Slave Ship: Book Review

Book Review: Slave Ship

Introduction

This paper is a book review of slave ship by Marcus Rediker. "The Slave Ship" describes Rediker's graphic depiction of the treatment of slaves, the terror used to subjugate them and the cruel and untimely deaths of millions of Africans. The paper highlights Rediker's belief that the slave trade was born out of the desire for capitalistic gain throughout the world. The paper also offers a personal, emotive response to the novel.

Review

Marcus Rediker explains that the invention of the ship marks the beginning of the slave trade. The origins of the slave ship go back to the late fifteenth century when the Portuguese made voyages to the west coast of Africa where they bought gold, ivory, and human beings (Rediker 41-42). Rediker states "These early 'explorations' marked the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade" (Rediker 42). European rulers soon joined in using ships to explore new lands in order to trade and build empires. The golden age of the slave trade is a period lasting from 1700 to 1808, and more captives were transported during this time than any other. Three million slaves were transferred in British and American ships (Rediker 5). While en route to new destinations, slaves were forced to live in the lower decks of the ships in abominable conditions including filth and overcrowding. The ship captains of the slaves were hard and cruel men who resorted to violence to control the captives."

Rediker praises several literary works that have treated the subject, including Toni Morrison's "Beloved," Charles Johnson's "Middle Passage," Barry Unsworth's "Sacred Hunger" and Caryl Phillips' "The Atlantic Sound."

There are two good reasons to read this book. It grippingly tells the story of the trade in human flesh from an unexplored perspective the decks of the slave ships. ...