Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

Throughout his book, Alejo Carpentier uses references to sex. These references not only recapture the attention of college aged readers, but they also help to show the power structures between the French Colonists and the African Slaves. There are sexual moments in the beginning of the book between negresses and their white owners. This seems commonplace. I suppose this could be seen as a sign of oppression between the two races.

                Another sexual symbol we see in the book is Pauline Bonaparte. Pauline is a very feminine character, and is perceived as such from the moment she is introduced: “From the minute she stepped on board, Pauline had felt a little like a queen on that frigate loaded with troops bound for the Antilles) “84). She is later described as “despite her tender years, was a connoisseur of male flesh” (85). Everyone on the island, African slaves in particular, sees Pauline in a sexual manner. The interesting part about Pauline is that she knows it too. She likes to meditate out in the open and sleep naked outside. Soon after, she starts having Soliman, an African slave, massage her: “While he was bathing her, Pauline took a perverse pleasure in grazing his flanks with her body…for she knew that he was continually tortured by desire” (89). Pauline, through her sexuality with the slaves, acts as the intermediary between the French colonists and African slaves.

                In between these two sexual examples, we see another example of how sex shows the power structure.  During the revolt, we see the African slaves really go after their masters. Sexual rage comes in to play with this revolt. We see that this sexual rage has been around for awhile, even though it just comes out in the revolt: “For a long time now [Ti Noel] had dreamed of raping Mlle Floridor” (68). As the raid continues, we see that rape is a way for the slaves to show their power: “The Negroes had violated nearly all the well-born girls of the Plaine” (71). In this book, sexual power is clearly an indicator of the power shifts between the slaves and colonists.