The “Book of Night Women” by Marlon James is an incredibly authentic-feeling novel that brings into play many deep issues for being a piece of fiction. I found this book to be a real page-turner that helped, among other things, to widen my understanding of the institution of slavery in the West Indies as well as the dynamics of the relationships between the slave and master. It is this often confusing relationship that I wish to further explore in this paper. In the story our main character, Lilith, ends up developing feelings for her master, an Irishman named Robert Quinn.
The character Quinn is a white slave owner that seems to understand that the institution of slavery is an evil one, but does not know what to do about it, so he goes on with life the way it is. It is hard to hate him, but it’s hard to like him as well. Being an Irishman, he is lower on the social hierarchy put in place by the slave owning community, and because of this he searches for pity and tries to relate to Lilith, his slave. He compares their lives and social standings, which to me seems almost ridiculous, but to him is a completely legitimate understanding.
He does treat Lilith with a certain respect that no other slave owners in the story gives to her. One example that stands out in my mind is the matter of their sexual relationship being more tender and loving than the usual “animalistic” approach that many of the other masters take out on the slave women. “No, fucking. No, rutting like animals, like the animal all white man think black woman be. But he say something when he coming and he hold on to her so weak, like she be the master and is all he can do to hold on.
The Essay on Frederick Douglas Douglass Slaves Master
The Comparison of the life of Frederick Douglas and the life of Harriet Jacobs throughout is enslavement; Frederick Douglass recollected specific events and tragedies. These events stuck with Douglass only enhancing his quest for freedom. After receiving his freedom as a young adult (supposedly for he didn t know his real age), Frederick Douglass went on to write this book where he tells us of ...
” However, Robert Quinn and Lilith are still clearly not equal to one another in the way that Quinn so desperatly tries to convey to her. I feel that the time period placed on this story plays a significant role in Robert Quinn’s treatment of Lilith as a woman. At first glance, even if he is a bit more kind to her, such as insisting that Lilith sit and eat with him while she stands in the corner just watching (something she is accostomed to), and telling her that he wishes to teach her how to ride a horse; he is still incredibly demanding of her.
He still tells her that he “expects a hearty meal” when he returns home late, and that she should clean his home, etc. But keeping this in context, this is how the average woman would have been treated at the time. Robert Quinn is treating her much more like they are in the average relationship based gender roles of the time, and much less like the usual master and slave relationship. This was a somewhat confusing aspect of the text, that unless put into the perspective time, could be completely missed.
It is apparent though, that Robert Quinn wants Lilith to feel this connection between the two of them. He wants her to feel as if she is a free woman when she is with him, so much so that he almost forces this upon her. As if demanding her to be a free woman when in his company, which is redicoulous and hypacritical. In conclussion, Marlon James does a great job at unfolding this relationship to his readers in a way that touches many aspects of the gender and class roles of the time.
It is my opinion that no matter how much Lilith wanted to hate her master, Robert Quinn, she could not simply because of his often soft treatment of her; even if he was agressive and even brutal at times, there were true feelings between the two of them. No matter how misguided the opinions of Robert Quinn may seem, he truely beleived what he infered about his low social standings and the resulting connections he made with Lilith.
