![]() When he awakens, he learns that Cringle has been murdered and cannibalized, reportedly on Cringle's own suggestion, leaving only himself, the cook, and several Allmuseri on board the ship, which is rapidly falling apart.īefore completely disintegrating into the ocean, the ship is seen by another vessel, the Juno, which manages to rescue five survivors: Calhoun, the cook, and three Allmuseri youth. During this time, Calhoun takes his turn going down to the cargo hold to feed the creature, who gives him a mystical vision of his life and family that renders him unconscious for three days. The first mate, Peter Cringle, tries to steer the ship, but cannot figure out where in the ocean they are, claiming that since the storm, none of the constellations are where they are supposed to be. Calhoun convinces the Allmuseri to leave alive the few remaining white sailors in order to navigate the ship back to Africa, but Falcon commits suicide rather than help them. Barely escaping with their lives, several of the sailors decide to mutiny, but they are preempted when the Allmuseri get the keys to the shackles and take over the ship first. Shortly after the ship sets back for the States, a violent storm hits, worse than any the sailors have seen. The other sailors, already believing the Allmuseri to be sorcerers, begin to worry that their voyage is doomed when they send down a young man to check out the secret cargo, he returns insane. During the voyage, he is humbled by the conditions he observes, learning lessons that teach him to value and respect humanity, which includes identification with his own country, America.Ĭalhoun discovers that the Allmuseri are not the only cargo on board: the captain of the Republic, a philosophical but tyrannical man named Ebenezer Falcon, also uses his voyages to plunder cultural artifacts that could be sold to museums, and on this trip he has purchased what he claims to be the Allmuseri's god. ![]() Although an educated man, Calhoun is at first self-absorbed and thus initially unable to grasp the hardships of slave life. The ship travels to Africa to capture members of the Allmuseri tribe to take back to America to sell as slaves. ![]() Drinking to forget his troubles, Calhoun meets the drunken cook of the Republic and decides to escape Isadora and Zeringue by stowing away aboard the ship, where he is quickly discovered and put to work without pay. The protagonist is Rutherford Calhoun, a freed slave, who flees from New Orleans on a ship called the Republic to escape being blackmailed into marriage by Isadora Bailey, a schoolteacher who convinces Calhoun's creditor, Papa Zeringue, that she will pay Calhoun's debts if he will marry her.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |