story of “Abina and The Important Men” looks like a comic book. It is formatted the same way as a comic book and has illustrations to provoke a deeper sense of emotion and drama. Although unlike most comic books, this story is full of real information that came from documents and real life accounts from historical archives. On the other hand, this could also just be a glorified historical account, ruined by improvised plots and made up stories to make the graphic novel more interesting, some argue that there is still real evidence in the novel, and there is, but it may be surrounded by fabricated information that was included to make the story more exciting.
The cool wind blew graciously, sprouting new life into Bohdan's lungs, awaking the spirit of truth, although the time has come a few teardrops slides valiantly alongside his cheeks. In fairness to Erin and in honor of the past, he buckled up his pride, and controlled his manly pose; direct and to the point, he showed no mercy. Set forth is a requirement, that Erin would not pass judgment on the woman he considered his Mother, and the man he thought was his Father. Beginning with the facts of the state of affairs, Bohdan held nothing back. The woman he trusted was his Mother could not have children, due to being raped and beaten in her mid-twenties. His parents could not afford the doctors necessary or the cost of lawyers it would take to adopt. The
The past and the present face their own challenges and boundaries, and so histories can fail the test of time. Nonetheless, the past survives because it is the past that shapes the present. Even though time and memory may distort it, history lives because the pivotal moments in an individual’s past makes their present. Those moments and memories an individual has is what shapes their entire lives, and creates a small page in the book of history. Lady Juliet’s and Marian Turner’s past and present is recorded by the archivists who are faced with the difficult process of putting it together in order to recreate
Historical fictions are important sources that people learn about historical events. People are able to acquire knowledge about the social situations and thoughts during the time in the past from historical fictions. “The True Story of Ah Q” by Lu Xun gave an idea of how historical fiction play its part in the history studies.
“The expropriation and appropriation of Sarah Baartman by the colonial and capitalist gaze has lasted long enough. It is not a good idea to create new images of her, because each new image repeats and continues the past exploitation and humiliation of her body.”
Lady Audra, age seventeen, raised her fists and braced her feet in the soil. “Step forward, you little shit,” she growled. “You can hit harder than that.”