Sacred Hunger
Encyclopedia
Sacred Hunger is a historical novel
by Barry Unsworth
first published in 1992
. It shared the Booker Prize
that year with Michael Ondaatje
's The English Patient
.
The story is set in the mid 18th century and centers around the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship
employed in the triangular trade
, a central trade route in the Atlantic slave trade
. The two main characters are cousins Erasmus Kemp, son of a wealthy merchant from Lancashire
, and Matthew Paris, a physician and scientist who goes on the voyage. The novel's central theme is greed, with the subject of slavery
being a primary medium for exploring the issue.
The story line has a very extensive cast of characters, some featuring in only one scene, others continually developed throughout the story, but most described in intricate detail. The narrative interweaves elements of appalling cruelty and horror with extended comedic interludes, and employs frequent period expressions.
during the Age of Enlightenment
but long before the days of Darwin
and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Matthew Paris is a central character in the novel, a physician several years older than his cousin Erasmus. Prior to the beginning of the story Paris had been imprisoned for writings on the age of the earth that clashed with a literal interpretation of the Bible and thus the dogma of the church, his wife Ruth dying while he was incarcerated. Wishing to escape his past, he accepts a position as surgeon
on the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship owned by his uncle William Kemp. The elder Kemp's son, Erasmus Kemp, a young man in his early twenties, has a long standing hatred for his cousin dating back to his younger years. He participates in a play
initially, and is enamored with Sarah Wolpert, the daughter of a friend of his father. The ship's crew is made up of men available at the time around the Liverpool
docks, and many are recruited by blackmail and deception. As the ship sets off toward the African continent to collect its cargo, it becomes clear that Paris and the ship's captain, Saul Thurso, have very different world views.
for picking up slaves and other excursions. Paris finds himself among a crew of men who despise being on the ship but have little other option. Some form friendships with him, while others are more inhospitable. While the crew are treated harshly under the ruthless discipline of Captain Thurso, Paris stands on a different level, being the nephew of the ship's owner. Tension between these two men arises early, and grows throughout the voyage. As they reach the coast of Guinea, Paris learns that the slaves are recruited by the local Kru people, who 'hunt' for slaves further inland. Slaves are barter
ed for trade goods of little value such as slave beads
and kettles, with the captain haggling with the local traders.
Back in England Erasmus is falling in love with a local girl named Sarah Wolpert. He participates in The Enchanted Island, a play that she is involved in with characters and dialogue drawn from Shakespeare's "The Tempest". The two start a relationship, but Erasmus is very possessive, and conflicts ensue. Meanwhile his father, a cotton
broker, is in financial trouble, and is relying heavily on a good profit from the voyage of the Merchant. He becomes depressed
.
As the slaves come aboard Paris becomes increasingly concerned with their living conditions and general treatment. He is joined on the ship by Delblanc, an artist
and philosopher who shares a similar stature with him on the ship, and with whom he exchanges views on subjects such as authority
. The voyage is unlike anything he expected, the slaves taking on a defiant stance. They attempt to take their own lives, with the crew trying to prevent them from doing so. With disease
and death
already frequent on board the ship, dysentery
then strikes. The writings in Paris' journal and his exchanges with those on board show his growing disgust with the slave trade, and he comes to question his motives for coming on the voyage and his role in assisting the slave traders.
Meanwhile, William Kemp commits suicide
. Erasmus, now planning to marry Sarah, is offered a job by her father, a wealthy business man. Too proud to accept his pity, he turns away from the Wolpert family, aiming to rebuild his father's empire.
The situation on board the Merchant continues to deteriorate. Thurso cuts the ship's rations, trying to keep as many slaves alive as possible. Death continues, the corpses tossed overboard. Thurso throws a monkey overboard, a pet brought on board by one of the seamen. The crew begin to rebel against him, and he becomes paranoid, keeping to his own quarters. Finally, Thurso decides to throw the remaining slaves overboard, the insurance money being more attractive than their prospects for sale in a sickened state. As he attempts to have them tossed into the ocean, chains and all, the shipmates revolt. As the first part of the book ends, the fate of the Liverpool Merchant remains unclear.
. The ship's crew and slaves are said to be living together in a small inland settlement, trading with the local Indian
s. Seeking retribution against his cousin, Kemp takes a ship to Florida. In St. Augustine he manages to obtain a small force of infantry equipped with cannon to capture the crew.
