Notes on Transcript: Pages 21–44
Setting and Context
Timeframe: Fragmentary memories and ongoing fear of poisoning pervade plantation life; the fear has invaded every residence and affects interactions from large houses to huts.
Place: Fayot plantation on the Big Island; includes grand houses, crawled alleyways, workrooms, barracoons, and distant hills encircling sugarcane fields.
Social dynamics: Masters and mistresses (the Fayot family) dominate; enslaved people organize in hierarchical roles (cook, housemaid, cocotte, field slaves). Authority is exercised through surveillance, gossip, and punitive discipline.
Historical/hysterical backdrop: Renewed attention to poisonings, poisoners, burnings; the colonists’ fear of “the other” among enslaved people; interwoven references to a larger system of policing and punishment.
Language cue: The narrator Lisette is Arada, Creole-born on the Big Island; her sense of self is anchored in family memory, talismans, and kinship networks.
Narrative Voice and Structure
Point of view: First-person, intimate, memory-driven diary-like narration from Lisette, a house slave who also serves as a conduit to family histories and slave resistance.
Core motifs: memory as moral and political act; talismans (garde-corps, Brigitte’s cord) as links to ancestors; the tension between duty (household chores) and longing (freedom, love, justice).
Emotional tone: Haunted, reverberant with fear, longing, and moments of tenderness; juxtaposition of brutal violence with intimate scenes of care and affection.
Stylistic technique: Long, discursive passages that blend present events with flashbacks to Grandmother Charlotte, Brigitte, and the barracoons; interlacing personal memory with collective history.
Major Characters (with roles and relationships)
Lisette (narrator): Granddaughter of Charlotte; Arada woman; housemaid; keeper of family memory; lover of Vincent; navigates slavery's restrictions while safeguarding talismans.
Madame (Madame Fayot): Mistress of the plantation; hosts dinners; drives the social atmosphere; anxious about poisonings yet complicit in oppressive order.
Master Fayot: The master; his table politics reveal fear and power dynamics among slaveholders; his household is both stage and instrument of control.
Ma Augustine: Elder housemaid/ supervisor over Rose-Marie and slave children; embodies Creole practicality and tough morality; enforces discipline (e.g., orders Lisette to remove talismans); acts as a grim mirror of master’s authority yet also a figure of care and memory.
Ma Victor: The mistress’ companion or relative who holds authority within the house; skeptical of slaves but also bound by guardian-like respect for Grandma Charlotte’s lineage.
Manon: Lisette’s young companion, daughter of Franchette; a girl whose life is endangered by the poisonings and the masters’ fear-systems; treated with both affection and risk.
Vincent: A Maroon leader known as “The Fearless One”; Lisette’s lover; visits Lisette secretly; carries talismans and a dangerous past of capture and pursuit; embodies a bridge between enslaved communities and a hunger for freedom.
Michaud: Former overseer who lost an arm; now a messenger and intermediary for slaves seeking to escape; educated (reads L’Affiche Américaine); offers brutal yet candid reflections on slavery (including his own violence and guilt).
Arcinte: Nago woman who was pregnant when punished by the master; Arcinte’s story of branding, lashes, ratification of power, and ultimate escape into the hills with her child; becomes a focal point for Michaud’s recounting of brutality.
Brigitte (great-aunt Brigitte): Matriarchal figure from Lisette’s lore; Brigitte’s children died protecting her; Brigitte’s memory functions as a talisman and moral anchor for resilience.
Grandma Charlotte: Lisette’s grandmother; strong memory-keeper; tells stories of Rosalie, barracoons, and the African diaspora; her stories frame Lisette’s understanding of self and history.
Gracieuse: Madame’s cocotte; part of the intimate circle within the master’s household; helps frame the hierarchy among enslaved women.
Désirée, Pierrot, Charlot: Elders and vulnerable slaves in the yard; Désirée is Mina; Charlot is a disabled newcomer; they embody the fates and casualties of plantation life.
Fontilus: Baker’s son; a teasing, flirtatious figure among Lisette; embodies the closeness of childhood bonds that persist under slavery’s atrocities.
Gracieuse and other cocottes: Represent the social-labor division and gendered space within the big house; their interactions contribute to Lisette’s sense of belonging and threat.
