River Sing Me Home is a historical fiction novel set in 1934 in three locations: Barbados, now British Guiana, Trinidad, and Tobago. Shearer uses a disheartening and sanguine tone because the novel is both terrifying and has elements of sanguinity towards the end. The major conflict is between the plantation owners and slaves. Even after the announcement of the end of slavery in 1934, plantation owners still claimed that the law required the slaves to be with their masters for six years before they secured their freedom. The primary themes in the novel include slavery, suffering, a mother's love, and hope.
The novel opens when the owner of the Providence announces to his slaves that slavery has ended, but they must work for him for six years under the name of apprentices. The opening statement of the master brings out the themes of slavery and suffering. Slaves were initially the property of the plantation owners, and they worked without pay. Slaves are forced to work like machines without proper medical care, a balanced diet, and other necessities. To add more salt on the wounds, plantation owners sell slaves’ children to different plantations. Rachel is one of the slaves working on the Providence plantation in Barbados, and all her five surviving children are sold as slaves.
The theme of motherly love emerges when Rachel escapes from the Providence plantation to search for her surviving children sold as slaves to different plantations. Despite the dangers involving the escape, Rachel is hopeful that she will reunite with her children. The journey is dangerous, and it involves crossing rivers invested with crocodiles. Fortunately, Rachel reunites with all five children at the end.
The primary symbolism in the novel is the river infested with crocodiles, which represents the wrath of the slave owners. The plantation owners are angry people who do want their slaves to become free. Despite the Emancipation Act of 1934 that ended slavery, still many plantation owners were not willing to let the slaves go. The main paradox in the entire novel is that for the first six years after the end of slavery, people continued to suffer under the hands of plantation owners.
Shearer’s River Sing Me Home novel is beautifully written despite showing horrific scenes of suffering. The most important thing is that the protagonist is optimistic and resilient until she reunites with all her surviving children. The novel brings out the evils of slavery and the journey of the affected people after the end of slavery.
