White Man's Brutality and Rising Tensions in "The Book of Night Women"

The Book of Night Women takes place in late eighteenth century to early nineteenth century Jamaica on a slave-owning plantation at a time when tensions between white slave owners and their black slaves are at an all-time high. Slave revolts in Jamaica have become more successful as slaves are outnumbering their masters. By regularly inserting scenes of white man’s violence against slaves, James is heightening the growing tension that leads Homer and other, select women on the plantation to plot their own slave revolt. James’ attention to colloquialism lends to his verisimilitude, helping readers trust that the events in the novel could have actually occurred and making the scenes of violence more believable and ruthless.

            “The last time anybody broke a dish was a slave girl back in 1784 and she get whip so hard she couldn’t lift butter” (137). This scene foreshadows Lilith’s accident at the New Year’s ball that causes “screaming and bawling and soup and porcelain on the floor” (155). Additionally, this scene shows that, in the eyes of the white masters, slaves are significantly less important property than the “cup, saucer and plate come back from England” (137). The girl in 1784 who broke the dish was beaten severely, and when Lilith drops the tray at the ball, she is both beaten and raped brutally. Breaking a dish or tray of soup bowls is a catastrophic crime, worthy of brutal, inhumane punishment; whereas, Lilith knows that “slave death is nothing new” and white masters “can bear with killing a nigger like is nothing” (123). Every day, the slaves’ lives are at the mercy and whims of their white masters.

Not only are the slaves inferior to the dishes, but also to their master’s animals. “To kill a nigger is like to kill a horse” (124). In the eyes of their white masters, slaves do not have humanity or identity—“Every nigger is the same nigger to them” (93). However, it is also this underestimation of slaves by their masters that gives them a secret advantage. Homer and the other women’s ability to read, unknown to their masters and most other slaves even, empowers them and nourishes their desire for freedom. In addition to this secret knowledge, the continuing scenes of violence from the white men against black slaves further heighten already growing tensions and foster the women’s need for freedom that makes them plan a revolt.