SOURCE: Griffin, Christopher O. “Roots, Violence, and the Context of Intention.” Griot: Official Journal of the Southern Conference on Afro-American Studies, Inc. 15, no. 1 (spring 1996): 1-14.

In the following essay, Griffin examines the use of violence as symbol in Roots.

This is ultimately the most profound claim that any ritual or any religious system can make: that through their thoughts and actions, people can fill their existence with meaning.¹

Preface

Roots: for many today, the title carries connotations associated with words such as “plagiarism”, “deceit”, and “falsification”. Moreover, the stigma attached to the novel often makes it difficult for readers to move beyond these negative terms and to focus on the novel as legitimate fiction rather than questionable history. Nonetheless, Roots has enlightened great numbers of readers to the struggles of the African-American, and despite its faults or those of its author, Roots still possesses untapped illumination for all...