Roots: The Saga of an American Family

The gardener explains that only one-third of white people enslave people, while the other two-thirds are poor and like to hurt Black people. The gardener is very old and used to be strong, and Waller bought him for light work. Kunta knows the gardener is Wolof, but the gardener comments that they should not speak about Africa to avoid punishment. Kunta asks Bell about Waller, and Bell explains that he was married to a woman named Priscilla, who died giving birth to a daughter who also died. Kunta tells Bell that she looks like an attractive Mandinka woman, but Bell ridicules Kunta for being African.

Bell and Waller’s driver, Luther, bring news of the American Revolution. Secretly, Bell can read some English. The British military offers freedom for any Black person who joins them, and the same offer is made for those enlisted under George Washington. White enslavers become distrustful of enslaved people, threatening that any Black person who tries to join the English military will be arrested. Billy Flora, a Black man, earns fame by tearing up a bridge during an American retreat, while an all-Black battalion, The Bucks of America, is created by a Black man named Middleton. The Manumission Act of 1782 gives white people the option to free enslaved people. Kunta realizes that he is 34 years old by the end of the war.

After Luther helps a young Black woman escape, Waller sells him, replacing him with Kunta. Waller is frequently called to offer medical help, and an outbreak of “black vomit” exhausts both Kunta and Waller. Waller helps with the birth of John Waller’s daughter, Anne. Kunta grows closer with the cooks and maids at other Waller family properties, including Enfield, where the Waller brothers’ parents live. Kunta learns that the Waller family first came to America in 1635 with Colonel John Waller. Kunta is disturbed by the way the head maids discuss the family and properties with pride.

Kunta discovers that Black nannies often raise white children, and he sees Black and white children playing together, imitating enslavers and enslaved people. Kunta is privy to conversations between Waller and other white men, which periodically address the concern of revolt. Though Kunta has not seen a revolt, word travels that uprisings are being quashed often. Kunta reflects on how some cooks and maids will poison food and kill the white people they work for, but most Black people seem entrenched in their lifestyles.

Kunta reflects on the lives of poor white people, who seem to live in worse conditions than enslaved Black people. Fiddler suspects that poor white people lash out against Black people out of frustration with wealthy white people. News comes in from the north that Quakers are working to free enslaved people, and slavery is abolished in Massachusetts. Kunta doubts that the Quakers can save many enslaved people in the South.

Fiddler makes 75¢ for each performance at white gatherings and hopes to buy his freedom. Kunta notes the irony of the white people’s fantasy of wealth and opulence when contrasted with the brutality of slavery. Kunta hears a drum, called a qua-qua, at a Thanksgiving celebration. Kunta and the African drummer greet each other in Arabic, but Kunta must leave. When Waller decides to go to Enfield alone, the cook, Liza, points Kunta to the African drummer’s cabin.

The African drummer says the white people call him Pompey, but his real name is Boteng Bediako, and he is Akan, an ethnic group in Ghana. He is 66 years old. Boteng tells Kunta about growing up as the messenger for the chief. Kunta tells Boteng about Juffure and the Mandinka, and Boteng says that he heard the Mandinka were great travelers. Kunta tells Boteng that he wanted to travel to Timbuktu and Mali before he was kidnapped. Each man reflects that, if they were in Africa, they would have been carving a gift for each other during the conversation.

Kunta struggles to think of the names of his kafo mates and the elders in Juffure and cries, realizing that he will never see them again. Another driver tells Kunta about a plan among free Black people in the north to ship all Black people back to Africa. Kunta goes to Fiddler’s cabin one night to discuss the plan, but Fiddler says it will not work. Fiddler suggests that Kunta is thinking about women, and Kunta hurriedly rejects the idea.

Kunta dreams about Liza, the cook at Enfield, and debates whether he should try to marry her. Kunta knows that he would have married a girl between 14 and 16 years of age by the time he was 30 in Juffure. Kunta keeps rejecting the thought of marrying Liza and realizes that he is more suited to Bell. Kunta withdraws from Bell the more he thinks about marrying her, and he finally asks Fiddler and the gardener about her past.

