Queen
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Plot Summary of Queen

"The book begins with the life of Queen's grandfather, an Irishman in Ireland, and it eventually leads up to the accounts of her life. Queen is a mulatto; her mother, Easter, is a black slave who does the weaving on the plantation, and her father, Jass, is the white massa of the plantation. Queen would have had a kinder life if she were born a boy, or maybe even darker skinned. As it happens, she is born with light skin.

This is dangerous in the south, because she could pass for white, and even try to lead a white life. So, Queen faces a lot of prejudice from caucasians, and even from black people as well. The first major prejudice she faces comes from her father's wife, Lizzie. Naturally, Lizzie is jealous of Queen's mother, who is Jass' mistress. Also, Queen is Jass' firstborn. Lizzie wanted to have Jass' firstborn child. When Lizzie becomes pregnant, Queen is brought to the big house to become a nanny/maid/playmate to the child.

Lizzie hates having Queen in the house, and makes her life miserable. But, as long as slavery existed, Queen had a relatively safe life within the plantation. But when the Civil War ended slavery, Queen is forced to leave the plantation. Queen is advised by her white grandmother to live among the black community; however, Queen decides that she wants to "pass for white". This scheme works for a while, until a white gentleman courting Queen asks her to marry him. Queen knows in her heart that this can never be. And what makes matters worse, she tells him the truth about her. The consequences are devasting, and once again she is forced to leave her home. Queen is destitute, and is constantly searching for love and affection. "
Marie Morris, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Queen

Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 19th century
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - slavery
Inside culture (main char) - Black
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society) - American South
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - slave
Age: - long lived adults
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - Black
How sensitive is this character? - soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - society
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 (quite a lot)
United States Yes

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - impregnation/reproduction - rape/molest (yeech!)
Lot of foul language? Yes
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards - a lot of stream of consciousness - No single main character?
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Alex Haley Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:

Marie Morris

SCHOLARS: nidhi

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Alex Haley Book Review