Summary

Ajarry – The novel begins with reference to how Caesar, another slave, suggested to Cora that they should run away, and to how Cora said no. Cora was, narration comments, remembering her grandmother, Ajarry. Ajarry’s history is described: she was taken from her African village, appraised and sold again and again and finally ended up on the plantation of the Randall family, where she spent the rest of her life. Narration also describes how all of Ajarry's children died but one - Mabel, Cora's mother. Ajarry died of a brain aneurysm in the field. Before she died, however, Ajarry had instilled in Cora a sense of the futility of trying to run away. This section concludes with a reference to how Cora changed her mind about running and said yes: “This time,” narration comments, “it was her mother talking” (8).

Georgia, Part 1, pp. 10 – 21. This section...