Roots by Alex Haley: The generational African-American struggle for freedom

Some dismissed this epic as a fake. But it doesn’t claim to be wholly fact. Granting that it is indeed a fake, then it would be like all the others- fiction. And granting that it is fiction, it is would still stand out as a classic. My copy of Roots by Alex Haley I bought for a mere P20 in a thrift shop. Multiply the price by a dozen and It’s still worth it.

The first part of Roots brings to mind Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Its first parts show that Africans and Europeans have different cultures but what they have in common is humanity. They have their own customs, practices, and traditions. They may not have centralized government but they have no need for such a system in the first place. They were living happily until the slave traders caught them one by one. By focusing on one person – Kunta Kinte – Alex Haley succeeds in presenting to us the real impact of slavery. The question here is: If a man is separated from his land, his people, his culture, and even his freedom, what is left of him? Since Roots spans seven generations (Biblical allusion?), it gives the answer: even if freedom is taken away; hope remains, and through his descendants Kunta Kinte is able to liberate himself from bondage.

The latter parts of Roots bring to mind Beloved by Toni Morrison and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. It presents racial discrimination and all the other dilemmas the African-Americans faced in their struggle.

It was the first part, however, that I enjoyed the most. For in there you can see Alex Haley at his finest. It took a lot of research, imagination, and creativity, for him to create a Gambian village with its exotic environment and fascinating people. The legends, the beliefs, the customs- it’s as if he were there; it’s as if I was there as I read the text. The theme of Roots? I think a major one is human suffering. Another is overcoming that suffering in the face of difficult circumstances. There are sub- and underlying themes, one of which asks the question: Is racial prejudice based on color alone? How come the earlier Africans were too eager to spite the slaves, when they were of the same color? All these questions require an understanding of American history and society and African culture; these elements weave together the fine fabric that is Roots. Even the adaptability of the slaves is significant, for it is a testimony to human fortitude.

Indeed, Roots, like Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Jordan, and of course Barack Obama, is a triumphant proclamation that the African-Americans have succeeded in reclaiming their rightful place in our world.