The Movie Roots

A detailed Summary of The Movie Roots

In the history of the United States nothing has brought more shame to the face of America than the cold, premeditated years of keeping black people in captivity, which is known as slavery.

Accordingly, slavery can be defined as an inhumane action done to an individual or group of people that causes either physical or mental harm. Slavery, at its very core was a cruel and heartless institution; from the idea behind it to the way it was enforced. It degraded the lives of human beings (particularly blacks) and forbade the basic freedom that every man and woman deserves, according to the Constitution. One example of how cruel and inhumane slavery actually was is the historical film "Roots".

In the movie "Roots", the life of an enslaved African male named Kunta Kinta is followed, beginning with his abduction from his eighteenth century home in Africa. During this time, the Middle Passage was almost unbelievable, being that hundreds upon hundreds of Africans were abducted from their homes to go on boats to America. Consequently, Europeans traveled to Africa and captured Africans such as Kunta Kinta using guns in which many Africans had never seen before. This would later help develop their land and satisfy their need for power in the

The next cruelty that was obvious was the slaves living conditions. They often lived in old cabins that was not heated and damaged completely. Slaves also had no beds and lived in cabins that were extremely overcrowded with numerous family members. Therefore many of them would sleep outside in the summer under a tree until it got cold. In the movie, Kunta Kinta lives in a cabin which seems to be old and beat down. Although in the beginning of the film, he lives in the cabin by himself because he is brought from Africa and has not been broken yet, it is clear that the plantation has an overcrowded population.

During these auctions, many slaves are separated from each other For example, a mother and a son might be bought by different owners and never see each other again. I thought that the movie portrayed this event particularly well because it allowed you to see how close family and friends can be driven apart. For example, Kunta Kinta is taken away from a girl whom he is apparently familiar with. Although, whites in this movie appear to believe that slaves are incapable of comprehending the current events of being auctioned, it is clear that Kunta Kinta is aware that he might not ever see his friend again.

The last cruelty I noticed about slaves in this movie was their lack of fundamental freedom. This in my opinion was the most blatantly cruel and most obvious element of slavery. For instance, the thought of answering to someone such as an overseer to go to the bathroom or sit down and eat makes me sick to my stomach. I can't imagine how could anyone function, if they had to answer to somebody every time they made a move. This is a question that in my mind never seems to get answered. However, this was the life of slaves such as Kunta Kinta and many other slaves as well. A period of time I wish I could erase from African-American history.

Once arriving in the New World slaves such as Kunta Kinta were auctioned off to work on different plantations. During this time the population began to constantly increase due to new opportunities in the New World, therefore the demand of slaves began to increase as well. Thus, owners of plantations would buy large amounts of slaves, being that it was

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Approximate Word count = 1492
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies