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Book Of Negroes Character Analysis

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No two places in the world will ever have the exact same circumstances. Everything impacts one’s actions, from how others act there, what day it is, where you are and even to the weather. In the novel The Book of Negroes, author, Lawrence Hill demonstrates how the setting of an event greatly impacts one’s actions, emotions and even what skills they learn for survival. Hill best demonstrates this through the journey her main character, Aminata Dee, goes on. From her hometown in Bayo, Africa, to a slave vessel, following with life as a slave in St. Helena and Charlestown, and finally ending with her being free in London England. This novel takes place in the years 1745 through to the early 1800s and follows the journey of Aminata as a …show more content…

She is bought by a man named Robinson Appleby, who owns an indigo plantation. On this plantation, she is in an unsafe environment and acts out of fear and anger. It is thanks to a kind woman she meets on the plantation, named Georgia, that she is able to survive in this horrible place. After Georgia healed me, two things helped me avoid more troubles with Appleby: I never let Georgia’s side when the master was around, and Appleby bought a new Negro woman named Sally (Hill pg.231 - 232) Because she is scared of Appleby and others on the plantation, after too many incidents where men have forced themselves on her, she adjusts her actions quickly. Instead of being on her own she insures she is with someone else at all times possible, and stays low so no attention is drawn to her. Not only this, but she must act dumb so that she will not upset the whites who own her. By adapting to her environment and learning to portray herself as a non-threat, Hill reflects just how smart Aminata is, and how much where she is holds her back in life. After giving birth and having Appleby sell her child, Aminata refuses to work for Appleby and is sold to a man named Solomon Lindo. This man originally found out about her for being an amazing worker and first met her when he was inspecting Appleby’s indigo plantation. When living with Lindo, she is given a back house to share with another servant who is pregnant. When we

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