The Back Cover of 'ROOTS' book reads, “In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning no matter our attainments in life” and sets the tone of the entire novel. Roots as the name suggests, deals with Alex Haley, an African American Author’s obsession to find his roots, the native place of his ancestors and their journey from the great continent of Africa to the United States of America. It’s an Excellent read!
With years of meticulous research and lots of inter-continental travelling, the author managed to trace his Great Great Grand Father, ‘Kunta Kinte’ who was kidnapped in The Gambia in Africa in 1767 to be sold as a slave in the United States. He also managed to trace the actual village, Juffure, from where Kunta Kinte was kidnapped. The village is still in existence today where the local tribal historians still tell the story of Kinte’s capture.
It’s the early 17th century and the local inhabitants of the village Juffure are still unaware of any other place existing outside the continent of Africa. They are farmers who earn their living working hard in their fields and are bound together by their ancient tribal customs and traditions. The book beautifully describes the structure of their society and the customs and traditions they follow. It also describes, in detail, the traditions followed by adjoining tribal villages and how these villages interacted with each other. Kunta Kinte is born in a well known family of the village and inherits his name from his grandfather who was a well respected member of their society. Kinte hones his hunting skills and farming skills under strict scrutiny of the village elders. As Kinte grows up, so does the fear of the unknown ‘White’ people, notorious for kidnapping Africans and taking them away into distant lands from where no one ever returned.
Despite being cautious, Kinte is kidnapped by these ‘White’ people. His sufferings start when he, along with many more captured African People, is chained abroad a slave ship which takes them to the dreaded land of the America. This long voyage really breaks the spirit of lots of his fellow inmates but Kinte is hell bent on escaping and reaching back to his native place. Once on-shore he is sold to a wealthy American Plantation owner where he is treated like a farm animal. In those days, African people were captured and forced to work on the plantations of rich American farmers as slaves. The standard of living for these slaves was really pathetic and the socio-economic conditions depicted in the book are, sometimes, disturbing.
Kinte, true to his nature, tries to escape many times. But each time, he gets caught and endures harsh beatings from his masters. During one such escapade, the master chops off one of his leg and he is left to die in dense woods. A doctor rescues him and in return keeps him as his slave in his own plantations. Despite being crippled, Kinte is determined to keep himself rooted to his African Traditions and secretly nurtures his tribal traditions. Eventually he marries a fellow slave girl and they start their own family in a hope that one day they will buy themselves out form the slavery and live as free people in America.
When their baby girl is born, Kinte tells his daughter everything that he knows about his African descent and their heritage and insists that she should retell these tales to her sons and daughters. This way their heritage can be kept alive in these distinct lands and his grandchildren would know where they really belonged. Disaster strikes when Kinte’s daughter, Kizzy, is sold to another Plantation Owner in a faraway place. But his spirit runs true in his daughter and she resolves to tell her sons and grandchildren of their rich heritage. The long and painful life of Kizzy and her descendants is beautifully depicted in the book. The book also describes the pains and hardships the African American people had to endure in order to survive in America.
The book emphasizes that African Americans have a long history and not all of that history is lost as may had previously believed. This book is published in thirty seven languages. It has won 1977 National Book Award as well as Pulitzer Price and went on to become a land mark television miniseries in 1977. The book faithfully captures the pain and suffering endured by African people and also tries to depict the courageous and determined efforts of the African people to preserve their heritage on foreign soils. Overall it is a really good summer time read.
Name : ROOTS
Author : Alex Haley
Pages : 900
Cost : Rs. 495
Available at all Leading Book Stores
Review by Abhijit Ranade
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