Melanie Page’s Reviews > Roots: The Saga of an American Family > Status Update

"...and right after Massa and Missis Murray finished eating, they also came to the slave row to see with delight the new infant born into their ownership."

It comes full circle: Tom leaves for training and comes back a man. The family has a special meal (Thanksgiving) under the same special tree. A big boat goes across the ocean.

A friend and I discuss chapters 81-100 of Roots. Though it was a read for Black History Month, we are taking six weeks to finish so we can have these kinds of conversations. Check it out!~ https://booksbythecup.wordpress.com/2...

Matilda and others gather under the Chinquapin tree, which reminds me how the Africans would gather under a certain tree. Kizzy also mentions that George has an itch on his feet to travel, which reminds me of his uncles in Africa.

Now that we're focusing George, I've lost some interest. George was born a slave, as was his mother, Kizzy. They've both become so acclimated to slave life that I don't see that same history, culture, and pride in manhood that made Kunta interesting to read about. George is obsessed with cockfighting, and though it enters his mind, teasing readers with more depth, little thought is put into his master father.

". . . Kunta found himself gradually feeling increasingly ridiculous that he was even thinking about these African customs and traditions anymore; for not only would they never be observed here, nor respected -- indeed, he would also be hooted at if he so much as mentioned them, even to other blacks."

This whole passage during which Kunta names his daughter, saying her name three times into her ear before he tells anyone else so she know who she is before anyone else, nearly had me in tears. I love the repetition of holding the baby up to the sky and saying, "Behold, the only thing greater than yourself." Then, I nearly cried again, this time from heartbreak, when the master writes in his bible "Kizzy Waller."

pages 348-349 are tumultuous. On these two pages, Kunta ends up getting married to Bell, but Christian practices are woven into the ceremony, as is jumping the broom, and all if it reads as distorted and clowish, making me feel like I'm going panic alongside Kunta. Africa meets America. Whew!

This is the first page on which a white character is named. Interesting! I was paying attention because I read an article with interesting facts about Roots, and the lack of naming was mentioned.

It's interesting that Kunta's training to become a man means he misses nothing now that he is a slave in the States. Evidence of his greatness and culture's influence is everywhere in his behavior.