Enlarging History for Personal Enlightenment

Paper Summary:

This essay analyzes the excellent skills of two authors who write historical fiction in very diverse ways. A thorough review and discussion is offered of how the novel "Middle Passage" by Charles Johnson provides a metaphor for the torturous voyage of humans from freedom to slavery. Similarly, Alex, in Andrea Barrett's story "Birds with No Feet" learns about his lack of self-knowledge through his scientific explorations. The implication of both voyages is that through the exploration of such historical fiction, readers can learn about themselves and their place among voyagers on the sea of humanity.

From the Paper:

"Middle Passage, by Charles Johnson, is a personal adventure story in which narrative is applied to history. Through his telling of the exciting tale of Rutherford Calhoun s personal odyssey, Johnson succeeds not only in combining compelling fictional adventure, and historical background, but in evincing closure and new meaning from his material. Johnson actually turns his fictionalized version of the historical horrors of slavery into a profound study of the how humans come to self knowledge when they are least looking for it."

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