Roots: The Saga of an American Family Analysis

The contrast between Africa and America is at the heart of Roots. For Kunta, Africa is a beautiful continent with diverse people and limitless possibilities. America—a little less so. Either way,...

In narrative terms, Roots is the equivalent of an M. Night Shyamalan film. Author Alex Haley tricks us into thinking one thing throughout the entire story…only to shake things up with a twist in...

Roots is a classic example of historical fiction—you'd find it in the same section of the library as Wolf Hall, Number The Stars, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It blends historical fact, genea...

Although Roots deals with some heavy topics, things would get boring if its tone were steadily depressing the whole way through. And it wouldn't be accurate, either—the characters we meet experie...

One of the primary purposes of Roots is to connect people with the mind-explodingly awful historical reality of slavery in America, especially as it relates to the cultural traditions of those who...

At its core, Roots is all about the importance of discovering one's—well—roots. It's primarily focused on a very specific time in history, true, but Haley's argument that people need to be conn...

The story of the family at the center of Roots doesn't really have an explicit ending—after all, the fam is presumably still going strong. (We wouldn't expect anything less form the Kinte fam.) W...

In terms of its writing style, Roots is far from a difficult read. Author Alex Haley got his start as a journalist, after all, so he favors clarity and readability over experimental literary tomfoo...

Roots covers roughly eight generations of a single family, so it can't be easily condensed into a classic plot type. These Roots grow entirely too deep.

At its core, Roots is an extended family tree. Because of this, it doesn't adhere to any specific type of literary plot—especially not one from some clown named Booker (just kidding, buddy, we lo...

Because Roots functions as a genealogy on a structural level, it's a little hard to squeeze into a basic three act structure. Hey, no one ever accused families of being neat and orderly.

After writing so much about his mother's side of the family, Alex Haley decided to throw his dad a bone by writing Queen, which is based on his paternal lineage. (Source) Struggling writers rejoice...

There are plenty of allusions to sexuality in Roots, but most of them are completely innocent and not at all explicit. There are several scenes that allude to sexual violence, however, as well as t...

Sundiata (16.15, referenced throughout)Sogolon, the Buffalo Woman (16.17)Oba of Benin (24.12)Alexander the Great (24.20)Sy Gilliat (53.11)Crispus Attucks (56.5)George Leile (56.10)Patrick Henry (56...