Response to the Known World

Response To, “The Known World”

Edward P. Jones' novel, The Known World, touches on a topic that most African Americans of today's society choose not to speak about. It tells a story of how, during the time of slavery, there were free blacks that owned and ruled slaves. He brings to light the fact that blacks were not only oppressed by whites but also by their own people. It seems as though free blacks would have paved the way for slaves to acquire freedom, but the story exemplifies how circumstances did not always turn out this way. The whole notion of free blacks owning slaves makes the reader wonder what type of mindset free blacks could have had in order to enslave their own people. It then initiates the reader's curiosity as to the type of mindset of the people who remained enslaved by their own kind.

Being free and being enslaved are two words that continuously come to mind while reading this novel. By definition being free means to, “not be under the control of another; not a slave or not in prison.”(Webster 346) The second definition goes on to say being, “able to vote and to speak, write, meet, and worship as one pleases; having political and civil liberty.” (Webster 346) A slave is defined as, “a person who is owned by another person and has no freedom at all.” (Webster 826). It is evident that these two terms are almost antonyms of one another. Slavery deprive persons of their freedom and force these individuals into a lifestyle that consist of being submissive to someone that is free. This was considered a normal society during the time of slavery. In actuality the economy depended upon slaves' backbreaking labor which is what probably lead to free blacks, such as Henry Townsend, owning slaves.

The setting of the novel and the place where this corruption occurred was Manchester County, Virginia. Although the novel is fiction, it is developed to reflect upon history. The setting, nonetheless, encompasses the historical aspects that the novel was built to exemplify. During this time, the southern Commonwealth state of Virginia was a place that was still in the midst of slavery. Throughout this area are plantations; majority are white-owned. Overall this is a successful area which is due to the prosperous “business” of slavery. In 1855 this town was said to have, “thirty-four free black families, with a mother and father and one child or more, and eight of those free families owned slaves.” (Pg 7) After the war the number dropped to eight slave owning families. Some, “niggers were beginning to receive some of the same rights as a white man.” (Pg 13) Going back to the 1840 census Manchester was said to be, “the largest county in Virginia, a place of 2,191 slaves, 142 free Negroes, 939 whites, and 136 Indians. In general, the setting depicts a typical slave town which. The reader began to entering this town and view the power of slavery and how it controlled this society.

The novel began in a very unusual manner. The fact that Moses masturbates in the woods was very disturbing. At first it may seem irrelevant to the novel but this scene may have served as an introduction to the character and how he was unhappily married. This was an essentially aspect of the beginning of the novel because it introduced many of the characters and gave the reader some sense of the characters qualities. More importantly the beginning of the novel tells how Henry has been overcome with illness and his subsequent death. This event, alone, sets the novel up for its development and the stories of the lives of each character.

Growing up without out his father around Henry viewed Robbins, his owner, as a father figure. Robbins referred to Henry as, “being his boy.” ( The Known World pg 19) Henry was unknowingly molded by this man. He became a sponge, absorbing everything that he saw taking place while he was a slave. Blacks were instilled with the idea that the only way to be successful was by owing slaves. They felt as though options were limited and they took on the mindset of, “why fight them when you can join them?” In the novel Henry grew to become “a black man of thirty-one years with thirty-three slaves and more than fifty acres of land that sat him high above many others, white and black and Indian.”(pg5) The free black males were drawn into the “white” lifestyle. The patrollers in the novel made reference to, “giving niggers the same rights as a white man.” (pg 13) The novel also discussed how the light skin blacks gradually disappeared into the white society. It maybe conceived that blacks began to be ashamed of being black and took on the notion, the whiter they were the better off they became.

On the other hand not all former slaves thought in this manner. Some remained true to their heritage. This was seen in Henry's parents who did not condone Henry having slaves. The novel states how, “as a couple they would never sleep in the home that that Henry and the slave Moses built, instead they would stay in whatever cabin that was available down in the quarters.” (pg 7) Although Henry's parents were free they never forgot where they came from.

The enslaved individuals were mentally beat down. In the novel it stated to how, “Virgina law required freed former slaves to leave the Commonwealth within twelves months of receiving their freedom because freed Negroes might give slaves to many unnatural notions.” They were kept ignorant; the less they knew the better. The slaves took on the mindset that being free was nearly impossible, so they became used to their lifestyles and set in the ways of society. Their were some exceptions; those individuals who dared to step out on a limb and tried to grasp their freedom. These persons were made examples for the rest. In the novel they made reference to a slave named Fred who bled to death. They would tell the slaves that if they, “messed up they would get what Fred got then they would throw their damn carcass to the hogs.” (pg 96)

In the novel it spoke of how Elias tried to escape from Henry. The slaves were initially happy when they thought he had gotten away. This exemplified how many slaves probably thought about escaping and being free but very few dared to attempt such a risky task. Elias was caught by Robbins. Robbins stated to Elias how he could, “tell from the smell of fear in Elias' blood” (pg 81) that he belonged to someone. Robbins shot Elias in the thigh