Chapter 46
- Kunta spends his days working in the fields, tossing corn and pumpkins into a wagon, and then loading them into the barn. He also performs an odd job here and there.
- Things are less tense now, as the harvest is almost complete. This makes Kunta think about the harvest festival in Juffure.
- Although Kunta is still skeptical of the black folk who live in America, he's warmed up to them considerably after seeing that many of their traditions have roots in his own African heritage.
- One big revelation is that they're just pretending to submit to the authority of the toubob. He's noticed that they share some sort of secret language to communicate without anyone knowing.
- There's a big shindig when fall arrives. The toubob seem to get great joy from watching the slaves dance and celebrate, which makes Kunta feel as if both groups somehow "need" each other (46.28).
Chapter 47
- After being chained up for all this time, Kunta is now dealing with an infected ankle, so Sampson finally frees him. It's an amazing feeling.
- Kunta runs away at the next available opportunity. His ankle is still too shaky, however, and Sampson catches up with him quickly. It doesn't seem like he tells the Massa about it, however.
- A few nights later, Kunta spots "a thick iron wedge" and snags it, digging a hole in his hut and burying it (47.8). Might come in useful.
- A month later, Kunta is perplexed by the sudden appearance of a cold, wet, white substance falling from the sky. It's his first time seeing snow. He's not crazy about it.
- Kunta is working with another guy at the perimeter of the plantation and spots him using a long knife. He makes "a silent prayer" and bops the dude over the head (47.13).
- He grabs the knife and runs. Unfortunately, the dude comes to a few minutes later and starts shouting for help.
- It doesn't matter, though—Kunta's off. He runs as hard as he can.
- When night falls, it starts snowing. Kunta realizes almost immediately that this is a terrible thing: it makes his tracks readily apparent.
- He hears "the distant baying of dogs" and gunfire and readies himself for a fight (47.19).
- Kunta takes down two dogs, but he's no match for several armed men with horses. They shoot him twice in the leg and he collapses.
- The toubob strip Kunta naked, beat him, and whip him. The pain is so intense that he loses consciousness.
- He wakes up back in his hut. Two days later, he hears people shouting about something called "Christmas" and feels angrier than he ever has before. He wants "revenge" (47.24).
Chapter 48
- Kunta's placed in shackles once again. Everyone is avoiding him like the plague at this point.
- The poor guy is getting so lonely that he begins having "imaginary conversations with his family" (48.4).
- Months pass in this fashion. Kunta's decided to lay low as he plans his next escape, so he goes about his normal duties as inconspicuously as possible.
- One day, it hits him—he can hide inside one of the tobacco wagons that regularly pass the plantation, which would help him get far away before they even realize he's gone.
Chapter 49
- Kunta assembles his supplies: an old knife, a rabbit just killed with said knife, and a makeshift "saphie" he made from materials found around the farm (49.1). Tonight's the night, folks.
- He arrives at the road minutes before the tobacco wagon rolls by. Waiting until it hits a bump to obscure the noise, he jumps inside and burrows into the giant tobacco leaves.
- The stench is suffocating, but Kunta somehow falls asleep. Although he wakes up in the middle of the night, he waits until dawn to make his break.
- He travels that entire day, sleeps through the night, and gets back going as soon as the sun rises. He might not know where he's going, but he wants to keep moving—and fast.
- Another day and night passes. That's when he hears that awful, gut-wrenching sound: "the baying of hounds" (49.16). To make things worse, he's so exhausted that he collapses and passes out, not waking up until the next nightfall.
- By that time, the dogs have gotten way closer. He loses his knife in the confusion, but manages to grab a large rock before sprinting away.
- The sun rises and Kunta knows that the dogs have caught up with him. He manages to hold them off with his makeshift weapons.
- The dogs are joined by three toubob Kunta has never seen before. He manages to clock one of them in the head with the rock before they can react.
- Once again, however, the numbers game proves too much for our hero. The toubob beat Kunta viciously, strip him naked (once again), and tie him to a tree.
- The one Kunta struck pulls out a knife and sits in front of Kunta, using body language to say that Kunta must choose between losing his foot, or his foto. Oh no...
- Horrified, Kunta involuntarily covers his crotch with his hand, so the toubob pulls out an axe and chops off his foot. Kunta feels an "explosion of pain" and passes out (49.27).
Chapter 50
- The next few days are a blur. After a while, Kunta comes to and realizes that he's tied down in the middle of a room wearing "some kind of gown" (50.2).
- A tall toubob enters the room. He performs some examinations on Kunta, which are insanely painful, and then calls out for someone named Bell.
- A "short and powerfully built" black woman enters the room carrying water (50.4). She feels strangely familiar to Kunta.
- The toubob pours some medicine into the water and Kunta drinks it. He passes back out as soon as they leave the room.
- Kunta dips in and out of consciousness, feverishly forgetting at times what happened to his foot, only to make the same horrifying realization again and again.
- Bell keeps on coming, however, and her concern is evident. One day, she surreptitiously puts a "poultice of boiled leaves" on his chest and washes it off a few minutes later (50.11).
- Kunta is still hurting the next time he wakes up, but he instantly knows that his fever has broken. Strangely, Bell's techniques seem very similar to the ones his mom used back in Juffure.
- Also, as a side-note, we learn that Kunta's only seventeen or eighteen. That's insane.
- One day, the tall toubob unties Kunta. He's too weak to even raise his arms. A few days later, the toubob removes the bandages on his foot, and Kunta's horrified by the sight.
- The toubob also gives Kunta a pair of crutches. Our dude is pretty excited, and even starts eating food.