Family Theme Analysis

In Barracoon, Cudjo Lewis describes being torn away from his family in West Africa and eventually forming a new family in Alabama after his enslavement ends. In Cudjo’s narrative, family quickly emerges as the most central aspect of life. In Africa, it’s the foundation of a strong and vibrant society; in America, it helps Cudjo heal after years of suffering as a slave. At the same time, Cudjo loses both his families, the first in a raid by a rival tribe and the second to a series of largely preventable accidents and illnesses. By the end of the book, Cudjo emerges as the sole survivor of both clans. His lonely situation is symptomatic of the racist social order in which he lives, demonstrating that one of slavery’s biggest legacies is the irrevocable fracturing of family networks.

Cudjo’s descriptions of his West African upbringing center around large and tightly knit families. He himself grows up in a large family, among many children. He sees his position within his family as integral to his self-conception. When Hurston tries to cut him short during an anecdote about his grandfather, he says that “I cain telle you ‘bout de son before I tellee you ‘bout de father.” In this sense, it’s family that gives Cudjo’s life existential meaning. Although his tribe is generally patriarchal and polygamous, the women have a surprising amount of autonomy. According to Cudjo, the process of choosing additional wives for husbands and arranging marriages between children—two of the most important aspects in family life—is entirely adjudicated by women. The women’s power to make decisions is an indicator of the family’s overall strength and cohesion. During the raid on his village, Cudjo is appalled most by the murder of the elderly and the almost certain knowledge that his mother has been killed during the violence. For him, captivity is less important than the fracturing of family networks that have been central to him.

When Cudjo eventually rebuilds his life in America, family becomes central there as well. Cudjo’s first sense of happiness and security comes when he marries Seely, another survivor of the Middle Passage. Cudjo describes his feelings for Seely in simple but emphatic terms, saying “She a good woman and I love her all de time.” Here too strong family connections coincide with female autonomy. Cudjo and Seely decide to marry after a frank and equitable discussion, and his descriptions of their marriage evoke an equal partnership between strong characters. This equitable dynamic is largely what maintains the family’s strength throughout successive misfortunes.

Cudjo and Seely have six children in quick succession and Cudjo proves a devoted father, saying “I love my chillum so much! I try so hard be good to our chillum.” While Cudjo derives some comfort from being surrounded by fellow Africans and building Africatown, it’s clear that his children are the central happiness of his life. However, all six of the children eventually die. Most of the deaths stem from preventable causes like illness or accidents that might have been avoided if residents of Africatown had access to public services or better jobs. The children’s deaths show how racial discrimination threatens and ultimately destroys the family unit. In this sense, the demise of Cudjo’s family in America is directly linked to the death of his family in West Africa.

While Cudjo is fairly reticent about the actual Middle Passage, he dwells extensively on the importance of family and the misfortunes that break apart his family in both Africa and America. For him, the legacy of the Middle Passage and slavery as a whole is most evident in its repercussions to black families.