Yellow Wife

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 1, Chapters 6-9

Part 2, Chapters 10-15

Part 2, Chapters 16-21

Part 2, Chapters 22-26

Part 3, Chapters 27-32

Part 3, Chapters 33-36

Part 3, Chapter 37-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

The Pervasive Trauma of Enslavement

Psychologists and social scientists are only just now beginning to understand the pervasive nature of trauma as a result of enslavement. Intergenerational trauma is a term used to describe the way in which trauma is passed on and inherited over time. The American Psychological Association defines intergenerational trauma as “a phenomenon in which the descendants of a person who has experienced a terrifying event show adverse emotional and behavioral reactions to the event that are similar to those of the person himself or herself” (Assare, Janice Gassam. “3 Ways Intergenerational Trauma Still Impacts the Black Community Today.” Forbes, 2022). Dr. Joy Degruy Leary, researcher and professor at Portland State University, argues in her 2005 book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome that a history of enslavement continues to impact the self-esteem and health outcomes of Black individuals in the United States today.

Sadeqa Johnson shows how pervasive the trauma of slavery is through her characters. The characters, including the white enslavers, are affected by the trauma of slavery. Pheby experiences a quick succession of traumatic events—the loss of her mother, Essex, and Essex’s son. She endures sexual, verbal, and physical abuse. Although she tries to shield her children from trauma, she cannot. Monroe loses his sense of self-worth and begins to see his identity as synonymous with “slave.” He carries the intergenerational trauma of his mother and grandmother Ruth. Pheby’s daughters carry it, too. They must conceal that their mother is Black to live safely in the North. Essex also experiences physical and sexual abuse, and as a result struggles with his sense of self-worth as a man.

The white characters in the novel—particularly Rubin and Delphina—are affected by their participation in slavery in ways that they do not realize. They are unable to recognize the trauma that they have caused. Delphina loses her sense of self. She cannot feel the love of her husband or love him fully because she doesn’t acknowledge how the patriarchal system that supports slavery affects her. Rubin develops a cheap and violent definition of love that keeps him from being truly intimate with others or himself.

The trauma of slavery pervades every character and lasts far beyond the last page of Johnson’s novel. The characters who carry that trauma cope and exhibit a variety of stress responses, often misdirecting their anger and sadness.

The Dehumanization of Slavery

In June 2023, editors for Southern Literary Review, Donna Meredith and Claire Matturro, engaged in an email exchange that they later published, discussing the powerful elements of Johnson’s work. Meredith explained that she was struck by how Yellow Wife highlighted how slavery dehumanized everyone, including white enslavers. Delphina provides an example of how slavery stripped everyone involved of their humanity. At a time when women’s rights were non-existent, Delphina lived a largely powerless existence. She was forced to stay at home and run a house for a man who made no effort to conceal that he was not faithful. When she pushed back against her husband, she was shut down and reprimanded. Her response to him shows how the enslaved people on his plantation were not the only ones who feared him. Matturro writes: “It’s hard to sympathize with her, yet Miss Delphina is in an untenable position” (Meredith, Donna and Claire Matturo. “‘Yellow Wife’ by Sadeqa Johnson.” Southern Review, 2023).

Aunt Hope sums it up in Chapter 8: “White women are too wrapped up in they own head to figure out we ain’t ask for this life” (59). Delphina is so wrapped up in her own grief and victimization that she is unable to recognize that the system which oppresses her is the same system that oppresses and kills the very people who surround her, care for her, and support her.

While slavery dehumanizes white enslavers, this does not deter from the far-reaching and pervasive effects on Black enslaved people. Although Delphina’s status as a woman means that she has little power, she still holds far more autonomy and control than Pheby and the other enslaved workers on the plantation. Pheby is reminded at every turn that her grasp on security and safety is tenuous. Everything and everyone she loves could be taken from her at any moment. Pheby holds tightly to the wisdom of her mother that reminds her that she has value; although her body may be bought, sold, and traded, her mind is her own. However, Pheby is impacted by the dehumanization of slavery. She feels disconnected from her values as she is forced to participate in the enslavement of others. She recognizes yet is powerless to change the way her son is treated differently from her daughters. Delphina and Rubin repeatedly undermine her value and spirit with emotional, physical, verbal, and sexual abuse.

The erasure of Black voices in history continues to dehumanize. Johnson’s work is a reclamation of the humanization of enslaved people. When Johnson read the story of Mary Lumpkin, she knew this was a story she must tell. By giving a voice to Mary, Johnson emphasizes that the stories of enslaved individuals are real, complex, and nuanced, and that these are stories worth telling. I believe this is in the foreword or afterword of the book; however I cannot source a copy through Google books or other means – should be cited otherwise comes off as speculation.

The Complex Relationship Between Submission and Defiance

The narrative raises many questions—forcing the reader to think about how an enslaved woman could willingly have sex with her enslaver; how she could assist and support a system that deals in the trafficking of humans; and how she could raise children with her enslaver. It is important to recognize the intimacy between Jacob and Ruth and Rubin and Pheby for what it was—rape. The real woman named Mary who provided the historical model for Pheby was only 13 when she gave birth to her first child with jailer Robert Lumpkin.

For Pheby and her mother, sex with enslavers was a way to carve out some security and safety for themselves and their children. In the beginning of the book, Pheby describes walking in on Jacob Bell having sex with her mother; Ruth later tells Pheby that everything she does is for Pheby’s sake. Pheby mirrors this exchange when she tells one of the women she readies for sale that everything she does is for her children. In both instances, Ruth and Pheby are suffering persistent rape from their enslavers. The choices they make to be submissive or to pretend that they are enjoying intimacy are ones of necessity.

There is complexity to the way submission and defiance work together in Johnson’s novel. When Rubin asks Pheby whether she loves him, she answers that she does. Her response is founded in fear rather than truth. Pheby knows that denying him love could be detrimental for her and her children. Yet, when Pheby sees Rubin caressing and flirting with another woman, she cannot make sense of her emotion. She determines that she cannot be jealous, because she does not love Rubin. In one sense, she lives the life of a wife. She and Rubin share a bed at night. They eat together. She plays music for him, listens to him, and helps him with his business. Together, they raise their children and make choices about their education. Yet, she is enslaved by him. He abuses her and repeatedly reminds her that everything she loves could be taken away. There are no clear-cut emotions for this type of experience. For Ruth and Pheby, submission is its own form of defiance. Ruth learns that she can manipulate, flirt, and wield what little power she has to protect herself and the ones she loves. Pheby does the same.