The Known World
by Edward P. Jones
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2004
As powerful as this novel was, I have to say it had one idea
repeated over and over in episodes that ranged from being quietly tragic to kind of staggering. Not that this idea is an unimportant one, and if I were to
pick up a book and it contained only the three words "Slavery is
bad," I probably would have thought that the book lacked a punch. But
there it is. Edward P. Jones created a living community on the page, with
characters that are fully developed and living, and has them all play out a
story that seems to underline the fairly obvious message that slavery is bad.
The novel deals with a family of slaves who through
difficulty and sacrifice manage to buy their freedom from a master who believes
in slavery as an institution. However, the young man who is purchased into
freedom last has spent a good amount of time as his white master's footman, and
has now a rather warped impression of what slavery is. This is apparent when he
turns around and begins purchasing slaves himself. In another plotline there is
a young married couple who are abolitionists who are given, as a wedding gift
from a passive aggressive slave owning cousin, a young slave girl. The couple
decide against freeing the girl, but instead raise her as a daughter--with
disastrous results. These storylines, and others are weaved together expertly.
I will say that the climax of the novel feels like a pulled punch compared with
other moments, but Jones is able to let us know how the unnatural state of
slavery is, well, bad.
I think it is probably fair to put this novel in direct
comparison to other novels about a similar subject. Toni Morrison's Beloved deals with slavery as an
institution and as a wound that continues to hurt everyone who was affected by
it. The Known World is a good compliment to this idea. While not as strong a
work as Beloved, it does remind the
readers that slavery really was not so long ago, and the affects of slavery are
still felt. Jones will trace the descendants of some of his characters all the
way to contemporary times in a way that is interesting, and even mildly
accusatory.
I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't my favorite. I would
suggest it to people who are interested in history, and historical stories that
are not often told. There is also a local feel to the novel (I am located in
Richmond VA), and the story takes place in and around where I live and work. I
guess people who live in Manhattan probably experience this feeling quite a bit.
Coming soon: The
Sportswriter by Richard Ford
