Sorrow and Grief

The protagonist and first person narrator Annis’s account is defined by sorrow and grief. Annis is born into slavery. Therefore, her life as an enslaved person is the only life that she has known. For a time, Annis learns to rely upon her mother to survive. However, when Sasha is sold in Chapter 1, “Mama’s Bladed Hands,” for trying to flee with Annis to the swamp, Annis learns “what it means to be alone. To sleep without safety,” “To cry so much, spit runs from my mouth and puddles beneath my face” (26). In the wake of losing Sasha, Annis starts hiding in the clearing with the bees: the only ones to “witness [her] grief” (26). In the passages from Chapter 2, “Walking Ropeward,” that follow, Annis explains that her grief is so encompassing, that “I look through my sire, through my sisters, through Cleo, through...