Key Concepts, Terms, and Symbols
Garde-corps: A talisman made of feathers, sand, leather, and other materials that allegedly grants invulnerability against bullets; forbidden to wear by enslaved people; acts as a symbol of ancestral protection and stubborn resistance against white power.
Brigitte’s cord: A cord belonging to Lisette’s great-aunt Brigitte; tied knots; preserved as a token of lineage and memory; Lisette hides it atop a mango tree to protect it from master’s confiscation.
Rassade drops and ear rings: Items of personal memory and resistance carried from Grandmother Charlotte’s time; symbolize ties to family history and education of resistance.
Rosalie (The Infamous Rosalie): The notorious branding event aboard ship; a symbol of sexual violence, branding, and commodification; connected to the trauma and branding that mark enslaved women.
Barracoons: The slave barracoons on the coast; sites of capture, confinement, and brutalization; a foundational memory for Grandma Charlotte’s generation and Lisette’s storytelling.
India cloth bolts: Branded as highly valuable; Brigitte and Lisette’s group were trafficked as precious commodities during the Middle Passage; used to describe the commodification of people.
L’Affiche Américaine: A newspaper that Michaud and Lisette read; represents literacy and access to information among enslaved people; a tool for understanding the larger political economy of slavery.
Don Pedro’s dance: A brutal scene on the slave ship where a Hausa woman and her partner enact a symbolic dance of death; the crowd’s reaction and the eventual deadly outcome highlight the dehumanization of the voyage.
Code noir and lash terminology: References to the laws and punishments that govern slavery (e.g., rigoise lashes, branding); essential to understanding the legal framework used to control enslaved people.
Donnée of maroon escapes and raids: Maroons’ activity, including raids and the presence of the Fearless One (Vincent); highlights resistance beyond the plantation walls.
Page-by-Page Highlights (selected, pages 21–44)
Page 21: The dread fear of poison pervades all communities; “six women and mistresses … four or five men or women” burned monthly for poison accusations; the Fayots’ gossip becomes a social contest of poison-lore; Lisette observes the creeping mistrust, especially towards Rose-Marie and Florville; Ma Augustine’s rumored distrust of Ma Victor’s plan to poison the Fayot family; Manon is observed eating before the masters to protect her great-niece.
Page 22: Lisette reflects on Manon as Franchette’s daughter; Franchette’s legacy of elegance; Grandma Charlotte’s memory as shelter from subservience; Lisette’s vision of the world expands beyond the house into the countryside, sugarcane fields, and freedom’s horizon; Lisette contends with the master’s and mistress’ schedules, nap times, and big dinners.
Page 23: Interaction with Fontilus, a baker’s son; their bantering about poisoning and hunger; Ma Victor’s warning about the dangers of exposing themselves; Lisette is reminded of her Creole-Arada identity; she longs for Vincent and the next meeting while dodging damp workrooms and fields; her physical description of rain, tears, and the weight of memory.
Page 24: Lisette’s rain-soaked reflection; she recounts Vincent’s reappearance and their entwined sensuality; she removes the garde-corps talisman and Ma Augustine commands the removal of Aunt Brigitte’s cord; Lisette chooses to safeguard a deeper personal memory by relocating the talismans to a mango-tree hollow for continued protection; the memory of Brigitte’s power and beauty anchors Lisette’s resilience.
Page 25: Lisette clandestinely carries Aunt Brigitte’s cord and keeps Aunt Brigitte’s memory intact; she hides the cord at the top of the mango tree; Grandma Charlotte’s words surface: trust both grandmas; the memory of Brigitte’s two dead sons and her defiance is invoked by Vincent’s faith in them.
Page 26–27: Michaud’s recounting of the enslaved peoples’ languages (Mandingo, Wolof, Nago, Mina, Hausa, Ibo, Arada) as a form of cultural memory; he condemns simplistic colonial labels; Arcinte’s story intensifies as he describes her brutal punishment (50 lashes of rigoise plus 21 more, as per Code noir) while she’s pregnant; Michaud’s admission of his own complicity in the violence—“my machete … left wrist … the arm I no longer have”—emphasizes the moral injury of slavery on both sides of the whip.
Page 28–29: Arcinte’s release or escape but with a devastating price; the infant’s death; Arcinte’s nudity and humiliation; Arcinte’s eventual rescue by others and her departure toward the hills with her child; Michaud’s recollection of Arcinte’s trauma and the “voice” of the arming and the injuries she bears; Lisette’s reverence and grief as she processes Arcinte’s freedom moment.
