Kera Pezzuti

Period 8
10/9/08
Roots and The Tempest

To many peoples throughout the world, freedom is something taken for granted,

but to other groups, having their independence is not a reality. George Bernard Shaw

sums up the feelings of these dominated people by say, “A conquered nation is like a man

with cancer: he can think of nothing else.” In Roots by Alex Haley and William

Shakespeare’s The Tempest, several groups of people or single people find themselves

examples of Shaw’s words. These unfortunate populaces in Roots include the Africans

and Native Americans due to the colonies and then the colonies themselves with thanks to

the British. In The Tempest, Prospero is usurped by his brother Antonio with assistance

from King Alonso of Naples, but, later in the play, Prospero takes control of the native

Caliban and a spirit, Ariel. All these characters, nations, and communities are constantly

possessed by the same thought of their constraint by others.

All the conquered characters in The Tempest express their feelings towards no

longer having their independence during the second scene of act two. When Miranda

makes an inquiry about the origin of the storm, Prospero begins to tell her a very

informative, but long-winded story. Although his daughter appears bored at certain points

during the narrative, readers are able to learn a lot about the history of Prospero and

Miranda. Here, readers discover Prospero’s obsession with getting revenge on those who

attempted to kill him and who are responsible for his lonely residence on the island. From

his story, one can deduce that the magician has spent a lengthy period of time plotting

against Antonio, the usurper, and King Alonso of Naples who assisted in the seizing of

Prospero’s title. During his story, Prospero states, “And by my prescience/ I find my
zenith doth depend upon/ A most auspicious star, whose influence/ If now I court not but

omit, my fortunes/ Will ever after droop” (Iii). These words explain to readers how

Prospero is completely taken over with the thought of revenge. Just like his fixation on

being conquered is analogous to a man with cancer, Prospero suddenly becomes obsessed

with chemotherapy-like revenge.

During his stay on the enchanted island, Prospero places many other beings into

the same conquered fate he was forced into. Many spirits who play small parts in the

play, such as Juno and Iris, are under constant control of the magician, and a more

powerful and important spirit, Ariel, is also in the hand of Prospero. Throughout the

entire play, Ariel questions Prospero about when he will be released which shows the

thought of having no freedom is never far from Ariel’s mind. After every completion of a

task assigned by Prospero, Ariel attempts to negotiate the duration of his stay under

Prospero’s rule. Another creature under the jurisdiction of Milan’s former ruler was an

inhabitant of the almost deserted island before the arrival of Prospero and Miranda called

Caliban. A cruel and vindictive beast, Caliban and his mother used to own the island, and

he never lets Prospero forget about the terrible dead committed by the magician. In Act I,

scene ii, Caliban delivers a soliloquy about the history of the possession of the island. He

states, “This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother/ Which thou takest from me . . . In this

hard rock, whiles you do keep from me/ The rest o' th' island” (Iii). Whenever Caliban is

seen during a later part of the play, he is sulking and commenting about the unfair control

of Prospero. These two servants of Prospero are, in a way, in a similar position of being

conquered that their controller is.

 In a different piece of literature, Roots by Alex Haley, the same characteristics are

seen on a larger scale by countries and masses of people. The majority of the novel takes

place during the time that is the colonial period, a time when the British and colonists are

extremely controlling people. Under the rule of the British from across the sea, the

colonies became unwilling subjects during the beginning of the 1700s thus leading to the

Revolution. During this half a century, the colonists are seen to have displayed various

forms of rebellion towards King George III and the rest of Britain. Although controlled

themselves, the colonists found the need to also conquer the Native Americans and the

Africans. Many characters of Roots heard of tales about the uprisings of slaves on other

plantations and of the colonists against the British. Readers diligently follow one such

African, Kunta Kinte, a slave who was captured in his native Africa takes many years to

become accustomed to the thought of having no freedoms. His every action in the

beginning of the stint of his capture screams his desire to be free and home again.

Through countless chapters, Kunta thinks of nothing but plans for escape and revenge on

those who imprisoned him.

Throughout Alex Haley’s Roots and Shakespeare’s The Tempest, many

unfortunate characters and races are taken control of and are stripped of their freedoms.

In The Tempest, a number of single people match this criterion including Prospero,

Caliban, and Ariel. The Africans, Native Americans, and the colonists are populations of

people in Roots that are also conquered and without liberations. To men like Prospero and

Kunta Kinte who enjoy and take advantage of all their freedoms, being controlled by

someone is not a possibility. When they do find themselves subject to this terrible fate,

they become obsessed with finding a way out of the mess. In accordance with the words
by George Bernard Shaw, these two characters are great examples of someone fanatical

about being conquered. Although other characters and large bodies of people also display

the same characteristics of Kunta and Prospero, none take it to the extreme to find their

independence again that these two men do.