Previous Next

Born to Maame and Big Man after Maame escapes being enslaved in Fanteland, Esi grows up thinking nothing of using the labor of enslaved prisoners of war. Esi is confused by her mother’s sympathetic treatment toward the maid Abronoma and even defends her father’s beating of Abronoma for spilling two drops of water. However, Esi becomes more compassionate upon realizing that her mother was once enslaved and that Abronoma was also the daughter of a Big Man before being enslaved herself. Esi then is forced into the same fate as Maame and Abronoma as she is captured and enslaved.

Even when Esi is first in the dungeons of the castle, she finds she still has some faith in people, as she is made hopeful by the smile a British officer gives her. Yet when that same officer takes her out of the dungeon to rape her, she understands that the smile of a white man means nothing. From the moment Esi is captured, she tries desperately to keep the black stone pendant given to her by Maame, even swallowing it so that the British officers will not take it from her. Once in the dungeon, she finds the stone in her waste and buries it. However, she is unable to retrieve it before being forced onto a slave ship, showing how the slave trade will rob Esi’s descendants of her memory and heritage.

Previous section Effia Next section Marjorie

Take a Study Break