Listen to Audio: Chapter 21, Section Answerless Questions
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Christopher Pilie's historical fiction novel "Sugar" is a riveting historical novel set in late 18th Century Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti. It offers a stirring narrative of the beginning of the Haitian Revolution through the eyes of slaves fighting for freedom, the minority Grand Blancs, and the Affranchis—all ensnared in a rigid caste system. This epic tale weaves through the intellectual debates of the Enlightenment and the violent uprisings against the French colonial powers. Readers will find themselves amid suspenseful battles, dramatic insurrections, and a society on the brink of monumental change.
The year 1791 marked a pivotal moment, with Saint-Domingue at the heart of global shifts in power. The American and French Revolutions had set a precedent that resonated with the oppressed in the colony. Enlightenment ideals challenged medieval norms, instigating worldwide rejection of monarchies and slavery. Pilie’ explores how these ideas, while progressive, also sowed seeds for later conflicts and authoritarian regimes.
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us?" - Friedrich Nietzsche
This time predates Nietzsche's musings on the 'death of God' from "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", but this moment in time begins to encapsulate the era's transformational spirit to which Nietzsche reflected in his writings. Pilie’ connects this philosophical evolution to the revolution's fervor while exploring the difference in views at the time between Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He weaves the ideas into an suspenseful and action packed story.
"Slavery is a weed that grows on every soil." - Edmund Burke
Pilie’ delves into the complexities of slavery, arguing that it was not solely based on racial discrimination but was a symptom of the French colonial system's broader tyranny. The narrative suggests that slavery's eradication required a complete societal overhaul, an idea reflected in Edmund Burke's quote, 'Slavery is a weed that grows on every soil.'
Pilie's novel is a profound examination of art, philosophy, and the human condition, inviting readers to reflect on a historical moment that echoes into modernity.
Pre Order!! Get the Barnes and Noble Hardcover Edition. This version comes with a dust cover and is really nice for your book collection. Louis Rossignol would have this on his bookshelf.
Pre Order!!Get the Barnes and Noble Paperback Edition. This is the version that is easy to throw in your backpack or bag to take with you when exploring the story of the Rossignol family.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." - Genesis 3:7-10
We Are All Slaves To Something
"Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar."
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