Book review: Jubilee by Margaret Walker
The novel Jubilee is basically a story about slavery in America. The novel goes on to narrate how reconstruction took place in the perspective of the black people who were the most affected by the vice. The novel is built on the life and history of Vyry brown. She is a woman of mixed race and she is raised in slavery. Her mother was constantly molested by the master and conceived 15 children. This shows how the slaves were mistreated and the masters could do anything to them. The novel basically follows the life of this lady from her childhood to old age.
The book explores the ways in which the lives of the slaves were transformed after freedom. The narrator also explains the process that took place in forgiveness and integration of slaves into the American society. The author clearly shows how happy Vyry is on gaining her freedom. However, there are moguls and landowners who wouldn’t afford to see the slaves freed thus there arises some hostile attacks based on race in the society. The novel focuses on the relationship between the slaves and the masters. The setting of the novel is in Alabama where slavery was so widespread due to the plantations that required a lot of human labor. In this regard, the masters ensured that the slavery worked to their maximum capacity. The relationship between the masters and the slaves is so much tainted because of the mistreatment. There is no trust between the masters and the slaves since everything is forced on the slaves.
There are two distinct racial groups in the novel; the whites and the blacks. The whites are depicted as masters while the blacks are the slaves. The masters see themselves as superiors with more rights than the blacks since they are depicted as people who do not belong or are aliens in the white land. As such, all the decisions and oppressions are created by the white masters. The slaves are introduced to hard work and are supposed to be submissive to the master at all times. Furthermore, there are no laws that defend the slaves hence a master can mistreat, molest or injure a slave as they so wish. This is the reason why Master John Dutton was able to molest Vyries mother and give her 15 children. The mother died during childbirth. The whites are portrayed to be rich since they control all the resources like land. During the days, the slaves who could not bear the mistreatment poisoned their masters. During the civil war, the story changes as everyone is eager to defend his or her own life. Life becomes terrible and human rights activists start campaigning for slave rights.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared that all the slaves be freed. The slaves saw Lincoln as another Moses who saved the Israelites from Egypt. Most plantation owners freed the slaves and were protected by the union army due to molestation from hostile groups like the Klu Klux Klan. Hostility was rampant as the black populations were constantly attacked. With time, the community began accepting he blacks in to the society. The period focused on reconstruction and forgiveness. Vyry is a character who extends the virtue of forgiveness to the whites. She understands the importance of forgiveness in the integration to the society. Through, it is hard to forget what happened to her as a slave, she decides that it high time to improve on her life rather than bear grudges. She is mostly concerned with the betterment of the life of both the black and the white children. The ability to beat the past odds assists her to mingle properly with the other community to improve mutual understanding and a common development agenda.
Religion was an important aspect in the slavery era. The whites used the New Testament to emphasize that slave trade was acceptable and holy. They used the bible to justify that slavery and segregation was considered a norm in righteous nation. In contrast, the black slaves associated themselves with the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt. They believed that there will arise a Moses to save them. After slavery, the black ‘populations saw Abraham Lincoln as their long awaited Moses since he saved them from the fangs of slavery and oppression.
After civil war, the blacks faced very many problems. They include frequent attacks from hostile groups who did not want slavery abolished. They saw the blacks as illegal occupants of their country. Groups like the Klu Klux Klan arose and started harassing black people. In addition, the blacks were unable to get better wages for their services since the whites were unable to tolerate a bargain from the blacks. The idea of inferiority took a lot of time to disappear. Harassment was still popular at the work stations. Some include; low wages, excess work and inhumane conditions.
The slaves were able to live freely after the civil war since President Lincoln abolished slavery. As such, the blacks were able to mingle freely with other people in the society. In addition, they were able to engage with economically viable opportunities like employment. In fact, the plantation owners could hire the former slaves at a fee. However, not many whites could tolerate the blacks since some could deny employment opportunities. This led to increase in poverty among the freed slaves.
This novel is a good piece in explaining the history of slavery in the United States of America. The author uses a character that really existed to create a vivid image of the conditions at the time. Margaret Walker did her research so thoroughly so as to get the most accurate information about the vice. The opinion here is that the information is accurate since it is at par with other publications that have discussed slavery. It is of no doubt that slaves were molested and harassed without any legal protection before the civil war. American bore the greatest impact of the mistreatment since they were shipped to the American hence they were seen as people who do not belong and should not own property in America.
Works cited
Walker, Margaret. Jubilee. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Print.
