I walked, because I was made to do it. I walked, because it
was the only thing to do. And that night I walkd, over and over again I heard
my father’s final word. Aminata. Aminata. Aminata. (p34)
This is the last
sentence of the first chapter,
after Aminata got kidnapped and her parent got killed while they are trying to
save her. It is very important because this that is the first time she left her
parent in her whole life and this is the first day of her salve life. In this
sentence, she keeps hearing her father calling her, after that, her father and mother sound keep showing up in her brain throughout her whole life.
I screamed as I have never screamed before. I didn’t
recognize myself. I had no clothes, no hair, no beauty, no womanhood. (p203)
Aminata just got
marry and had her first child. Her owner Appleby found out about her baby and
the celebration of the marriage. He gets very mad; he rips her good clothes and
shaves all her hair. Aminata loses her
mind when she sees herself in the mirror. This is related to the theme dehumanization,
Appleby humiliate Aminata physically and mentally because he “owns” her. I
think Aminata should not have the celebration at the first place because she
knew that she has such a master.
Allabu Akbar, I mumbled to myself. But maybe Fanta had been
right. Maybe God was impossible here. ( p107)
When Aminata was crossing the ocean, she
watched toubabu and black people killing each other. She watched Fanta killed
her own baby, who just caught by Aminata, and she watched her throwing Sanu
baby into the ocean. After the rebellion of black people, Aminata almost lost
her faith. I felt unbelievable and sad when I was reading this chapter. It
shocked me when I found out Fanta kills her baby. I think she killed her baby
because she doesn’t want the baby to spend the rest of her life as a slave,
which I can understand. But I don’t think it is fair for her to kill someone
else’s baby, she doesn’t have the right to do it.
We stayed with the beast until new lands met our feet, and we
stumbled down the long planks just before the poison became fatal. Perhaps here
in this new land, we could keep living. (p109)
This is the last
sentence of the book one. In my opinion, it is saying that they got out of the
ship before it kills them. And they shall keep living if the new land offers
them a chance. I think Aminata is quite a positive person. She can always think
of the good side, of situation and people. This personality of her keeps her
from losing her mind and going crazy, after she lost so many things and people
she loved and cared.
I didn’t mind the
sliver-grey coloring by his temples, or the smooth baldness of his head. He was
my man, just further along the road of life. I wanted to watch him grow older
still. I wanted to note all of the changes, one day to the next, and I wanted
to protect his hands, in mine. (p325)
This is how Aminata
feels when she saw Chekura again after another 9 years. This paragraph moves me
but makes me feel sad at the same time because she is going to lose him again. This
is related to the theme love vs. freedom. In my opinion, love is more important
to Aminata, because love is the one thing that she is living for and fighting
for. She wants her freedom for love, she wants a good life with love, she want
to go back to Africa and find love. Everytime she moves on, she has her faith
on Chekura and their love.
