Survival skills that kept Aminata alive
In the Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, the life of an African woman named Aminata, who was kidnapped and forced into the slave trade, is explored. She Moves between Africa, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, England, and New York, facing many hardships and difficulties throughout the journey . Through it all, she manages to survive all her ordeals and lives to tell her story. Being able to read and write, speaking multiple languages and catching babies were some of the most useful survival skills that really helped Aminata stay alive, rather than coincidence, which may have had some influence on her survival. Aminata survives as a slave through the use and demonstration of her unique survival skills throughout …show more content…
Aminata’s multilingualism helped her become a valuable asset in the ship ride for the captors. For instance, when the Medicine Man allows her to stay with him because of her abilities of being fluent in many tribal languages, which helped him and his men communicate with the captives. In exchange, Aminata is granted to move on the ship unencumbered, and provided with enough food and water. ”The medicine man passed me a calabash of water. 'You help me, ' he said. I drank but said nothing. 'You help me and I help you”(Hill 63). This helped her escape the insufferable treatment from the captors for a while until Medicine Man was killed in a revolt, and Aminata was treated the same as everyone, which was worse than ever before. Aminata learns an important lesson from Georgia as to never teach a single word of Gullah to any buckra, and not to let on that she understands "the buckra 's way of speaking" (Hill 129). This lesson in keeping one 's language to oneself stands Aminata in good footing when she does not let on to Alassane and his men who took her inland, that she speaks Fulfulde by the end of the book, The reason for this was that she did not trust them, As Aminata did not notify the traders of her Fulfulde knowledge, she was able to learn about of their plans to sell her at the next slave market to survive and escape from them in order to save her …show more content…
"... my mother taught me how to reach inside a woman - after coating my hand with warm oil- and to touch in the right spot to tell if the door was suitably wide. I became adept at that, and Mama said it was good to have me along because my hands were so small"(Hill 15). Aminata’s ability to catch babies saved her during the ship ride, as mentioned before with her being multilingual, she was treated better because she was seen as an asset. During the time period with Mr.Lindo, she was able to work around the town, catching babies and keep her earnings, while this would never happen with another slave owner, . With earnings she was able to have nice clothes and live very well. Catching babies also gave aminata connections with a lot of people and made her known for her skill at catching babies. Aminata’s skill of catching babies also provided her with a source of money for most of her life in all the different and difficult situations that she lived
In the Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, the life of an African woman named Aminata, who was kidnapped and forced into the slave trade, is explored. She Moves between Africa, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, England, and New York, facing many hardships and difficulties throughout the journey . Through it all, she manages to survive all her ordeals and lives to tell her story. Being able to read and write, speaking multiple languages and catching babies were some of the most useful survival skills that really helped Aminata stay alive, rather than coincidence, which may have had some influence on her survival. Aminata survives as a slave through the use and demonstration of her unique survival skills throughout …show more content…
Aminata’s multilingualism helped her become a valuable asset in the ship ride for the captors. For instance, when the Medicine Man allows her to stay with him because of her abilities of being fluent in many tribal languages, which helped him and his men communicate with the captives. In exchange, Aminata is granted to move on the ship unencumbered, and provided with enough food and water. ”The medicine man passed me a calabash of water. 'You help me, ' he said. I drank but said nothing. 'You help me and I help you”(Hill 63). This helped her escape the insufferable treatment from the captors for a while until Medicine Man was killed in a revolt, and Aminata was treated the same as everyone, which was worse than ever before. Aminata learns an important lesson from Georgia as to never teach a single word of Gullah to any buckra, and not to let on that she understands "the buckra 's way of speaking" (Hill 129). This lesson in keeping one 's language to oneself stands Aminata in good footing when she does not let on to Alassane and his men who took her inland, that she speaks Fulfulde by the end of the book, The reason for this was that she did not trust them, As Aminata did not notify the traders of her Fulfulde knowledge, she was able to learn about of their plans to sell her at the next slave market to survive and escape from them in order to save her …show more content…
"... my mother taught me how to reach inside a woman - after coating my hand with warm oil- and to touch in the right spot to tell if the door was suitably wide. I became adept at that, and Mama said it was good to have me along because my hands were so small"(Hill 15). Aminata’s ability to catch babies saved her during the ship ride, as mentioned before with her being multilingual, she was treated better because she was seen as an asset. During the time period with Mr.Lindo, she was able to work around the town, catching babies and keep her earnings, while this would never happen with another slave owner, . With earnings she was able to have nice clothes and live very well. Catching babies also gave aminata connections with a lot of people and made her known for her skill at catching babies. Aminata’s skill of catching babies also provided her with a source of money for most of her life in all the different and difficult situations that she lived