Yaa Gyasi Home Going Sparknotes

According to the modern day history curriculum, African history has been cut down to focus on the only topic that defines it -- slavery. It has permanently altered the way that rest of the world has viewed Africa, which has caused people to create generalizations and opinions that have caused societal flaws to develop, such as racism and racial inequality. Moreover, Yaa Gyasi’s novel Homegoing covers centuries of African history through the eyes of many characters that she establishes within the novel. Homegoing is a story about two sisters, Effia and Esi, who are split up at birth and end up in rival tribes. Over the course of their lives, the two girls find themselves on the opposite sides of slavery: Esi is sold into slavery, while Effia
For centuries, African culture has been based on oral tradition, where history and traditions would be passed down without ever being documented on paper. However, for Europeans, they recorded and documented their experiences, opinions, and assumptions about Africans and their culture. As a result, African history has not been fully written by Africans themselves, but only by those around them who have put Africa under a “European microscope:” meaning that Europeans have left their interpretations and understandings of Africa to solely be based on their personal discoveries. Others have also developed personal assumptions about Africa and it’s people, which they have continued to spread with them throughout history. For example, Homegoing is written from the perspectives from an array of characters throughout history. Each chapter is based on the perspective of that character, and they each reflect on their own history from their own eyes based on their own opinions, knowledge, and basic assumptions. (Gyasi). In comparison to other historical texts, Gyasi’s novel is written from an African perspective, whereas others are written from a Western perspective. Gyasi’s novel allows others to learn about African history from an honest perspective. The novel does not filter or alter African history, it portrays it in the way in which it is supposed to
As it is painted in history, Africa is viewed as a third world country that is home to barbaric and unintelligent people; however, that is not the case. Over the course of history, Africa has come to challenge such stereotypes and generalizations. For example, Yaa Gyasi wrote Homegoing to break stereotypical views of Africa and African culture. Throughout the novel, Gyasi illustrates African culture and traditions through the eyes of her characters. (Gyasi). The novel explores African villages and tribes that have developed distinctive characteristics that slightly differ according to their culture. In this, the reader is given the opportunity to view how Africans interact and communicate within each of their respective tribes. These interactions challenge the assumption that Africans do not have the mental capacity to handle such decisions. However, African culture is mostly in part very diverse and advanced. Throughout Homegoing, there is evidence of complex cultures and communities that have developed their own means of survival through farming, technological advancements, and socioeconomic decisions. Furthermore, Homegoing also touches on the topic of politics within Africa, as seen with the Fante and Asante in how they interact with one another. (Gyasi). Similarly, John Parker and Richard Rathbone’s novel African History; A Very Short Introduction, Parker and Rathbone talk about