What does She Would Be King have to say about the power of storytelling?Ĩ.
How does the magical realism employed in She Would Be King relate to recent pop culture representations of African superheroes, such as Black Panther?ħ. Where do the special powers of the three main protagonists originate? How do their abilities align with their experiences, personalities, and cultures?Ħ. How does this presence change the way the entire novel is read?ĥ. On pages 60-61 we’re given a clue about where the voice in the wind comes from. The narrating presence of the wind both cautions and comforts the characters in the novel. In what ways does She Would Be King trace the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade?Ĥ. What did you know about Liberia before reading the book? What new questions do you have?ģ. She Would Be King is a work of fiction that incorporates historical events. How do their experiences differ? How are they similar?Ģ. Gbessa, June Dey, and Norman Aragon come together from very different locations-Liberia, Virginia, and Jamaica. She Would Be King is a novel of profound depth set against a vast canvas and a transcendent debut from a major new author. “If she was not a woman,” the wind says of Gbessa, “she would be king.” In this vibrant story of the African diaspora, Moore, a talented storyteller and a daring writer, illuminates with radiant and exacting prose the tumultuous roots of a country inextricably bound to the United States.
Moore’s intermingling of history and magical realism finds voice not just in these three characters but also in the fleeting spirit of the wind, who embodies an ancient wisdom. When the three meet in the settlement of Monrovia, their gifts help them salvage the tense relationship between the African American settlers and the indigenous tribes, as a new nation forms around them. Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica, can fade from sight at will, just as his mother could. June Dey, raised on a plantation in Virginia, hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. Gbessa, exiled from the West African village of Lai, is starved, bitten by a viper, and left for dead, but still she survives. Wayétu Moore’s powerful debut novel, She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond.
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