Anazlyzing Middle Passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anazlyzing Middle Passage - Essay Example However, in the absence of this art of fictionalizing history, Middle Passage would represent a mere narrative about a sea journey rather than a philosophical narrative about the African-American’s journey through history. Rutherford Calhoun, a recently freed slave in 1830 with a somewhat checkered past stows away aboard the Republic, a ship docked in New Orleans. Calhoun’s goal is two-fold. He hopes to secure employment aboard the Republic as a cook and also hopes to avoid creditors as well as a forced marriage. Ironically he ends up running into problems that far surprise the unpleasant matters associated with outstanding debts and undesirable marriages. Unknown to Calhoun the Republic is en route to Africa to collect a cargo of slaves. Moreover, the journey is characterized by a mixed bag of characters and disturbing storms and misadventures. Calhoun’s observation is very clearly out of historical context as it raises a twenty-first century concern. It was not until this period that physics was applied to examining the link between religion and science. This anachronistic observation serves a symbolic purpose as does the journey on board the Republic. Somewhere at the nexus between consciousness and experience a person forms an identity. Through Calhoun’s experiences as narrated the modern reader follows Calhoun’s evolution from a thoughtless rogue-like character to a man of awareness that permits him to embrace the â€Å"countless seas of suffering.†(Johnson, p. 209) This is a contrast to the young man who at the onset of the novel whose observations were lacking in consciousness. He said: Calhoun’s evolution is certainly out of time. His rejection of stereotypes and indoctrination represents the black consciousness of the twenty-first century. Johnson however uses the Middle Passage as a means of bringing the modern reader to the realization that it was primarily the black experience that gave rise to this latter-day