By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
The first novel was written by Ta-Nehisi Coates that tells the story of Hiram Walker, who was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation called Lockless. His father is Howell Walker, the master of Lockless plantation, and his mother was a slave. Hiram is a slave on a Virginia plantation. He discovered that he has the power of teleportation named "conduction," in which he must learn to control the power through his memory. The story begins as Hiram is driving his half-brother, Maynard, over a bridge. Hiram feels that he, too, is drowning and sees an apparition that ends with a dancing woman balancing a water jug on her head. Later, Maynard passes away in an accident that Hiram survives because his Conduction abilities kick in. One day, Hiram tries to run away with another slave named Sofia, but he is betrayed, and they are captured (enotes, n.d.).
In part two, Hiram was injured which triggers his Conduction ability. He met Corrine who is connected to the underground and she frees slaves. She wants him to use his Conduction power to help underground and Hiram was sent to Philadelphia to work by helping the slaves to be free. Harriet Tubman, nicknamed "Moses," who is the only other person with the Conduction power. She teaches him that Conduction relies on the power of memories and requires water to function. Hiram also learned about Sofia is back at Lockless. For the last part, Hiram returns to Virginia to free Sofia and Thena. He goes back to work for his father, who thinks he's been working for Corrine the whole time. He finds Sofia pregnant with another man's baby, but Hiram vows to love her and the baby. Corrine acquires Sofia so they can be together. At Lockless, Hiram finds a necklace that awakens a painful memory of his father selling his mother, which unlocks the full potential of his Conductive abilities. He uses that power to free Thena and send her to be with her daughter. When Howell passes away, Corrine acquires Lockless and asks Hiram to oversee it, effectively making him the master of Lockless. Sofia and Hiram stay there to raise the baby (The Bibliofile, n.d.).
According to Grant, C. (2020), Hiram considers slavery “a kind of fraud, which paints its executors as guardians at the gate, staving off African savagery”. Sophia, a fellow slave, who admires Hiram’s intellect, dreams of escaping with him: “We could go together. You are read and know of things far past Lockless.” The book’s title refers to an African folk tradition where women on plantations balanced jugs of water on their heads while dancing. In Coates’s telling, theirs is a ritual of remembrance, of the possibility of slipping the shackles of slavery, if not bodily then spiritually. Lockless’s dancers are the reincarnations of those captured Africans who managed to flee the slave ships by wading into the water “to sing and dance as they walked, that the water-goddess brought ’em here, and the water goddess would take ’em back home”. This fable-like quality informs much of the book.
The Water Dancer is filled with real details from history, although these details are often alluded to in a veiled manner, thereby reminding readers of the fictional status of the narrative. The novel is set in the mid-19th century, not long before the outbreak of the Civil War. Although the war does not take place within the narrative, there are many signs that it is coming (LitCharts, n.d.). Coates illustrated in the story that there's already tension between black characters that also existed in reality by showing the different societal issues.
There are always barriers because of how society views people because of their physical appearance and social class. It gave an impact on the relationship between Hiram and Sophia by testing them to fight for love and chose to change the fate of their relationship. The themes are relevant by giving the readers the idea of what is happening in reality through fantasy. It shows different circumstances were connected to history. Another thing is about race, privilege, and power that focuses on how people treated slaves in the story. It makes us realize that in this world equality is too hard to achieve and there will always be people who will abuse your kindness and talents that they used their power to control or use you.
References
Enotes, (n.d.). The Water Dancer Summary. Retrieved from https://www.enotes.com/
topics/water-dancer
Grant, C. (n.d.). The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates review – time traveller on the
Underground Railroad. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/
02/the-water-dancer-ta-nehisi-coates-review
Litcharts, (n.d.). The Water Dancer Study Guide. Retrieved from https://www.litcharts.com
/lit/the-water-dancer
The Bibliofile, (n.d.). The Water Dancer Recap & Book Summary. Retrieved from https://the-
bibliofile.com/the-water-dancer-chapter-summary-synopsis/
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