Introduction

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In 1986, Sherley Anne Williams published Dessa Rose, a historical novel about slavery. The novel is written in the style of a slave narrative and incorporates elements consistent with narratives written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

The novel is divided into three sections (in addition to a Prologue) offering different perspectives of Dessa Rose. In “Darky,” Dessa illustrates the viewpoint of Adam Nehemiah, a reporter who is seeking information about her and other slaves in the Wilson Rebellion, a slave uprising that resulted in the deaths of white men. “The Wench” is about Dessa’s relationship with Miss Rufel, a white mistress and unsuspecting abolitionist. In “The Negress,” Dessa provides her view point about Rufel and their travels through the South.

Williams explains that the novel is based on two historical events that she has blended together in the novel. In 1829 in Kentucky, a pregnant black woman helped to lead an uprising in a coffle (a group of slaves chained together and usually taken to market). She was caught, convicted, sentenced to death and executed after the birth of her baby. In a separate event in North Carolina in 1830, a white woman was reported to have provided a safe haven for a group of runaway salves. Williams brings these two women together in Dessa Rose.

This novel was written as a response to William Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), which Williams considers flawed historical fiction. Dessa Roseattempts to reclaim that history and give an authentic voice to the experience of slave life. Williams's poetry and her early essays such as Give Birth to Brightness: A Thematic Study in Neo-Black Literature (1972) reflect her interest in preserving an authentic black aesthetic—incorporating rhythm and blues, spirituals, and poetry. Dessa Rose was produced as a musical in New York in 2005.

Extended Summary

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Dessa Rose is historical fiction and begins with a Prologue, a description of a moment between Dessa and Kaine. Dessa illustrates the tenderness of their love through his song, his actions, and her responses and delight in their union. This Prologue is in Dessa’s own words as she describes a scene from a moment in the past.

The story has a third-person omniscient narrator, notes from a writer named Adam Nehemiah, and first-person narration from Dessa. Nehemiah is gathering information from Dessa and others about the Wilson Rebellion for his account entitled “The Roots of Rebellion in the Slave Population & Some Means of Eradicating Them.” Nehemiah is writing a book on slave uprisings.

In the story, the fictional Wilson Rebellion takes place on a trail near Linden in Marengo County, Alabama. Five white men are killed and Master Wilson loses his arm. Thirty-one slaves are killed and nineteen are branded or flogged. About $38,000 worth of property is destroyed or damaged. Dessa attacks Master Wilson and so begins this violent event. After spending a period in jail, she is moved to Sheriff Hughes' farm to be near his cook who can also serve as a midwife to the pregnant Dessa.

Nehemiah visits Dessa to ask her questions. His previous work allowed him to interview subjects about slave uprisings in Tennessee and also in Louisiana. James Carpenter is a major landowner in Louisiana and his information foiled the insurrection. For this portion of his report, Nehemiah relies on information from Sheriff Hughes who has had far greater contact with slaves (as a slaveowner himself) than Nehemiah would ever wish for himself.

Dessa and a group of Wison’s slaves were on their way to...

(This entire section contains 1442 words.)

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the market to be sold. They had planned only of stunning the white men leading the group, taking their guns, tying them up and leaving; what actually happened that dark night went beyond anyone's expectations.

One of the white guards in the group was an alcoholic who was continuously raping Linda, a slave, in the bushes. On his return from the bushes, he failed to secure the chain after removing Linda from it. Someone in the chain moved and all of the chains fell away. Linda appeared with a bloody rock in her hand and the rebellion began.

Sheriff Hughes enters the cellar where Dessa is being held and Dessa moves away. A look or flicker in her eyes sets off a violent response from Hughes; he strikes her and bloodies her nose. He immediately regrets his outburst. He gives her the “saltwater” treatment; no food and only heavily salted water to drink.

Dessa demands a bath in a creek. She injures her foot and develops a limp. She moves with chains around her ankles and she is very close to delivering her baby.

At first when Nehemiah asks her questions, she does not answer. From either exhaustion or pain, her eyes remain close and only occasionally flicker. At some points during her captivity, she hums songs and begins describing Kaine and his banjo. She also argues that slaves belong only to their masters and not to their mothers, sisters, brothers, or family.

