The River Where the Blood is Born
by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
List Price: $12.95
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 034542476X
Publisher: Ballantine
The River Where Blood Is Born takes us on a journey along the river of one family's history, carving a course across two centuries and three continents, from ancient Africa into today's America. Here, through the lives of Mother Africa's many daughters, we come to understand the real meaning of roots: the captive Proud Mary, who has been savagely punished for refusing to relinquish her child to slavery; Earlene, who witnesses her father's murder at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan; Big Momma, a modern-day matriarch who can make a woman of a girl; proud and sassy Cinnamon Brown, whose wild abandon hides a bitter loss; and smart, ambitious Alma, who is torn between the love of a man and the song of her soul. In this astonishing novel, at last a chosen daughter is summoned home. But what must she sacrifice to honor the River Mother's call?
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1. How critical is the role of Ananse, the spider of African myth, to the preservation of
the cultural wisdom of the ancestors? Is there a contemporary counterpart
to Ananse in the lives of the current daughters of the African Diaspora?
2. Discuss the importance of blood as a symbol in the novel. What does blood have in common with
the river, both literally and metaphorically? Explain the book's title,
The River Where Blood Is Born.
3. In The River Where Blood Is Born, spiritual strength and Mother Wit serve to guide
the descendants on the journey from Africa to modern America. Discuss
the instances of otherworldly guidance or divine visitations presented
in the novel. Is the author effective in depicting these experiences in
the book?
4. The character Proud Mary epitomizes the pride and persistence of many enslaved mothers in
the harsh captive years, enduring a life of brutal torment and hardship.
Was her punishment for her defiance typical for that bitter time? Can
you identify other female characters in African-American literature who
suffered a similar fate? Contrast and compare their experiences.
5. Earlene's father plays a significant role in her emotional development, notably after her
separation from her mother at an early age. His murder by Klansmen alters
the course of her life in many subtle and obvious ways. Could Earlene,
as one of the novel's "lost daughters," be considered one of the weak
links in the ancestral line?
6. The cultural archetypes of the female characters--Big Momma, Cinnamon, and Alma--are familiar
to readers of modern African-American literature. How has the author made
these familiar character types unique?
7. The novel's complex, intricately nuanced plot structure is carefully crafted. How has the author
managed to keep the novel's pace from slowing? Which characters seem most
fully realized to you? Why?
8. The novel deals extensively with the adverse effects of white racism on the lives of the
women. What themes are explored through these interactions? What does
the novel suggest about the nature of these women confronted and often
oppressed by bigotry?
9. Big Momma speaks of a woman's need for emotional independence despite an obligation to
be an active part of the world and in the lives of others. Even in romantic
love, she stresses the idea: "I ain't never told you don't like menfolk.
Love them. Love them with the fullness of your heart. But don't never
make yourself into somebody else's woman. You ain't nobody's woman but
your own." (pg. 176) What is the deeper meaning in her words?
10. Reviewers have cited The River Where Blood Is Born for its insightful mix of the
spiritual world and the physical world, along with an unique historical
perspective of Black America. Do you agree? Does this added dimension
of the seen and unseen give the novel more richness and depth? Are there
other similar books in the African-American literary canon?
11. In the classic epic multigenerational novel, several pivotal scenes define the basic
character of the entire work. Which scenes in The River Where Blood
Is Born best exemplify its core themes? What are those core themes?
12. The River Where Blood Is Born explores many forms of love through the various characters
of Big Momma, Earlene, Cinnamon, and Alma. How do the individual characters
reflect the inner conflicts of love, whether familial or romantic? Which
women are healed emotionally or spiritually by the lessons of love?
13. Why is Alma the Chosen One, the woman selected to heed the ancestral call? What does she
conclude about herself, her quest, and her bloodline following her travels?
14. This novel, like the work of Charles Dickens, possesses a wealth of memorable characters
in supporting roles, such as Nanny, Zubena, Cedella, Allie Mae, Trevor,
Banana Man, and Chocolate Chip, among others. Select two from the supporting
cast and discuss what these secondary characters contribute to the overall
story.
15. Some critics say there is a tendency by some African-American writers to overly romanticize
the African ancestral blood tie, glorifying a painful past. Has the author
sufficiently stated her case for renewed respect and appreciation of Mother
Africa through the experiences of her many characters?
16. What does the author mean when she writes: "'Victory or defeat resides not in the doer of the
deed but in the song sung by the teller of the tale'"? (p. 399)
17. The author, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, says one of the major themes of the book centers around
the idea of "the price of forgetting and the price of remembering." How
do the lives of these characters demonstrate that both remembering and
forgetting have a price?
18. The River Where Blood Is Born depicts many eras in American history. What techniques
does the author use to make the novel historically and culturally correct?
19. Big Momma is able to connect with Alma in ways that her parents are unable to. How does
she manage to do this? Is this a typical grandparent/grandchild relationship?
If so, why are grandparents sometimes able to do what parents are not
able to do?
20. What roles do men play in the novel? How are men depicted generally in this novel? How are
they depicted in comparison to novels by other women writers?
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"Jackson-Opoku displays an intimate knowledge of African and Caribbean culture cultures. From African tradition she creates two powerful narrators to serve as guides. One, Kwaku Ananse, the spider, will be familiar as the antagonist in 'trickster' tales. The other, the Gatekeeper, welcomes the souls of mothers who cross over from life to the Village of the Ancestors. The Gatekeeper mediates between the ancestral mothers and the daughters they watch over. . . . In its rivers, beads, webs and quilts, the author's story weaving is abundant. . . . The threads of each story are as easy to follow as brightly colored stitchery. . . . Besides its sheer literary beauty, Jackson-Opoku's story-weaving will give readers a new spiritual dimension from which to consider the meaning of life."—Chicago Sun-Times
"This ambitious first novel begins like the voice of an ancient tribal storyteller, poetic and mysterious, and we are led through an intricate tale involving the lives of several generations of Mother Africa's daughters. The novel combines myth and reality as it both strings the story beads and weaves ancestral tales of various women such as Proud Mary, a captive slave who is savagely punished for her refusal to give her daughter up to slavery, and Alma, who is compelled to live out her destiny by returning to the place where blood is born."—Today's Black Woman
"That is the great gift of The River Where Blood Is Born. Whether in Ghana or Chicago, Barbados or Nigeria, the resonance of these voices rings so true that you think, 'Don't I know you?' And enmeshed in the web of their stories we come to a perception of the divine aspect of these women's lives, their link to the Queen Mother, The Goddess in Everywoman."—Afrique Magazine
"Jackson-Opoku's first novel is an expansive tale that exquisitely melds mythical realms together with an historical family saga spanning centuries and continents."—Booklist
