The Book Of Negroes Aminata Character Analysis

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Novels often depict realistic situations and outlooks on life. This enables the reader to view and learn about different aspects of life through the author’s depictions. Authors expose world issues and their opinions through their novels and create stories about them. In the novel, The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill exposes the issue of racial discrimination through a fictional character named Aminata. The protagonist is abducted into slavery and experiences hardships, tragedies, oppression, and betrayal. She encounters the many horrors and obstacles of the world in her long journey to freedom. Aminata’s story captures the truth behind other people in terms of their treatment and judgment of the unfamiliar. Hill’s novel effectively exposes …show more content…

A person’s rights and freedom are one of the most important things one can have. Throughout the novel, the characters all crave freedom. Each character would do anything to be free again. This is proven when an additional character, Fanta, slits her newborn son’s throat, flings another baby overboard, and attempts to jump overboard herself (Hill 102-103). Fanta would rather kill her own son and herself, than give up her freedom. This moment horrifies yet amazes many readers of the lengths someone is willing to go to in order to keep their freedom rather than be a slave. This shows how serious and frightening the situation really is. In addition, throughout the entire novel, Aminata encounters various setbacks, but she still continues her long journey to freedom. This is demonstrated when she says, “The pain of my losses never really went away. The limbs had been severed, and they would forever after be missing. But I kept going, Somehow, I just kept going,” (394). The passage represents her strong commitment to freedom. Although she endures a tremendous amount of hardships, like losing all her loved ones, she keeps striving for the freedom she desires. Most people die or become too broken inside at this point, but Aminata continues to fight for her life, to keep living, and to one day tell others her inspiring story. Freedom can single-handedly be the one most valuable thing an individual holds dearly. Thus effectively exposes the harm of racism as it motivates the characters to go to great lengths to keep their

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