Rumours of Grace: The Book of Negroes, other sad stories and morality
Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes has
its share of horror. Living slaves thrown overboard
into shark-infested water, whippings,
infants torn away from mothers and other
stress-inducing actions fill the pages of the
book.
Why do people read books drenched in sadness and tragedy? Well, one reader might want to pay her respects to the amazing research an author such as Hill takes on before sitting down to type the story. Another might enjoy reading an epic narrative that also happens to reflect things that really happened, events that are true.
But could there be deeper reasons that so many people read books about human suffering? Perhaps there are strong moral reasons that drive us to look hard at stories of atrocity and injustice.
First, though, a different question. It seems that human beings are deeply moral beings. We are interested in moral values such as inclusivity, diversity and freedom – freedom for slaves and all humans. Why? Could our sense of right and wrong be grounded in our being created by God? Some people try to ground morals in our evolutionary development – in biology. But I think that grounding them in the moral and good God of Judaism and Christianity yields the best chance of keeping morals alive in today’s world.
What moral values, then, are in play when we open the pages of a book filled with true human suffering? To begin, we should not turn away from stories of atrocities as if we have no responsibility for the hurting of other human beings. We need the courage to feel guilt. The Book of Negroes, for example, gives the lie to any pretensions that Canada’s whites have been free of racism, as if racism stopped at the northern border of the U.S.
No one must give in to the temptation to believe mythological versions of their country’s history, versions which whitewash past sins and sidestep appropriate guilt. Here in this country the stories of Jews, Indigenous Peoples, Blacks, Japanese, conscientious objectors and other minorities, as well as women – who are not a minority – should make us think; they remind us that national preening and posing have no place. As Christianity and Judaism suggest, all persons are stained by evil; the history of any nation (or any group) proves it. If being Canadian is important, then we are always more human when we are humbly rather than proudly Canadian.
Secondly, exposure to stories of human suffering and injustice prepares us to address injustice and suffering in our own places and times. Watching endless episodes of Doctor Who and spending hours every day gaming is poor preparation for helping others – I’m not saying that no one should watch Doctor Who.
We become more human when we become acquainted with the pain of others so that we can address injustice and the suffering it brings in our own times and places – when we allow the pursuit of our own personal comfort, to be interrupted. We discover that we have the capacity to help and to love beyond what we may have thought. And we discover that whatever our circles and whatever our community, they become places of healing and resilience when we offer to people in trouble care and grace.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Why do people read books drenched in sadness and tragedy? Well, one reader might want to pay her respects to the amazing research an author such as Hill takes on before sitting down to type the story. Another might enjoy reading an epic narrative that also happens to reflect things that really happened, events that are true.
But could there be deeper reasons that so many people read books about human suffering? Perhaps there are strong moral reasons that drive us to look hard at stories of atrocity and injustice.
First, though, a different question. It seems that human beings are deeply moral beings. We are interested in moral values such as inclusivity, diversity and freedom – freedom for slaves and all humans. Why? Could our sense of right and wrong be grounded in our being created by God? Some people try to ground morals in our evolutionary development – in biology. But I think that grounding them in the moral and good God of Judaism and Christianity yields the best chance of keeping morals alive in today’s world.
What moral values, then, are in play when we open the pages of a book filled with true human suffering? To begin, we should not turn away from stories of atrocities as if we have no responsibility for the hurting of other human beings. We need the courage to feel guilt. The Book of Negroes, for example, gives the lie to any pretensions that Canada’s whites have been free of racism, as if racism stopped at the northern border of the U.S.
No one must give in to the temptation to believe mythological versions of their country’s history, versions which whitewash past sins and sidestep appropriate guilt. Here in this country the stories of Jews, Indigenous Peoples, Blacks, Japanese, conscientious objectors and other minorities, as well as women – who are not a minority – should make us think; they remind us that national preening and posing have no place. As Christianity and Judaism suggest, all persons are stained by evil; the history of any nation (or any group) proves it. If being Canadian is important, then we are always more human when we are humbly rather than proudly Canadian.
Secondly, exposure to stories of human suffering and injustice prepares us to address injustice and suffering in our own places and times. Watching endless episodes of Doctor Who and spending hours every day gaming is poor preparation for helping others – I’m not saying that no one should watch Doctor Who.
We become more human when we become acquainted with the pain of others so that we can address injustice and the suffering it brings in our own times and places – when we allow the pursuit of our own personal comfort, to be interrupted. We discover that we have the capacity to help and to love beyond what we may have thought. And we discover that whatever our circles and whatever our community, they become places of healing and resilience when we offer to people in trouble care and grace.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
