The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This haunting and unique story is Coates’ debut novel and a feat 10 years in the making.
The story follows Hiram Walker, who was born an enslaved person (“Tasked”) in the Antebellum South. His mother was sold away, leaving Hiram with no memory of her but endowed with mysterious powers. Through a brush with death he unlocks the will to take a massive risk and attempt to escape from his home. This sets off a journey that results in Hiram being recruited into an underground war, where he confronts his memories and traumas while never abandoning a fierce determination to rescue his family.
Coates has built this novel on extensive passion and interest in the era, as well as extensive research into the daily life of enslavers (“the Quality”) and the enslaved. Coates has emphasized the role family separation played in the daily life of an enslaved person; mothers separated from children, husbands separated from wives, grandmothers separated from grandchildren. Hiram is not only physically separated from his mother, but the trauma has wiped his memories of her, and this tension manifests in his relationships with other characters. The power of memory as opposed to history, and the power of the collective memories of enslaved peoples, is illustrated in this mystical world as part of Hiram’s superhuman powers and the key to unlocking his full potential.
The Water Dancer also explores the realities of freedom, and what freedom entailed for enslaved peoples of the pre-Civil War era. The story of the Underground, the secret war between enslaved and enslavers, poignantly shows that freedom for the individual necessitated freedom for all those bound to “the Task”. A parallel can be drawn to modern day American society and make us reflect in earnest what justice and equality for African Americans means today in the face of continuing systemic discrimination.
This novel is a suspenseful story of suffering, solidarity, sacrifice, family, and love. It places the enslavement narrative in a fantastical world of mystical powers that will keep you turning the pages.
Happy reading!
Review by Emma
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