Page 30–31: Michaud’s confession about the two attempts to poison him; Lisette’s sense of guilt about teaching others to read as a form of privilege; the moral complexity of literacy under slavery; Lisette’s empathy with Désirée, Pierrot, and the other neglected enslaved people she visits; Michaud’s languages and his insistence on dignity in resistance.
Page 32–34: The long recounting of Arcinte’s punishment reveals the brutal logic of the Code noir and the body as a map of power; Arcinte’s cries and the imagery of “brand” and “ear” illustrate the material violence of enslavement; Michaud’s admission of having used force to punish a child within Arcinte’s body; the transformation from pain to a haunting image of freedom as Arcinte walks away with her child toward the hills.
Page 35–36: Grandma Charlotte’s memory as talisman; her counsel: “Your story must dwell, vigilant, under your skin”; Lisette’s growing reliance on memory to withstand present fears; the weight of Grandma Charlotte’s legacy in Lisette’s life; the belief that stories root survival and identity even as they wound.
Page 36–38: Dinner-table fear among masters; Villiers’ insistence on an “iron fist”; debates about whether the poisoners are among slaves; the sense that fear drives punitive acts more than justice; Lisette’s anxiety for Vincent, Michaud, and Ma Augustine; her need to protect the talismans and her companions.
Page 39–40: Lisette’s renewed visit to Grandma Charlotte’s maternal stories; Grandma’s warning that some histories require wings to fly beyond the present; the ship passage memories emerge—no sky, no stars, steerage darkness, bodies pressed in close quarters, and the haunting memory of stars that cannot be seen; the Infamous Rosalie episode is foreshadowed and recounted in fragments.
Page 41–42: The ship’s Don Pedro’s dance; the Hausa woman’s death-motif; “bolts of India cloth” as a dehumanized economic unit; Brigitte’s branding on her breast; the ship’s journey as a crucible of trauma; Grandma Charlotte’s narrative makes sense of the branding and the sale as forms of death-in-life.
Page 43–44: Lisette’s nighttime tenderness with Ma Augustine; the two women share a quiet ritual of hair-combing and ginger tea; the rain disrupts the shack; Lisette continues to guard the talismans and the family memory; a moment of mutual care renews Lisette’s resolve to endure and resist.
Historical and Ethical Contexts
Code noir and punishment: The lash (rigoise), branding, and forced punishment reveal the legal framework used to control enslaved people. Arcinte’s punishment (50 lashes, plus 21 more) demonstrates how brutality is codified and normalized in slaveholding societies.
Barracoons and the Middle Passage: Grandma Charlotte’s account of the barracoons, the ship’s steerage, and the horror of the voyage conveys the trauma of capture, transport, and sale—a collective memory shaping Lisette’s present decisions.
Maroon resistance and enslaved solidarity: Vincent’s presence as a Maroon leader; the Maroons’ raids and alliances with enslaved groups highlight persistent resistance and the trans-Atlantic slave system’s fragility.
Literacy as a form of empowerment and risk: Reading L’Affiche Américaine and other accessible texts becomes a political act that threatens the master’s control; Michaud’s literacy emphasizes the dual power of knowledge and its potential to provoke risk and solidarity.
Gendered violence and survival: The narratives of Arcinte, Brigitte, and Lisette center female endurance, vulnerability, and agency through memory and ritual (talisman keeping, storytelling, and intimate relationships that challenge the system’s boundaries).
The power of storytelling as resistance: Grandma Charlotte’s stories anchor multiple generations, offering maps of resilience, caution, and the call to bear witness through memory. Lisette’s own storytelling becomes a means of endurance and a form of defiance against erasure.
Ethical questions: Complicity and resistance among enslaved people (e.g., Michaud’s admission of brutality, Lisette’s moral conflict about literacy, Ma Augustine’s enforcement of control vs. care) raise questions about the limits of moral responsibility within an enslaved society.
Thematic Synthesis and Connections
Memory as resistance: The recurrence of stories about Brigitte, Charlotte, Arcinte, and Aunt Brigitte’s cord shows how memory preserves dignity and anchors identity in a system built on erasure.
