The power of fate

During the time when the practice of Obeah is first noticed by Massa Humphrey, the narrator offers some incite to the life of a slave and says

“And when a negro walk, light get take away from him so he never know when he hit a curve or bend. Worse, he never see that he walking round and round and always come back to where he leave first. That be why the negro not free. He can’t walk like the freeman and no matter where he walk, the road take he right back to the chain, the branding iron, the cat-o-nine or the noose that be the blessing that no niggerwoman can curse" (121).

Obeah, or the “niggerwoman curse” in this passage, is the only power the slaves have over the white man when it is believed to be real. They believe that no white man can interfere with a curse that is already in place. Though this passage suggests that the only thing the women cannot curse is the power the white people have over the slaves and the unavoidable fate that he/she will be beaten or killed. This is an interesting paradox that emphasized the idea that “every negro walk in a circle” unable to escape their fate.

In this passage, James uses the word “light” as what leaves the negro as they walk. This suggested that the more action a slave takes to change is lot in life the blacker he becomes which only makes him more of a slave. It is also notable in the passage that the light is “taken away from him” that it is involuntarily removed by someone with more power, but it also suggest that the light is there originally and would be returned if the power could be returned if he be a free man.

The last line of the passage refers to the chain or noose as a “blessing.” This is not a term that one would typically associate with violence. It is more interesting that this word was chosen because it is associated with the European’s religious teachings. Later in the novel, the idea that good slaves go to heaven highlights that the slaves believe that are walking in a circle and the best thing they can do in life is be a good slave.