Kunta carves a mortar and pestle for Bell and leaves it at the door of the kitchen. They start spending more time together. Kunta visits her at her cabin, and Bell casually notes that she was married previously. Kunta even forgives her belief in Christianity. Bell starts inviting Kunta to her cabin for dinner, and Kunta becomes more lighthearted. Kunta gathers plants and weaves them into a mat for Bell, and she gives him a pair of wool socks, with stuffing for half of the right foot. Bell pulls Kunta into her bedroom, and they sleep together.

Bell arranges with Waller to marry Kunta. The day of the wedding, Boteng comes, and Kunta is relieved to see him in the crowd. Bell and Kunta jump over a broomstick, and Waller presents them with liquor as a gift. Kunta is upset that Bell drinks heavily, and she makes some remarks about their sexuality that he finds distasteful. They all have a feast, and when everyone is gone, Kunta settles comfortably into his life with Bell. Over time, he falls more in love with her.

Kunta is irritated that Bell does not always tell Kunta everything she knows. Kunta tells Bell about a story that Waller related about a Black doctor, but Bell already knows and will not tell Kunta how she found out. Bell confesses that she knows how to read and says that Waller would sell her if he knew. The next night, Kunta shows her how to write his name in Arabic. He names various objects around the house in Mandinka.

Fiddler thinks the white people are scared that they have brought over too many Black people from Africa, which might lead to a revolt. Kunta thinks about how most Black people do not know where they are, where they are from, or who they really are. Bell says that white people keep Black people uneducated and confused to prevent uprisings. She confesses that she thinks about running away, but feels she is too old and scared. This confession resonates with Kunta’s feeling of age and fear, and he realizes that other Black Americans are as angry and afraid as he is.

Bell tells Kunta that she is pregnant, and Kunta fantasizes about having a son. Bell has a nightmare that the baby will be sold or taken, and Kunta reflects on how Black children can be sold before they are born. He is thankful that his child will be Black, rather than “high-yaller.” During labor, Bell confesses to Kunta that she had two children before, with a Black man when they were teenagers, but she was sold to a different plantation and forced to leave her daughters behind. Bell gives birth to a daughter, whom Kunta names Kizzy. He tells her that there is nothing greater than herself than the heavens.

Kunta is dismayed that Anne, Waller’s niece, takes an interest in Kizzy, but Bell argues that their friendship will cement their place on the plantation as a family. Bell tells Kunta a story about a white child that nursed with a Black child and her mother after the white girl’s mother died. The two children grew up together, got separated, and were reunited after the white girl became depressed. According to Bell, neither the white girl nor the Black girl ever married, and they live together still. This story only makes Kunta more opposed to Kizzy and Anne’s friendship.

In 1791, a revolt in Haiti triggers a wave of caution among white Americans. Tensions eventually relax, but meetings between Black people are outlawed unless a white person is present. Bell tries to convince Kunta that many white people are good, noting how Quakers and Methodists have become abolitionists. Kunta overhears conversations between Waller and other wealthy white men, in which the white men truly believe Black people to be less than human.

The gardener dies, and Kunta and his companions prepare the body for a funeral. Waller tells them that they will only work for half of the next day. Waller reveals that the gardener’s name was Josephus, and Kunta wonders if Josephus knew his own African name or ethnic group. Though everyone is referencing heaven, Kunta remembers what Omoro told him about a world of the living, the dead, and the unborn. Kunta resolves to tell Kizzy as a part of her education on Africa.

For Kizzy’s second birthday, Kunta carves her a wooden Mandinka doll. Anne throws a birthday party for just her and Kizzy, upsetting Kunta. Anne starts having Kizzy spend time at John Waller’s home. Kunta enjoys spending time with Kizzy when they drive together and teaches her some Mandinka words. Anne sends Kizzy a small white doll, and Kunta finally gives Kizzy the doll he carved. Kizzy shows Anne Kunta’s jar of stones, but when Anne tells Waller, Waller is angry with Bell. Bell beats Kizzy, telling her never to bring Anne into their home.

Kunta drives William Waller to a white church two Sundays a month, and Roosby, John Waller’s driver, comments that white people do not seem to enjoy their worship or their food. Bell conspires with William Waller to get Kunta to drive her to the Christian camp meeting in July, telling Kunta that Kizzy is going to be christened. Kunta is amazed by the similarities between the camp meeting and the gatherings in Juffure. Baptism, in which adults are held underwater, scares Kunta, but the preacher only sprinkles water on Kizzy’s forehead.