Freedom as a dual horizon: Individual longing (Lisette’s love for Vincent) and collective freedom (the Maroons, the possibility of flight) intersect; the hill and the forest represent both danger and the promise of release.
The body as ledger: Branding, lashes, amputations, and scars function as visible records of power; the body’s pain is a language through which enslaved people narrate their histories and claim agency.
Language and literacy as subversive capital: Diasporic languages (Mandingo, Wolof, Nago, Mina, Hausa, Ibo, Arada) and the act of reading create a counter-civilizational force that resists the plantation’s erasures and asserts a liberated consciousness.
Intergenerational solidarity: Grandmothers and aunts pass on memory and ritual to Lisette, modeling how to survive through storytelling, talismans, and moral memory even as the present remains perilous.
Key Quotes and Notable Passages (paraphrase with context)
“The dreaded fear of poison has invaded every residence, breeding utter confusion and mistrust.” (Page 21)
“Believe me, Lisette, don’t try to understand these Creole women.” (Page 22 – Ma Augustine’s blunt wisdom)
“Brigitte was so beautiful and still young when I knew her … ‘Better dead than slaves,’ she would oft en say.” (Page 26–27)
“Your story must dwell, vigilant, under your skin, at the tips of your hair.” (Page 35 – Grandma Charlotte’s counsel)
“Don Pedro’s dance” and the bolts of India cloth symbolize commodification and death in the Middle Passage (Pages 40–42)
Arcinte’s story of pregnancy, branding, and lashes (~Pages 32–34) as the apex of the master’s cruelty; Michaud’s admission of his own violence and the arm he lost (Pages 32–34)
Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance
The text engages with foundational questions about memory, identity, and resistance under oppression, echoing themes in postcolonial studies and historical memory. It demonstrates how stories function as a form of social cognition—keeping track of moral atrocities, preserving communal dignity, and guiding future action.
It reveals how power operates through everyday rituals (dinners, watchfulness, household chores) and how personal relationships (Lisette-Vincent, Lisette-Michaud) become compact spaces of moral negotiation in the face of structural violence.
The ethical tension between care and coercion within slave households highlights the gray zones where human agency can be exercised, even while it exists within a system that dehumanizes.
Practical Takeaways for Exam Preparation
Be able to summarize how memory functions as political resistance in Lisette’s narrative and identify key talismans (garde-corps, Brigitte’s cord) and their symbolic meanings.
Understand the role of women in the plantation economy: their labor, surveillance, and the ways they preserve history and offer resistance through storytelling.
Recognize the ways in which the text links individual fates (Arcinte, Désirée, Michaud) to larger slave-trade structures (barracoons, voyage, branding) and how these connections illuminate the brutality of slavery.
Note the ethical complexity around literacy, power, and resistance: reading and sharing information can empower slaves but also bring danger; reflect on Michaud and Lisette’s dialogue about literacy.
Memorize key terms and their meanings (
Garde-corps,
Barracoons,
Code noir,
Don Pedro’s dance,
Bolts of India cloth) and how they function within the narrative.
Quick Reference: Key Characters and Their Significance
Lisette: Central narrator; interpreter of memory; bridge between generations; lover of Vincent; keeper of talismans.
Grandma Charlotte: Memory-keeper; storyteller; frames Lisette’s understanding of freedom and history.
Brigitte (great-aunt Brigitte): Symbol of resilience; her memory anchors the family’s dignity and acts as a talisman.
Vincent: Maroon leader; embodies resistance and hope for escape; his relationship with Lisette anchors the narrative’s emotional core.
Michaud: Former overseer; bearer of brutal past; his confession reveals the moral complexity of slavery’s violence.
Arcinte: Pregnant enslaved woman punished brutally; her escape with her child becomes a symbol of the possibility of freedom beyond the plantation.
Ma Augustine: The stern, protective, and memory-bearing figure who enforces rules but also carries a deep history of suffering and survival.
Désirée, Pierrot, Charlot, Fontilus: Represent the broader enslaved community’s suffering and resilience; their presence grounds the narrative in lived reality.
Note on LaTeX formatting in this document
All numerical references are presented with LaTeX syntax as where applicable (e.g., 6 women, 4 or 5, 50 lashes, etc.).
Mathematical expressions or equations were not required by the source material; where quantities or measurements appear, they are rendered in plain textual form with LaTeX formatting applied to numbers when appropriate.
