Genre
Historical fiction
Setting and Context
Set in 1934, in Barbados, Tobago, and Trinidad
Narrator and Point of View
Third person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is disheartening, and the mood is optimistic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Rachel, and the antagonists are the enslavers.
Major Conflict
There was a major conflict between the enslaved people and the enslavers. Even after the Emancipation Act of 1934 set enslaved people free, plantation owners forced them to work for six years before they fully acquired freedom.
Climax
The climax comes when Rachel reunites with all her five surviving children who were sold as slaves to different plantations.
Foreshadowing
Abolitionist movements in North America foreshadow the end of slavery.
Understatement
n/a
Allusions
The story alludes to the dark history of slavery, which included suffering, separation, and death.
Imagery
Rachel's journey to find her children is described using imagery. The reader sees the danger of the river being infested with crocodiles and the threat of attacks from enslavers. The whole journey appeals to a sense of sight to readers.
Paradox
The main paradox is that even after the Emancipation Act of 1934 set enslaved people free, the plantation owners were not ready to let the enslaved people free.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between Rachel’s decision to search for her children and the runaway slaves from the neighboring plantations.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
Slavery is personified as a monster.
