42 pages • 1 hour read
Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History
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Part 1, Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “The Graphic History”
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “Life at Quamina Eddoo’s House”
Abina describes life at Quamina Eddoo’s house where she and other girls had to work hard, gathering firewood and cleaning. They sometimes cried at night. James Hutton Brew questions if Abina was ever beaten at the house. Abina admits she was beaten and logged (placed or chained in a log) by her previous enslaver, but had only been threatened to be beaten at Eddoo’s house. One such instance was when Eddoo told her to marry Tando (only 10 days after her husband Yaw Awoah left), and she refused. Eddoo sent two men to beat her, and that’s when she decided to run away.
The court takes a recess, and Judge Melton calls the lawyers into his chambers where they discuss the tricky nature of the situation. The judge is trying to uphold British law without overturning Great Britain’s tenuous relationship with the countries they’ve invaded. He acknowledges that Abina’s case could lead to the freeing of more enslaved people, who are vital to the palm oil industry. The lawyers make their cases, but the judge doesn’t want to hear their arguments. They end their discussion for the night.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “He Did Nothing Good for Me”
The next morning, Abina prepares breakfast for her lawyer James Davis, and he asks why she doesn’t mind doing domestic work. Abina says her argument was never about doing work because she understands everyone must work—rather, she wanted the freedom to decide what to do with her body and life. She doesn’t want to be told to marry, but Davis doesn’t think this claim will hold up in court. Abina and Davis then receive an official notice from the court that informs them of two things: There will be a jury of wealthy, land-owning men to help decide the case, many of whom are enslavers, and the court is summoning people from Abina’s town to give testimonies.
Back in court, Judge Melton says he’d like to finish the case. James Davis was unable to find witnesses (despite witnesses being summoned) and asks for more time, but James Hutton Brew insists they wrap things up because Eddoo has lost a week of business and the court has more pressing matters. The judge agrees, and the court moves forward without any witnesses. Brew questions Abina again and tries to make the argument that she was compensated with cloth and food, forms of currency in her culture. Abina gets upset and disagrees, but Eccoah Coom is then called to the stand. Eccoah insists Abina did everything of her own accord and was a guest who ate with her and was treated fairly. However, Adjuah, one of Eddoo’s enslaved girls, testifies that she knows about Abina’s purchase. Abina’s husband, Yaw Awoah, is called to the stand and insists Eddoo was looking after Abina while he went to visit his sick brother. Abina demands that he tell the truth and admit he took her beads, but he refuses. Court is adjourned; there are no more witnesses, and a verdict will be decided the next day. Abina is worried, and Davis says he has to put his faith in the English justice system.
Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary: “Abina Silenced, Abina Redeemed”
The chapter opens with an overview of how slavery in the form of child labor fits into the world. With formal slavery no longer legal, enslavers now rely on child workers. The jury convenes to discuss the case. Although Judge Melton has sympathy for Abina and believes in the abolition of slavery, he allows himself to be swayed by outspoken members of the jury because he knows stability relies on economic prosperity, which relies on slavery. Eddoo is acquitted, but Abina is allowed to remain free. When Davis tells Abina the verdict, she’s upset because she feels like she wasn’t heard.
Various media have documented the history of silencing people, which is accomplished by not documenting (or actively removing) certain groups’ perspectives—thus controlling which perspectives are available for mass consumption. In Abina’s case, only so-called important men, like the lawyers and wealthy landowners, are deemed worthy of documentation. Abina was silenced for 125 years, but now, historians have found her story and are restoring her voice.
Part 1, Chapters 4-6 Analysis
The authors’ decision to render Abina’s story in a visual format isn’t merely an aesthetic choice, but a carefully calculated one that enables the story to progress without constant transitions to orient the reader. This format allows images to supplement and enhance the text—as well as the text’s themes. To distinguish the past from the present, illustrator Liz Clarke uses different overtones of color for scenes in Salt Pond and those in Cape Coast. The Cape Coast scenes, primarily set in the courtroom, have a green and tan-hued color palette, while flashbacks to Salt Pond, which include outdoor and domestic environments, have a red tint to them. This allows readers to visualize both testimonies and flashbacks without losing track of the current plot.
Another visual technique Clarke uses is transparency, which makes Abina appear see-through in specific scenes. One of these instances shows Abina sitting outside on a set of shallow stairs, crying into her hands (79). This moment occurs after she’s learned Quamina Eddoo was acquitted. Readers can see the stairs and other surrounding details through Abina’s skin, making her appear almost ghost-like and reinforcing the themes of how difficult it is to be seen in a world built for others and how The Authors of History can erase entire groups of people from existence—which is almost what happened to Abina. The final instance of transparency appears on the last page of Part 1 (82). A large panel shows a transparent Abina wearing a victorious smile through which readers can see the text of her story. This transparency, unlike the one fueled by Abina’s frustration, illustrates how she lives on through her actions and testimony, offering a message of hope that even in a world built for others, The Authors of History can help elevate stories like Abina’s.
Clarke’s illustrations further enhance the story by distinguishing the many players involved and using their body language to communicate their emotions during testimonies. With so many so-called important men and characters in these scenes, using visuals enables readers to form a more coherent picture of each character based on their appearance, mannerisms, and reactions. If the authors had committed to text alone, it would require readers to devote attention to keeping track of characters. By letting visuals do this work, readers can instead focus on the novel’s themes and questions surrounding The Nature of Freedom.
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