[Black Thunder] is a superior piece of work. Interest in the action is sustained; the minds and feelings of the blacks are made lucid and believable; and the atmosphere is unique. Bontemps accomplished these ends partly through the skillful use of various motifs from Negro folklore. Several episodes of the novel are pervaded by beliefs and customs that appear in this folklore—beliefs and customs concerning death and the spirit, the importance of 'signs' or portents, and the use of Magic and Conjure.

Early in Black Thunder a tyrannical slave owner whips a slave, Bundy, to death, and thus hastens the rebellion that has been on the minds of the blacks of Henrico County for some time. Bontemps' treatment of the funeral of this slave and the subsequent haunting by Bundy's spirit of a fellow slave, are rooted in narratives found in folklore that have to do with...