When Kizzy turns seven, Bell spends hours telling Kizzy how to be a good maid. When Anne visits, Kizzy implicitly does not need to work. Kizzy asks about her family, and Kunta struggles to explain that Anne and Kizzy cannot truly be friends when Anne’s family enslaves Kizzy.

Hattie, the cook at Enfield, tells Kunta about a naval battle between America and France. They discuss how America sent ships to help Toussaint defeat another uprising in Haiti. White people are afraid of the Quakers, who want to free all Black people. Hattie and Kunta agree that America still needs more enslaved people after the invention of the cotton gin, which allows greater efficiency in cotton processing. White men in Virginia are selling their enslaved people to giant cotton plantations in southern states.

Kunta sees Noah, a 10-year-old enslaved boy, watching Kizzy and Anne playing. Kunta takes Kizzy on walks along a stream and tells her about Nyo Boto, whom he realizes lost two children like Bell. Kunta bursts out that white people kidnapped Black people, took their clothes, and replaced their names. He shows Kizzy how he writes “Kunta Kinte” and “Kizzy Kinte,” and he allows her to put the next stone in his gourd.

In 1800, William Waller leaves town, and John Waller spends a week at the plantation. A free Black man, Gabriel Prosser, leads an uprising of enslaved people. John patrols the plantation, sitting on the porch with a shotgun at night. Kunta and William return three days early, and John goes home. Fiddler was performing at a ball in Richmond during the revolt, and everyone is concerned that he may have been attacked. Fiddler stops Kunta while driving and explains that he hid in ditches along the road until he saw Kunta.

Thomas Jefferson is elected president, and the enslaved people at Monticello, where Jefferson lives, report fondly on Jefferson. Jefferson agrees with Alexander Hamilton that Black people need to be freed and sent back to Africa. Waller wants to stop at an auction of enslaved people, where Kunta is disturbed to see an older woman, a young man, and a teenage girl sold. Bell reports that a trader came looking for Waller while he and Kunta were out, and she left his card on Waller’s desk.

Prices for enslaved people continue to rise as Deep South plantations require additional workers to satisfy the cotton capacity of northern mills. Waller worries that free Black people will lead revolts. Waller says he has no intention of selling any enslaved people, insisting that slavery and real estate are the most profitable investments. Fiddler reveals that he is saving up to buy his own freedom, showing Kunta $700 he has saved. Years ago, Waller told Fiddler that it would cost $700 to buy his freedom. The next day, Fiddler explains that Waller increased his price to $1,500.

Fiddler becomes depressed and only talks to Kizzy when she brings him food. Kunta’s back hurts, and Bell tells Waller that Kunta cannot get out of bed. Waller orders Fiddler to start driving his carriage. Anne visits and reads a passage from Waller’s Bible for Kunta, and all the enslaved people are impressed. Kunta begins to improve.

Anne teaches Kizzy how to read and write, making Kunta nervous that such skills might get Kizzy into trouble. For her 16th birthday, Anne throws a party and does not acknowledge Kizzy. Anne starts spending less time at Waller’s home and only spends about a half an hour walking with Kizzy before leaving. At 13, Kizzy menstruates for the first time, and Kunta decides that the most likely marriage option for Kizzy is Noah, who is two years older than Kizzy.

Kunta overhears Bell chastising 15-year-old Kizzy for trying to seduce Noah, and Kunta watches signs of increased interaction between them. Noah approaches Kunta directly and explains that he is planning to escape without Kizzy, but does plan to buy her freedom once he gets to Ohio, which does not allow slavery. Kunta does not tell Bell or Kizzy about Noah’s plan, but Noah claims he is going to tell Kizzy on his own.

When Noah goes missing, Waller decides to wait until the next day to take action. Waller alerts the sheriff that Noah may be running away. When the sheriff’s carriage arrives, Bell tells Kunta the sheriff is talking to Kizzy. Waller tells Bell that Noah was caught with a forged travel pass written by Kizzy, and he plans to sell her. Kunta charges into the room, begging them to save her, but Kizzy admits that she forged the pass. Kunta tackles the sheriff, who hits Kunta in the head with his pistol and chains Kizzy in the carriage. Kunta grabs the dust from Kizzy’s footprints and, realizing that he will never see his daughter again, smashes his gourd on the ground, revealing 55 years’ worth of stones.