Roots: The Saga of an American Family Suffering Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

Stripping to my underwear, I [...] forced myself to stay there though all ten nights of the crossing, trying to imagine what did he see, hear, feel, smell, taste. (120.66)

In order to get into the mind of Kunta during his most horrifying ordeal—the voyage to America—Alex Haley locks himself in the belly of a ship and doesn't emerge for a week and a half. That might go a long way towards explaining the intensely visceral nature of that scene.