“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.

In the exposition of The Book of Negroes one does not realize the amount of emotional turmoil the African people are about to face. At first glance the village of Bayo seems to be a
“We have a law in the Province of South Carolina, “ he said “Niggers don’t dress grand.” (pg.176) Every one of the slaves in the 1700’s suffered so much and lost everything they once were.

The amount of bravery it would have taken to survive as an African slave is unimaginable. They had to do whatever they could to stay alive. They had to hide their fear so they would not appear weak. Aminata made herself useful to everyone, from her fellow people to the white man. She put herself on the line, acting as a translator between her people and their captors, “She speaks his language, and she speaks Maninke.” She instructed many Africans and saved them from beatings and humiliation. Being only 11 years old, Aminata was valuable to her master and her people. She learnt as much as she could, she always kept her eyes and ears open and her mouth shut. The African people did not dare question the toubab or bukra. The entire book is full of man vs. man conflict, the Africans constantly fighting for their