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timeywriter 's review for:
Washington Black
by Esi Edugyan
While this could very well have been a novel about the horrors of a slave plantation in Barbados during the 1830's, it is much more than this concept. It is also a coming of age novel that deals with trials and tribulations that only a slave on the run to freedom could ever encounter.
George Washington Black, also known as Wash, is a young slave in the sugar fields when he is suddenly called to the big house one night. The plantation owner's brother, Christopher Wilde, is visiting and in need of a young boy to assist him in his scientific work. He choses Wash to help him accomplish his tasks, namely the completion of a hot air balloon/flying contraption. Wash's gift for drawing becomes apparent and is encouraged by Christopher as they continue to work together, becoming equal partners in their flying machine. However, when a cousin of Christopher comes to the planation as well, the events surrounding his death cause Christopher and Wash to take their flying machine and run. And so begins the adventures of Wash as he follows Christopher north, to the Arctic in search of the Wilde brother's father, an explorer gone for many years. Wash begins to make a life of his own as he is inadvertently free and yet still hunted down by the planation owner as a runaway. I adored Wash as a character, he was so humble and genuine. The fear he felt being hunted down as a runaway was so real and his emotions as he continued to find people of his past or find out elements about his own family history was just astoundingly moving. It was hard to believe that by the end of it all, Wash was still barely twenty years old, for he felt so much older and wiser than the years given to him in this novel. Though, I suppose, such a thing happens to a person who is forced to grow up faster than they normally would, but it could also reflect his genius as an illustrator and a scientist. I like that Wash was able to confront the hardship of all he went through, scars on his face and all, and still know that he created something great even if his name is not on it. Yes, he showed bitterness, but who wouldn't concerning some of the things he went through. All around, Wash was a well rounded character in a beautiful story that highlighted triumph and love alongside hardship.
This novel could have highlighted so many elements of plantation life as a slave and I enjoyed that it was instead about Wash being an artist and a creator. It was about his triumph over it all and embracing that which haunted him. I greatly enjoyed reading a character such as him.
George Washington Black, also known as Wash, is a young slave in the sugar fields when he is suddenly called to the big house one night. The plantation owner's brother, Christopher Wilde, is visiting and in need of a young boy to assist him in his scientific work. He choses Wash to help him accomplish his tasks, namely the completion of a hot air balloon/flying contraption. Wash's gift for drawing becomes apparent and is encouraged by Christopher as they continue to work together, becoming equal partners in their flying machine. However, when a cousin of Christopher comes to the planation as well, the events surrounding his death cause Christopher and Wash to take their flying machine and run. And so begins the adventures of Wash as he follows Christopher north, to the Arctic in search of the Wilde brother's father, an explorer gone for many years. Wash begins to make a life of his own as he is inadvertently free and yet still hunted down by the planation owner as a runaway. I adored Wash as a character, he was so humble and genuine. The fear he felt being hunted down as a runaway was so real and his emotions as he continued to find people of his past or find out elements about his own family history was just astoundingly moving. It was hard to believe that by the end of it all, Wash was still barely twenty years old, for he felt so much older and wiser than the years given to him in this novel. Though, I suppose, such a thing happens to a person who is forced to grow up faster than they normally would, but it could also reflect his genius as an illustrator and a scientist. I like that Wash was able to confront the hardship of all he went through, scars on his face and all, and still know that he created something great even if his name is not on it. Yes, he showed bitterness, but who wouldn't concerning some of the things he went through. All around, Wash was a well rounded character in a beautiful story that highlighted triumph and love alongside hardship.
This novel could have highlighted so many elements of plantation life as a slave and I enjoyed that it was instead about Wash being an artist and a creator. It was about his triumph over it all and embracing that which haunted him. I greatly enjoyed reading a character such as him.