Homegoing Quotes

English Essay Kahssay, 1

Can HomeGoing stand the test of time or will it be forgotten buried by time.

HomeGoing is a novel by Yaa Gyasi published in 2016.

It tells the story of two half sisters Effia and Esi, who are born into different villages in the 18th century in Ghana.

Effia was married off to a British colonizer while Esi was captured and sent to America as a slave.The novel follows the lives of their descendants through the generations, exploring themes of slavery,family, identity and the lingering effects of historical injustices on individuals and society.

The book is divided into multiple chapters with each telling a story of a different character and how they’re connected to the story which allows the book to be set

Firstly the vivid imagery in HomeGoing is shown through the quotes like: “The ship was a great beast, with iron teeth that chewed up the water and spit it out again”(Gyasi 22). The quote from the text shows how Gyasi uses vivid imagery to display the nuances if the slave trade. The vivid imagery of the ship envokes a sense of overwhelming power of the slave trade.

This second quote shows the rich historical context: “The whites had come with their disease and their guns and their bible and they had taken this land and they had taken these people and they had made them into something new”(Gyasi 27). The historical context of this quote has a heavy impact on the reader since these are real events that took place in the real world.

“Esi had never seen a white man before. She had heard of them, of course. They were ones who had taken her people from their homes, herded them onto ships, and sold them to the highest bidder”(Gyasi 33). The personal perspective of Esi in this quote allows the reader to have a deeper understanding of the perspective of the character's mental and thought

The novel explores the intergenerational stories in HomeGoing through text like: “Effia’s children, who belonged to james collins, grew up in a different world from Esi’s children, who belonged to the Ashantis”(Gyasi 62). This quote shows how Gyasi explores the impact of slavery on generations of families.

“The weight of her ancestor’s capture and transportation lay heavy on her”(Gyasi 97) show how the lingering effects of historical injustices affects the character but also allows the reader to get an idea of the effect on a society.

The third quote: “The weight of what had been done to their ancestors, of what was still being done to their people was heavy on all of them”(Gyasi 108) shows the lingering effects of injustices on individuals and society. It highlights the ongoing impact of the slave trade on the characters and a larger society answering a question if something done a long time ago still effects people and why we cant just forget about