The Water Dancer
By Ta Nehisi Coates
learn about life at the Lockless tobacco plantation in 19th century Virginia. Hiram’s mother, Rose, had been sold and transported “Natchez way” when Hiram was only 9 years old; life as an orphan in bondage on the plantation is far from pleasant, even though the well-to-do owner, Howell Walker, turns out, not coincidentally, to be his father.
When it is discovered just how skilled Hiram is at observing and then expertly remembering and mimicking those around him, Walker removes him from field work and introduces him to life as a house slave. From this point on, Hiram shares his early life with Maynard, the owner’s other son, a slightly older, less talented, much less mature person, but still, the legitimate son from the owner’s marriage. Although the boys are friends as children, Walker quickly realizes, as they grow into adulthood, that the feckless Maynard needs the companionship and protection of Hiram to make his way through life. Since Hiram is one of the “Tasked” born a slave, and Maynard is “Quality”, scion of wealth and privilege, their relationship has never been one of equality.
Life in the house is not an easy one, although less physically rigorous than working in the tobacco fields. “I would rise before the sun, as did all the Tasked, and walk about the house fitting in where I could—raising the kitchen fires for Ella, the cook, fetching the milk from the dairy, retrieving the trays after breakfast—or labor outside with Roscoe, washing and grooming the horses, or in the apple orchard with Pete, grafting saplings. There was always work to be done.” But all is not well on the plantation, and Lockless is heading for a financial fall from grace, which necessitates selling even more slaves just to pay the bills that tobacco, the “gold leaf”, is no longer subsidizing. Fortunately for Hiram, his quick wit and uncanny memory make him indispensable to Walker, as he becomes something of an entertainer, doing parlor tricks to amuse the Lockless guests. Eventually, he begins to receive instruction from Maynard’s tutor, Mr. Fields. “So the lessons began—reading, arithmetic, some oratory—and my world bloomed with them, my ravenous memory filling with images and, now, words, which were so much more than I had before believed.” Within no time, he is outshining Maynard, clumsy, negligent and rude, in every way.
Life at Lockless, difficult as it is, seduces Hiram, especially when Walker finally acknowledges him privately as his son. He even begins to see himself as the saviour of Lockless. With his broad knowledge, “I would make the fields bloom again, and in that way save us all from the auctions and separation, from a descent into the darkness of Natchez, which was my coffin, which was all that awaited, I knew, under the rule of Maynard.”
Shortly after this point in the story, Hiram’s true destiny reveals itself, as the narrative takes a turn for the surreal when he is recruited to work for the Underground Railway. But first he is formally entrusted with looking after Maynard, who is proving himself spectacularly unworthy of becoming master of Lockless. And Hiram is becoming increasingly aware of how very dependent the Quality are on the services provided by the Tasked. He feels the “crushing weight of seeing how the Quality truly lived, in all their luxury, and how much they really took from us.”
The remainder of the novel is concerned with Hiram’s discovery of his extra-special talents in water dancing and “Conduction” to move slaves north, and with his relationships with both whites and blacks, including Harriet Tubman, at this critical point in his story. Too much information about this magical period and how he handles it would spoil the story, of course, so you’ll just have to read it yourself. Trust me, it is well worth it.
This is the first novel for Ta-nehisi Coates, but his non-fiction works have been very well-received, including a National Book Award in 2015 for Between the World and Me. The Water Dancer is available at the Bibliotheque Lennoxville Library.