The ship's crew and slaves have been living together in a community for over a decade, speaking a trade pidgin
from the Guinea
coast. The few women are shared among the men, many of which now have children. Paris has a son with a woman named Tabakali, who he shares with another man. The small community live in a primitive fashion, having a simple anarchist
/socialist political system. It is revealed that on several occasions in their early years individuals who threatened the fabric of their society were killed. Life is peaceful in general though, even utopia
n. The translator tells the children stories in a pidgin tongue which they all share, while Paris reads to them from Pope
and Hume
. Tensions in the community arise though, with a trial being contested between two men, Iboti and Hambo. Hambo accuses Iboti of trying to kill him, proposing that Iboti works for him for three years. He is acquitted of any wrongdoing, but the case concerns Paris deeply, and he is suspicious of the motives of the accusers. He takes his argument to Kireku, an important figure in the community. The men share very different viewpoints however, and Paris is unable to convince him that such use of fellow men is no worse than the slavery they were themselves subjected to—he concludes that "nothing a man suffers will prevent him inflicting suffering on others. Indeed, it will teach him the way..."
Erasmus finds Paris' journal among the wreckage of the Merchant, his cousin's writings clashing with his strongly capitalist
convictions, and further whetting his appetite for retribution. Erasmus' hatred for his cousin stems from his childhood, when Matthew had forcefully lifted him away when he was trying to dam a river, a moment that has stuck with him throughout his life. With his party of fifty, he finds the settlement. Some are shot, the rest being taken to St. Augustine by ship. He intends to sell the slaves as his father's property, and have the crew hanged
. He particularly looks forward to the hanging of his cousin Paris, whose leg wound appears minor. But the trauma of the gunshot has triggered "some occlusion of the blood," a pulmonary embolism that Paris recognizes as fatal. Paris dies before the ship can reach St. Augustine, and Erasmus comes to the realization that he did not lift him clear of the dam to cheat him of victory, but to save him from defeat.
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by Barry Unsworth
Barry Unsworth
Barry Unsworth is a British novelist who is known for novels with historical themes. He has published 15 novels, and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger....
first published in 1992
1992 in literature
The year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...
. It shared the Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
that year with Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
's The English Patient
The English Patient
The English Patient is a 1992 novel by Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje. The story deals with the gradually revealed histories of a critically burned English accented Hungarian man, his Canadian nurse, a Canadian-Italian thief, and an Indian sapper in the British Army as they live out...
.
The story is set in the mid 18th century and centers around the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to Americas....
employed in the triangular trade
Triangular trade
Triangular trade, or triangle trade, is a historical term indicating among three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come...
, a central trade route in the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
. The two main characters are cousins Erasmus Kemp, son of a wealthy merchant from Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and Matthew Paris, a physician and scientist who goes on the voyage. The novel's central theme is greed, with the subject of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
being a primary medium for exploring the issue.
The story line has a very extensive cast of characters, some featuring in only one scene, others continually developed throughout the story, but most described in intricate detail. The narrative interweaves elements of appalling cruelty and horror with extended comedic interludes, and employs frequent period expressions.
Plot introduction
The novel begins in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
but long before the days of Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Matthew Paris is a central character in the novel, a physician several years older than his cousin Erasmus. Prior to the beginning of the story Paris had been imprisoned for writings on the age of the earth that clashed with a literal interpretation of the Bible and thus the dogma of the church, his wife Ruth dying while he was incarcerated. Wishing to escape his past, he accepts a position as surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
on the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship owned by his uncle William Kemp. The elder Kemp's son, Erasmus Kemp, a young man in his early twenties, has a long standing hatred for his cousin dating back to his younger years. He participates in a play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
initially, and is enamored with Sarah Wolpert, the daughter of a friend of his father. The ship's crew is made up of men available at the time around the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
docks, and many are recruited by blackmail and deception. As the ship sets off toward the African continent to collect its cargo, it becomes clear that Paris and the ship's captain, Saul Thurso, have very different world views.
Part one
The novel is broken into two parts, beginning in 1752 and ending in 1765, with a decade or so separating the two. The Liverpool Merchant is the setting for most of the first part, with several landings on the coast of West AfricaWest Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
for picking up slaves and other excursions. Paris finds himself among a crew of men who despise being on the ship but have little other option. Some form friendships with him, while others are more inhospitable. While the crew are treated harshly under the ruthless discipline of Captain Thurso, Paris stands on a different level, being the nephew of the ship's owner. Tension between these two men arises early, and grows throughout the voyage. As they reach the coast of Guinea, Paris learns that the slaves are recruited by the local Kru people, who 'hunt' for slaves further inland. Slaves are barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
ed for trade goods of little value such as slave beads
Slave beads
Trade beads were otherwise decorative glass beads used between the 16th and 20th century as a currency to exchange for goods, services and slaves . Made to ease the passage of European explorers and then traders mainly across the African continents, the beads were made throughout Europe although...
and kettles, with the captain haggling with the local traders.
