The Door of No Return
The title of the book has been used as a metaphor. The door represented the passage through which the slave traders went through from their village into the hands of their captors. Once they were taken into the ship from Elmina castle they were gone forever; there were no hopes of ever coming back. Some died on the way left to the sharks to feast on while others who made it to the other side never got to be reunited with their families back home. Once boarding the ship with Afua, he knew all hopes of ever being reunited with his family were lost.
The Storm
The storm’s darkness has been used as a simile to explain how cruel the slave traders were in this statement, “the storm growing darker than the hearts of the men with no color.” The name, men of no color, is a metaphor to refer to the whites’ complexion. Their hearts have been compared to how dark the storm was to emphasize the extent of their cruelty.
The whites are known for being light in complexion which indicates less melanin pigment which is responsible for color. Their dark hearts signify how inhuman they treated the slaves like Afua and Kofi. They beat them, gave them no food, put them in dingy living situations, and even raped the girls. They never treated those who fell sick just dumped their bodies into the sea as if their lives did not matter for instance Owu’s death. On the contrary, they celebrated by drinking when one of their own was dead. Their superiority complex inflicted a lot of suffering on the slave traders.
A Family tie
This is a statement that Nana used to educate Kofi on the importance of family unity and ties in his life. Kofi was tired of his cousin who used to bully him and wished that they were not related. Nana compares their relationship to how a river is in nature, flowing continuously without breaking in the statement, “a family tie is like a river it can bend but cannot break.” Family ties are continuous and can never be broken because you are bounded by blood. Family can have issues with one another but one can never sever ties with family because that would mean they were never family in the first place. You do not choose who becomes a part of your family like you can do friendships. This statement comes to dawn on him when he helps save his cousin from the drowning ship. He realizes that Nana was right all along as he puts his hate for his cousin aside to help him. Your family will always be there for you no matter how badly you disagreed in the past.
Bonsu the Giant
Bonsu was the representative of the lower Kwanta village who had won the wrestling in the previous two years. He is known to be a good fighter, always leaving the opponents badly injured and others dead. He is known to have hands bigger than those of the opponent’s head which makes him similar to how a giant looks like. Just like a giant is known for extraordinary strength, and abnormal and scary physique the same way Bonsu looked compared to others in the village. These features made him stand out among his opponents winning with less effort.
Helpless Wonderfuls
This simile, “helpless Wonderfuls crying like babies” appeared at the end of the story when the ship was sinking and everyone was panicking. Wondefuls was an ironic name that the Africans used to refer to the Europeans who invaded their territory. Just like babies are always helpless without an adult’s help as they cannot do most things by themselves so were the wonderfuls in that situation. They were feeling helpless as they did not know how to swim in the middle of the sea. The only thing they could do was cry as they wait for their deaths because their situation was terrible with nobody to save them.