Timeline:
Page 21: Pervasive Fear of Poisonings
Plantation life is dominated by an intense fear of poisoning, which has infiltrated all residences and relationships. This fear is a constant presence, influencing interactions from the grand houses to the enslaved people's huts.
Accusations of poison lead to horrific punishments, with “six women and mistresses … four or five men or women” being burned monthly, highlighting the violent paranoia gripping the community.
The Fayot family engages in competitive gossip about poison lore during social gatherings, further fueling the atmosphere of mistrust.
Lisette keenly observes the growing suspicion directed towards individuals like Rose-Marie and Florville.
There are rumors circulating about Ma Augustine’s distrust of Ma Victor’s supposed plan to poison the Fayot family, revealing layers of internal suspicion within the hierarchy of enslaved domestics.
Manon, a young enslaved girl, is observed eating before her masters, a protective measure taken to safeguard her great-niece from potential poisoning accusations. This act underscores the constant vigilance required for survival.
Page 22: Lisette's Reflections and Expanding Worldview
Lisette reflects on Manon’s identity as Franchette’s daughter, recalling Franchette’s legacy of elegance.
Grandma Charlotte’s memory serves as a crucial refuge and source of strength for Lisette, shielding her from the crushing weight of subservience.
Lisette’s perception of the world expands beyond the confines of the house, encompassing the wider countryside, the sugarcane fields, and the distant horizon, which symbolizes her longing for freedom.
She meticulously navigates the daily schedules of the master and mistress, including their nap times and elaborate dinner preparations, as part of her household duties.
Page 23: Interactions and Longing
Lisette engages in a bantering exchange with Fontilus, the baker’s son, discussing topics like poisoning and hunger, reflecting the grim realities of their lives intertwined with moments of fleeting connection.
Ma Victor issues a stern warning about the dangers of exposing oneself, reinforcing the constant threats present in their environment.
Lisette is reminded of her Creole-Arada identity, a deep connection to her heritage within the oppressive system.
She yearns for Vincent and anticipates their next secret meeting, all while skillfully avoiding damp workrooms and the arduous labor of the fields.
The narrative vividly describes the physical sensations of rain and tears, intertwined with the profound emotional burden of memory.
Page 24: Reappearance and Safeguarding Talismans
Lisette’s reflections are deepened by the rain, symbolizing her emotional state.
Vincent reappears, leading to moments of intense intimacy and shared sensuality between them.
Lisette removes her garde-corps talisman, a protective charm, for their rendezvous.
Ma Augustine issues a direct command for the removal of Aunt Brigitte’s cord, a significant ancestral talisman.
In an act of profound defiance and preservation, Lisette chooses to safeguard deeper personal memories and the talismans by relocating them to a hollow within a mango tree, ensuring their continued protection from confiscation.
The memory of Brigitte’s power and profound beauty acts as a critical anchor for Lisette’s resilience against the dehumanizing aspects of slavery.
Page 25: Protecting Brigitte's Memory
Lisette clandestinely carries Aunt Brigitte’s cord, maintaining its integrity and the memory it represents.
She carefully hides the cord at the very top of a mango tree, a hidden sanctuary for this precious link to her heritage.
Grandma Charlotte’s poignant words resurface in Lisette’s mind: “trust both grandmas,” emphasizing the enduring wisdom and protection offered by her maternal lineage.
The tragic memory of Brigitte’s two dead sons and her indomitable defiance is invoked, further strengthened by Vincent’s unwavering faith in their shared cause.
Page 26–27: Michaud's Account of Language and Arcinte's Punishment
Michaud recounts the diverse languages spoken by the enslaved peoples on the plantation, including Mandingo, Wolof, Nago, Mina, Hausa, Ibo, and Arada. He contextualizes this linguistic diversity as a vital form of cultural memory.
He vehemently condemns the simplistic and dehumanizing labels imposed by colonial masters, advocating for recognition of the rich cultural identities of enslaved individuals.
Arcinte’s story unfolds with harrowing intensity as Michaud describes her brutal punishment: 50 lashes of rigoise, followed by an additional 21 lashes, as mandated by the Code noir, inflicted while she was pregnant. This highlights the extreme cruelty and systemic nature of violence under slavery.
Michaud candidly admits his own past complicity in such violence, referencing