Back in England Erasmus is falling in love with a local girl named Sarah Wolpert. He participates in The Enchanted Island, a play that she is involved in with characters and dialogue drawn from Shakespeare's "The Tempest". The two start a relationship, but Erasmus is very possessive, and conflicts ensue. Meanwhile his father, a cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
broker, is in financial trouble, and is relying heavily on a good profit from the voyage of the Merchant. He becomes depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
.
As the slaves come aboard Paris becomes increasingly concerned with their living conditions and general treatment. He is joined on the ship by Delblanc, an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and philosopher who shares a similar stature with him on the ship, and with whom he exchanges views on subjects such as authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
. The voyage is unlike anything he expected, the slaves taking on a defiant stance. They attempt to take their own lives, with the crew trying to prevent them from doing so. With disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
and death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
already frequent on board the ship, dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
then strikes. The writings in Paris' journal and his exchanges with those on board show his growing disgust with the slave trade, and he comes to question his motives for coming on the voyage and his role in assisting the slave traders.
Meanwhile, William Kemp commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Erasmus, now planning to marry Sarah, is offered a job by her father, a wealthy business man. Too proud to accept his pity, he turns away from the Wolpert family, aiming to rebuild his father's empire.
The situation on board the Merchant continues to deteriorate. Thurso cuts the ship's rations, trying to keep as many slaves alive as possible. Death continues, the corpses tossed overboard. Thurso throws a monkey overboard, a pet brought on board by one of the seamen. The crew begin to rebel against him, and he becomes paranoid, keeping to his own quarters. Finally, Thurso decides to throw the remaining slaves overboard, the insurance money being more attractive than their prospects for sale in a sickened state. As he attempts to have them tossed into the ocean, chains and all, the shipmates revolt. As the first part of the book ends, the fate of the Liverpool Merchant remains unclear.
Part two
Roughly a decade on, the second part of the book initially focuses on the fate of Erasmus. Having recovered from bankruptcy and the shame of his father's death, he has married into a wealthy family. His wife Margaret is the daughter of a wealthy man, Sir Hugo, President of the West India Association. Their marriage is clearly not one of love. It seems sure that the Liverpool Merchant has been lost at sea in bad weather. However, Kemp soon learns from another captain that the ship is beached on the south east coast of FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The ship's crew and slaves are said to be living together in a small inland settlement, trading with the local Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s. Seeking retribution against his cousin, Kemp takes a ship to Florida. In St. Augustine he manages to obtain a small force of infantry equipped with cannon to capture the crew.
The ship's crew and slaves have been living together in a community for over a decade, speaking a trade pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
from the Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
coast. The few women are shared among the men, many of which now have children. Paris has a son with a woman named Tabakali, who he shares with another man. The small community live in a primitive fashion, having a simple anarchist
Anarcho-primitivism
Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural subsistence gave rise to social stratification, coercion, and alienation...
/socialist political system. It is revealed that on several occasions in their early years individuals who threatened the fabric of their society were killed. Life is peaceful in general though, even utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n. The translator tells the children stories in a pidgin tongue which they all share, while Paris reads to them from Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
and Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
. Tensions in the community arise though, with a trial being contested between two men, Iboti and Hambo. Hambo accuses Iboti of trying to kill him, proposing that Iboti works for him for three years. He is acquitted of any wrongdoing, but the case concerns Paris deeply, and he is suspicious of the motives of the accusers. He takes his argument to Kireku, an important figure in the community. The men share very different viewpoints however, and Paris is unable to convince him that such use of fellow men is no worse than the slavery they were themselves subjected to—he concludes that "nothing a man suffers will prevent him inflicting suffering on others. Indeed, it will teach him the way..."
Erasmus finds Paris' journal among the wreckage of the Merchant, his cousin's writings clashing with his strongly capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
convictions, and further whetting his appetite for retribution. Erasmus' hatred for his cousin stems from his childhood, when Matthew had forcefully lifted him away when he was trying to dam a river, a moment that has stuck with him throughout his life. With his party of fifty, he finds the settlement. Some are shot, the rest being taken to St. Augustine by ship. He intends to sell the slaves as his father's property, and have the crew hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. He particularly looks forward to the hanging of his cousin Paris, whose leg wound appears minor. But the trauma of the gunshot has triggered "some occlusion of the blood," a pulmonary embolism that Paris recognizes as fatal. Paris dies before the ship can reach St. Augustine, and Erasmus comes to the realization that he did not lift him clear of the dam to cheat him of victory, but to save him from defeat.
External links
- Books of The Times; Trading in Misery On a Doomed Slave Ship Review by The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...