Dessa explains that the baby belongs to Kaine and that she had refused to abort when given the opportunity. This upsets Nehemiah. Dessa also explains that she had to persuade Kaine to let her keep the baby; he did not want to have a child that would be born into slavery.

After her escape from Hughes farm, Dessa has taken to Sutton's plantation. As they approach the house, Rufel Sutton is startled by Dessa’s ashen appearance and then she hears the baby. Dessa passes out and wakes up in a bed surrounded by a white woman, Rufel, the mistress of the plantation. A slave named Ada helps her.

Rufel and Dessa have a difficult time with each other initially. They begin a disagreement about Mammy, a slave that once lived at Sutton. Mammy nearly raised Rufel and since her death Rufel has found no one to replace her. Dessa knows Mammy. She knows where she is from and the names of her children—information that upsets Rufel. How can this slave girl know Mammy?

After an argument, a frustrated Rufel leaves and has violent thoughts about Dessa. Rufel believes that Dessa must have done something awful before she came to Sutton.

Upon returning to Dessa, the two women attempt to speak to one another again on more civil terms. Dessa explains that she away because she did not want her baby to be a slave. Rufel asks questions about Dessa’s ordeal during and after the Rebellion. Rufel moves forward to inspect Dessa’s body and later feels the humiliation she has caused her.

Rufel is not convinced that she has the entire story about Dessa. She patiently begins a friendship with another member of the Wilson Rebellion group who is staying nearby and fishing regularly at the stream near the Sutton home. Nathan develops a close relationship to Rufel that resembles the closeness she felt for Mammy. Nathan teaches Rufel’s children how to make snares to trap small game. He brings his fish catches to her table.

Nathan asks questions about the return of Master Bertie. He would like to know if the Master will give them a share of the crop that they are producing or if he will claim it all as his own. Rufel is unable to answer him truthfully.

It has been understood that the Master is out trading. However, he has been gambling. Rufel and Nathan’s relationship becomes intimate. Dessa is upset when she finds them together. She leaves and takes a walk around the land, comparing it to the Quarters, her previous home; she feels displaced.

In the meantime, Harker and Nathan have developed a plan to raise money by working with masters to repeatedly sell them at market. They have chosen Rufel as part of their plan. Dessa continues to be upset about Nathan and Rufel. Then Harker and Dessa start a relationship, although she still has feelings for Nathan.

Rufel eventually agrees to the plan to falsely sell the slaves to earn money. They travel and end up at Mr. Oscar’s place. Rufel charms Mr. Oscar and things nearly get out of control until Dessa shows up and helps to get Mr. Oscar out of Rufel’s bed. The group continues on to Lake Lewis Smith and sells Harker and Ned at Wilkerson. From the proceeds, Dessa receives two new dresses from Rufel. Their travels turn into a mock minstrel show at times.

Nathan stops a run-away horse and buggy near a small town and the owner instantly offers money for Nathan. The price reaches eleven hundred dollars and he is sold. Rufel announces that she would like to have the rest of the group all come with her as she continues traveling and they wait for Nathan to return. Dessa speaks foolishly and accuses Rufel of chasing after Nathan. Rufel is hurt and upset because she thinks of Dessa and the others as her friends. Understandably, Dessa does not know how to process this idea.

While Dessa is on her way to the bakeshop, she hears someone call her name but does not recognize the voice. The voice calls for her again and then a white man grabs her arm. It is the last man she saw when she was kept in the cellar at Sheriff Hughes farm, Adam Nemi (Nehemiah). Dessa is frightened and struggles to get away. Something knocks her off her feet and she is struck in the head. There is a disagreement in the jail about to whom Dessa belongs; she claims she belongs to the Suttons but Nemi disagrees.

Nemi, the white man who accuses her, wants her to show her hips and branding marks, but the sheriff will not comply. He sends someone to find Rufel. Dessa is put in a cell. Rufel arrives with Clara and expresses her outrage. Rufel explains that they cannot have a man check underneath Dessa’s dress for her scars because her slaves are carrying a great deal of money. Sheriff offers to call in another “darky,” Aunt Chole, to check Dessa. Dessa gives Aunt Chole a coin. Aunt Chole says that Dessa has no such marks or scars. Rufel insists that Dessa now call her Ruth.

The group continue West with Rufel’s assistance. Dessa grows old with grandchildren. Over time, she comes to know good white people in the West. None, however, equal Ruth.

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