The Cycle Of Betrayal

Chapter 1 - Appreciation

'Freedom cannot exist unless oppression is present.' Kunto remembered asking his grandmother why she would say that. He remembered telling her that he did not understand what she meant. 

It was at that point that Kunto's grandmother stopped cutting the stalk of long slender sugar cane and quietly said, "Imagine a lion roaming freely in the wild. He is the King of the jungle. He goes where he pleases and does as he will. He reports to no one. Do you think that this lion will truly understand or appreciate the concept of being free if he has never experienced captivity in some form?"

They stopped talking for a moment as the Boss was approaching with the whip in hand. They both knew from experience that talking was prohibited while there was work to be done. And on the Mayers plantation, there was always work to be done. 

"What do you mean Gran?" Kunto asked, "Are you telling me the lion must be captured to appreciate freedom? That doesn't seem right!" 

"My dear son," whispered Gran, "It isn't a case of right and wrong. It isn't even a case of understanding the meaning of freedom. It is simply a case of appreciation. Who do you think would be more appreciative of youth? A young strong boy like you or an old woman who was once strong but is now weakened with age? The young boy can be grateful for his youth but he won't fully appreciate it until he no longer has it. That is the irony of life. Grace cannot be appreciated until one experiences condemnation. Honesty cannot be appreciated unless someone has been lied to. Day is only appreciated because there is night."

"I have been enslaved for the last thirteen years of my life but I have never or will I ever consider myself to be a slave. The appreciation that I had for our own people, our language, our ways and our nation, this appreciation pales in comparison to how I feel now that someone has tried to take those things away," said Gran beaming with pride.

"There have been times, in the beginning, that I envied you and your younger sister. I was jealous of the ignorance you two possessed. I believed that you two, were better off because your mind would not be daily haunted by past freedoms. You two know of no other life but this one. I honestly believed that your ignorance was a blessing, but it is only now that I know it is better to be haunted by past memories than to be at peace with mediocrity. Now, I simply empathize with the two of you as you may never know."

"Never know what? Gran!" Kunto shouted, only to realise that the Boss was near. It was too late. The Boss had seen her talking and was reminding dear old Gran of what happens to those, regardless of age or size, who would rather talk than work. Each lash Gran received generated the same emotion from both parties involved.

It was night time when next Gran and Kunto exchanged words again as he didn't want to see a repetition of what happened before. Whilst in their crowded hut, Gran took up a dirtied piece of glass and stared aimlessly at it. It seemed like she was in a trance of some kind. 

She then finally whispered, "Kunto, the worst thing about a mirrored image isn't that it shows you what you are. The worst thing is that it shows what you are not. Remember that, my son."

"What isn't this mirror showing you Gran?" Kunto asked.

She looked at him for the first time since she began to speak and said, "Look at me now, all beaten and bruised. I am enslaved but I am not a slave. I am living in captivity but I am not a captive. Both the Boss and I were filled with pride today. He was proud because he thought he was breaking me. I was proud because with each weighted lash I knew he could never break my heart, my spirit or my mind. 

My fear is that one day we shall triumph and these chains shall be broken but we won't know that we are free because we would have forgotten what it is to be free and that my son burdens my heart every day." replied Gran. 

"How can you forget that you are a slave? How can you not see the difference?" Kunto asked Gran, now more confused than anything else.

Gran looked aimlessly towards the dirt and said, "The Boss isn't just interested in enslaving your body. He wants to capture your mind. Controlling someone's body can be easily reversed based on changed circumstances. But when someone controls how you perceive things, he/she has dominion over your mind, your thoughts, your dreams, your sense of worth. If your mind becomes tainted and dirtied, just like this mirror, when you try to use it, the reflection seen can only be distorted and if you aren't careful, you'll soon accept that distorted image as the real thing. The worst type of oppression is that which occurs in your mind because it can't be seen. How can one ever free his/her own self if they don't first acknowledge that they aren't free? Break the mental hold the white man has placed on you first before tackling the physical ones. Tackle the chains which cannot be seen before dealing with those which can be seen!"

This philosophy had been slowly etched into the hallways of Kunto's intellect after only twenty-seven years of plantation life. For as long as Kunto could recall, he had been told of the rights they once had in thier homeland, like the right to decide when, where and how they should live or the right to be or not be whatever they want. Kunto's favourite right was the one right that he really could never understand. That is the right to be free. Gran would always stress the word right as opposed to privilege. According to her privilege was a word that the slave masters used to instil in a slave's mind that he/she must do something to inherit or deserve this reward. Whereas 'right' according to Gran, spoke more to what was entitled to someone naturally, irrespective of his/her gender, race or social class. She believed that they all have the right to be free. She believed that up until the day they took her.

The day they took her away, Kunto finally realized and appreciated all of the talks they shared and her wisdom. Maybe Gran was right all along because Kunto was always grateful for Gran but it was only after she was taken that he truly appreciated her presence. 

Kunto promised right there and then that he would break these chains which could not be seen first and leave the physical chains for later.