Review of core issue:

Slavery is a central theme in the book. The book explores the complicity of Africans in enabling slavery, slavery perpetuated by the colonial masters, and the institutionalised racism and oppression in our society today.

The book traces the lineages of two sisters who are sold into slavery: Effia and Esi, the former through marriage and the latter as a prisoner of war.

Effia lives in the governor's castle, and below the castle, slaves are trapped in the dungeon awaiting shipment to America. Her husband, the governor, never talks about the slaves who look like his wife, and Effia feigns ignorance. In this context, she was an enabler as she chose not to want to know what was happening in her own compound.

Chief Abeeku conducted trade with the British, dealing in slaves. This goes to show the complicity of Africans in the slave trade that resulted in death, suffering, and the separation of families.

Esi’s daughter, Ness, worked as a slave in a cotton field in Mississippi, where she compared her stay there as “In hell, the sun scorched cotton, it almost burned the palm of your hands to touch it”(page 74). She describes her master at the farm as “the Devil”. This depiction emphasizes the suffering brought about by slavery.

H was imprisoned for nine years for “studyin’ a white woman” (page 158) and he is leased to work in a coal mine, while working out his sentence. At the mine, he is in constant fear of death and endures brutal beatings.

How does the issue resonate with current societal themes?

In today’s society, systemic racism and subtle forms of slavery have persisted. In Kenya, thousands of young people are recruited to go and work each year in the Gulf countries, where they are treated like second-class human beings. They are denied basic rights and freedoms, forced by their economic situations to endure subtle slavery just to eke a living.

In the United States, the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer, is one example of the systemic racism that has persisted since the seventeenth century to date.

Characters across generations struggle to understand where they come from, often feeling the loss of heritage due to slavery, colonization, and migration.

The black stone pendant passed down through Effia’s lineage symbolizes this longing for connection to one’s roots.

How does the issue resonate with current societal themes?

In today’s globalized world, many people, especially those in diasporic communities, struggle to connect with their roots and cultural identities. The novel’s focus on knowing one’s heritage mirrors contemporary movements like DNA ancestry testing, cultural revitalization projects, and the push for more inclusive histories in education.

“It was the first time she realized that love and loss were two sides of the same coin.”

The book Homegoing is deeply rooted in different traces. Love and loss are also the backbone of the story, which appears in different forms across the generations, states, and time. Love often exists in romantic and familiar ways.

Family love in the novel is often marked by separation. Effia and Esi, two half-sisters who never meet, represent the original fracture. Effia remains in Ghana, married into the colonizer's household, while Esi is sold into slavery, taken to America. This divide shows how familial bonds are tested by forces far beyond their control. Motherhood is also defined by both grief and love. Esi loses her child before she can know them. Akua’s generational trauma destroyed her family.

In terms of romantic relationships, we can see Effiyas with her white husband Jems, Marjorie and Marcus, Kojo, the child of Ness and Sam's romantic relationship with Anna. Kojo and Anna's tender love is undone by the Fugitive Slave Act. H's masculinity and sense of worth are crushed in the convict leasing system, making love feel unreachable. Yet still, love flickers in secret glances, in memories, in survival.

Love is often affected by different influences, leading to heartache past trauma can resonate in the current situation. Effia’s relationship reflects how societal expectations can affect love. Today, many families' acceptance leads to heartache decisions. Esi’s forced separation from her lover shows the distraction caused by slavery in personal relationships. Today, due to immigration and systemic racism, it can tear families apart.

Throughout the book, Loss is also one of the issues involved in homegoing: loss of freedom, loss of heritage, loss of homeland, and loss of language. All characters in the book carry a burden they did not choose, but they continue forward, by the need to love, to belong, to heal. The loss of home and freedom in every generation through war, colonialism, imprisonment, and racism.

When Marjorie and Marcus meet distant cousins from opposite ends of the family, that was the peaceful moment because this moment is involved in reconnection after centuries of pain, showing that when love reaches final peace.

How does the issue resonate with current societal themes?

In the book, we can see that loss is not only about physical absence, it also has emotional and psychological effects on mental health and identity.

In today’s world, parents and families demonstrate immense love and support for their kin, when they have a member suffering from an addiction. Parents sacrifice their resources to help their children fight these addictions. In South Africa, for example, the worrying rise in tramadol addiction among youths has left many parents devastated by the loss of their children to overdosing. Parents stand with and support their children through their fight with addiction and more often than not end up losing them.

In Homegoing, James and Akosua's story highlights the impact of generational trauma and the struggle for individual agency in the face of societal structures. James, influenced by Akosua's suffering, chooses to leave his family's involvement in the slave trade, demonstrating a shift in perspective and a new path for himself. This choice, while impactful, also underscores the enduring legacy of the past and the challenges of escaping it, even when personal choices are made. The story resonates today by exploring themes of personal choice, systemic oppression, and the ongoing struggle for justice and equality in the face of historical injustices.

Abena's story reveals the constraints placed on women in her society, particularly regarding marriage and choices about her future. She faces the expectation of waiting for a husband and the limited options available to her if she does not marry. This resonates with contemporary issues of gender inequality and the limitations placed on women's agency in many societies.

How does the issue resonate with current societal themes?

In USA for example there have been ongoing discussions around reparations for historical injustices such as slavery. These actions could include financial compensation, land redistribution among others. A choice like this by the government reflects the wave of change as the tension between maintaining the status quo or pursuing systemic equality rises.