"This is a book about the time which followed on that time. As the island became a place where people lived. Indians. Africans. Europeans."
This line establishes the novel's inclusive historical lens, signaling that Jamaica's story is shaped by all its peoples, not just the European colonizers. It sets the stage for exploring the multi-ethnic complexity of the island's history.
"The afterbirth is lodged in the woman's body and will not be expelled. All the waste of birth. Foul-smelling and past its use."
Using a stark bodily metaphor, this passage conveys how the lingering effects of slavery and colonial oppression remain embedded in society, haunting subsequent generations.
"In school they were told that their ancestors had been pagan. That there had been slaves in Africa, where Black people had put each other in chains. They were given the impression that the whites who brought them here from the Gold Coast and the Slave Coast were only copying a West African custom as though the whites had not named the Slave Coast themselves."
This quote critiques colonial education, which distorts history to diminish European responsibility and downplay the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. It underscores the systematic erasure of African agency.
"They did not know about the Kingdom of the Ashanti or the Kingdom of Dahomey, where most of their ancestors had come from."
By highlighting the omission of major African civilizations from colonial curricula, Cliff emphasizes how historical amnesia suppresses cultural pride and obscures the richness of African heritage.
"It is that heart of darkness which has imagined them less than human."
Reclaiming Joseph Conrad's phrase, the novel argues that the true "darkness" lies not in Africa but in the dehumanizing ideologies of European colonizers. It critiques the moral blindness of imperialism.
"She was not ready to understand her dream. She had no idea that everyone we dream about we are."
Reflecting on Clare's dream about her friend Zoe, this passage suggests the duality within Clare herself—how her identity encompasses both the oppressed and the oppressor, mirroring the complexities of her mixed heritage.
"The fabric of their society, their civilization, their culture, was an intricate weave, at the heart of which was enforced labor of one kind or another."
Cliff underscores that the elegance and sophistication of elite Jamaican society were built on systemic oppression and coerced labor, highlighting the moral contradictions of colonial hierarchies.
