Damballah
John Wideman’s “Damballah” takes place back in a time where men used to buy the lives and souls of other men with just money out of their pockets. Culture, religion, and the families of these slaves meant nothing to their captures. As long as these “niggers” got their work done, then the master was happy, since this reassured him that he got his money’s worth. The master of the plantation in “Damballah” gets a lot more than he bargained for with the purchase of a slave named Orion. Orion is much different than any of the other slaves on the plantation. This idea is apparent to the reader right from the beginning. Orion is, as Aunt Lissy describes, “…a crazy nigger. One of them wild African niggers act like he fresh off the boat.” Orion has refused to speak English and he has also refused to accept Christianity. He has done all of this simply because he wants to desperately hold on to his escaping culture. He views his insubordination as the only way to hold on to this culture and history that he can feel slipping away. In the opening paragraph, Orion’s frustration is shown when he feels that he has never learned the “proper” way to fish. He knows that he’s African, and he should fish like his fellow African
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Aunt Lissy, Lissy Orion, John Widemans, Orion Orion, Widemans Damballah, Aunt Lissys, aunt lissy, Damballah Instead, orion boy, master wife, watching orion boy, aunt lissy orion, story instead, name ryan, orion orion, lissy orion, boy heard, widemans damballah, john widemans,
Approximate Word count = 1300
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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