Introduction
Alejo Carpentier was a famous novelist from Cuba. He was exiled to Paris where he received strong influence from other surrealists. He was committed to politics of revolution hence most of his novels focused on the irrationality of Latin America, the cultural heritage and its esteemed transformation.
Carpentier is one of the greatest writers who have ever existed in Latin America as well as a theorist of Latin America’s literature. Some of his novels include: The lost Steps, The chase, The Kingdom of this World among others. This essay is going to analyze the plot development of the novel The Kingdom of this world.
Prologue
The prologue of this novel is a text that is widely used as an extract where Carpentier comes up with the term lo real maravilloso. He coined this term after looking at the many occurrences in Latin America that seemed miraculous to them. The miraculous occurrences in Latin America are a direct opposite of the characteristic nature of European folklore which lacked the power of imagination.
In the prologue, the reader is also informed of the journey Carpentier made in 1943 to Haiti and the intensive research he conducted as he prepared valid material to write the novel. He also expresses his disagreement of the regarded marvelous evident in surrealist novels because only natural magic existed in Latin America (Carpentier 5)
Part One
In part one of this novel, Ti Noel narrates the stories that Mackandal who is also a slave like him would tell during the plantation of a master. He would narrate stories full of mythical kingdoms and abnormal characters. Mackandal is a person who is admittedly attractive to black women as well as captivating among men. He suffers un- expected accident on his left hand after being trapped in a machine where his arm is pulled to the shoulder.
His condition renders him unhelpful to his master hence he decides to move to the mountains where he discovers magic hidden in secret plants, herbs and fungi. He is joined by Ti noel and together, they are interested in gaining more knowledge about the magical characteristics of the herbs. For Mackandal, it is time and he stops attending the plantation. When the rains are over, he is met by Ti Noel in a cave full of surreal things (Curledup 4).
Meanwhile Mackandal gets in contact with the nearby plantations where he orders that cows should be killed using the discovered herbs. The poison kills livestock and Frenchmen making it a widespread disaster. This leads to the death of Lenormand de mezy with many other families losing their members through the same way. Eventually, a slave who is threatened with a gun confesses that Mackandal has magical powers which are the source of the poison.
The number of people dying in the plantations is reduced and the natives continue with their normal activities. Mackandal has now acquired the ability to change his form to become an animal so he decides to return to the plantation to strengthen his faith. It would take a period of four years for Mackandal to return to a normal man after the end of the metamorphosis so the other slaves have to wait patiently. After the four years, He returns and the people present are very happy about his return.
The white men become curious because of the celebrations of the rest and they prepare themselves to net Mackandal. They manage to capture him after which they tie him to tree in preparation of burning him but he escapes miraculously. In the end Mackandal never succeeds in hiding and he is killed by burning.
Part Two
In the second part of this novel, the second wife of Lenormand passes away with the city growing remarkably. Mackandal narrates to his children many stories about Mackandal and they hope that he will one day come back.
A group of slaves hold a meeting unknowingly where Bouckman addresses them about the possibility of the black slaves attaining freedom coming from France. He also informs them of the uprising coming from the owners of the plantations. After this meeting,slaves blow trumpets and come out ready to attack their masters.
Lenormand is scared by the sounds of these conch shells and goes on hiding. This gives the slaves a chance to kill the white men after which they imbue large amounts of alcohol. The most recent mistress of Lenormand is raped by Ti Noel because of the drunkenness. The uprising does not succeed and leads to the death of Bouckman.
Ti Noel with his friends are saved by the timely arrival of Lenormand but the talk of killing all blacks remains because they are believed to be a serious threat because of their voodoo knowledge and incomprehensible religion (Msu 4).
Lenormand de Mezy finally decides to move Ti Noel and some of his colleagues to Cuba. Instead of Ti Noel working hard and being productive, he turns out a lazy man, drinks and involves himself in gambling the slaves. In this part also, the story of Pauline Bonaparte is told as she escorts her husband who serves in the army to Haiti.
On their way, Pauline tempts men in the ship sexually until one of the slaves gets extremely attracted to her. Her husband gets sick but despite frantic efforts with the assistance of black slaves’ magic, he dies forcing Pauline to go back to Paris. The black slaves continue receiving cruel treatment until black priests arrive who allow them to conduct business.
Part Three
The third part of this novel presents Ti Noel moving to the place of an owner of a plantation in Santiago who has won him. Lenormand dies as a result of immense poverty. Ti Noel has grown older now and discovers that after the death of Lenormand, he has gone back to his plantation.
The country undergoes remarkable developments and becomes highly controlled by blacks. Henri who is a former cook turned a king after fighting by the black people makes use of the labor of slaves in construction of beautiful figures. Noel feels oppressed and opines that slavery under a fellow black man is more serious than the one under Lenormand. The death of the slaves is not considered as a loss since the slaves can be gotten easily.
Noel escapes and goes back to the plantation where he stays for a while before going back to the city which is engulfed by tension. The new king is exposed to difficult times by the ghosts of the black slaves who were tortured until he can take it no more. He eventually kills himself and buried by African slaves in the fortress. The pile of mortar where he is buried is converted into a mausoleum.
Part Four
In part four of this novel, after the death of Henri, his family is airlifted to Europe courtesy of English merchants. Soliman, the African slave gets the privilege of accompanying the group and enjoys a good time in Rome. He receives warm treatment and narrates many stories of the past.
While here, he comes across the statue of Pauline which rekindles long gone memories in him. Here he recalls the night Henri died and moved out before succumbing to the memories. Noel now remembers all the stories narrated by Mackandal and peace prevails in the plantation. He is in charge of any celebrations conducted in the plantation. Surveyors have invaded the plantation and slaves are forced to work by being whipped. Noel starts transforming himself into different forms to watch the events.
Conclusion
Ti Noel finally turns into a geese but the family of the geese deny him. He discovers that being a goose is not a pointer that there exists equality among geese. As the novel comes to an end, the life of Ti Noel also comes to an end. Most importantly, he reflects on The Kingdom of this world and greatness. This is a truly great novel that exhibits the suffering of human beings under slavery and how badly people who consider themselves heirs power treat their subjects.
Works Cited
Carpentier, Alejo. The kingdom of this world. Indiana: André Deutsch, 1990.Print
Curledup. The Kingdom of this World. 2006. Web.
Msu. The kingdom of this World. n.d. Web.