Barracoon: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

The next day, Hurston drives Cudjo to the bay to eat crabs. On the way, he begins to talk about his marriage. After the founding of Africatown, he begins to notice a woman “from cross de water,” originally named Abila but now called Seely. He’s not married yet, and almost everyone else in the town has a family.

Cudjo approaches Seely and says that he wants to marry her because “I ain’t got nobody.” Seely asks him if he’ll be able to take care of her, and he says that he will treat her well and not beat her. Having agreed upon the matter privately, they begin to live together and “do all we kin to make happiness ‘tween ourselves,” without any kind of wedding.

Sometime afterward, Cudjo and Seely convert to Christianity officially. In the church, they are told that it’s not “right” to live together without an official marriage and license. Cudjo and Seely have a formal wedding, but Cudjo says he doesn’t “love my wife no mo’ wid de license than I love her befo’ de license…I love her all de time.”

Cudjo and Seely have six children, five sons and one daughter. They are very happy during this time, but it makes Cudjo sad to think about it now, because he’s very lonely. They give each child an English name for common use and an African name just “like we was in de Afficky soil.” Cudjo also adopts a surname at this time, according to American tradition. He wants to use his father’s name, O-lo-loo-ay, but it’s “too crooked” for America so he goes by Cudjo Lewis. Cudjo’s children are named Aleck, Jimmy, Poe-lee, David, Cudjo Jr., and Seely Jr.

As the children grow up, American-born residents of surrounding town make fun of them, telling them that “de Afficky people dey kill folks and eatee the meat.” They say that they children are “kin to monkey.” Because of this, the boys often get into fights, often beating other men. People visit the house and tell Cudjo that his boys are trouble and might one day kill someone. Cudjo responds that, just like rattlesnakes in the woods, his sons only harm people who antagonize them.

However, Cudjo’s explanations don’t change the hostility towards his sons. People tell him that his boys “ain no Christian” and that they are savages. It seems that because people perceive his family as savages, they think “we ain’ gottee no feelings to git hurtee.” The residents of Africatown do everything possible to raise their children well. They build a school house so that their children won’t be ignorant.

Even though Cudjo loves his children deeply and does everything possible to help them, as a teenager Cudjo’s daughter Seely gets sick with a fever. Despite receiving medical attention, she dies. Cudjo’s wife Seely is distraught, and although Cudjo tries to comfort her, he too is overwhelmed with grief. This is the first time that “death find where my door is” in America, but he knows that death “come in de ship wid us” from Africa.

According to Christian tradition, young Seely has a funeral in the church and is buried in a coffin. Everyone gathers and sings an American hymn. Although Cudjo knows the words “wid my mouth,” in his heart he is singing a traditional mourning song from his homeland. He feels that his daughter must be very lonely in the churchyard, instead of at home.

Nine years later, a deputy sheriff kills Cudjo Jr. Cudjo is suspicious that this man isn’t even a law enforcement officer, because he doesn’t arrest his son “like a man” but hides in a butcher wagon in order to shoot young Cudjo in the town. Cudjo takes a bullet in the throat, and his parents rush him home and lay him in the bed. Cudjo hates to see his son struggling for breath, and wishes he could die in his place. Seely stands by the bed, crying and encouraging her son not go give up hope, but after two days Cudjo dies.

The man who killed young Cudjo jr. is now the pastor of a church in Plateau. Cudjo tries to forgive him, but he feels that, as a Christian, the man should come to him and beg his forgiveness. He mourns that his “po’ Affican boy […] doan never see Afficky soil.”