The image of Amari’s village
The novel is filled with many images of an African style of life, with the images of Africans’ routines. It helps to better understand these people, and give a wider portrayal of those difficulties they were going through when pulled harshly out of their own world. One of such images is the one of Amari’s village, which shows how different their settlements were from those of Europeans and Americans’.
“Amari loved the rusty brown dirt of Ziavi. The path, hard-packed from thousands of bare feet that had trod on it for decades, was flanked on both sides by fat, fruit-laden mango trees, the sweet smell of which always seemed to welcome her home. Ahead she could see the thatched roofs of the homes of her people, smoky cooking fires, and a chicken or two, scratching in the dirt.”
Dancing in the evening
Another vivid imagery of Amari’s culture is the dancing her tribe used to perform.
“Drumbeats echoed in the approaching darkness. The fire in the center of the assembly area glowed on the faces of the dancers, mostly younger children and women at first, but soon nearly everyone in the village joined in, even the old ones whose toothless grins spoke their happiness. All spoke to the spirits with their joyous movements. Their bodies swayed, their hands clapped, their feet stomped in a glorious frenzy, all to the rhythm of the drums.”
The dancing for Ewe people was not just a way of entertaining; it was an important part of their lives and their cultural background. With the help of dancing they communicated with the spirits and considered dancing to be a connection with the world of ancestors.
Polly’s image of slaves
Polly never likes slaves, and she thought they were behaving inappropriate. Her disgust grew when she was present at the slave sale. “The women were wailing and acting as if something terrible was happening to them”. Polly was sure that “living here in the colonies had to be better than living like a savage in the jungle” and these wild people “ought to be grateful”. Polly was brought up with a thought that slaves were “well-fed and happy slaves, with no worries about finding employment”. And for Polly their language “was more like the screaming of monkeys or the barking of dogs”.
Overall the image of Polly’s perception of the blacks shows how short-minded and ignorant she is. She knows little of these people, of their conditions, and of what they have lost. But she would know soon.
The house of a white master
Mr. Derby’s house appeared in front of Polly as a magical castle from a fairy-tale.
“It was almost blindingly white in the late afternoon sun; it looked as if it had been white washed several times for the brick to be so completely covered. Its red-gabled roof, nestled between two huge stone chimneys, also carried an aura of perfection. It was surrounded by a carpet of lush grass, kept short, she found out later, by the many sheep that grazed upon it. On her far right were green fields, and behind them dark woods grew full and deep”.
The image shows that prosperity and wealth dwell here.
