Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a novel that discusses cultural identity, racial oppression, and collective memory. It narrates the stories of eight generations of an African family, covering a wide range of history from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the American Civil War to Ghana’s independence and the American Civil Rights Movement. Amid this global historical background, the characters are not simply individuals; rather, they become the symbols of different ages and carry the weight of the oppression history of Black people.

Gyasi sets up a captivating narration structure. It begins with the two daughters (Effia and Esi) of an Asante woman Maame and presents their distinct experiences: Effia marries a British official while Esi becomes a slave. Thus, their offsprings’ fates diverge, with Effia’s children living in Africa and Esi’s children in America. Typically, a book with many characters might easily overwhelm readers with confusing individual narratives and suffocating details. However, Gyasi alternately and chronologically presents the stories of each generation, making the narration logically clear. If the last chapter discusses Effia’s offspring, then the next will discuss Esi’s children. This technique divides the extended family history into interconnected anecdotes, giving readers a feeling that they are reading a collection of short stories.

Also, interestingly, the characters’ stories do not end with their deaths. The stories of the children conclude their parents’ stories and even provide some surprising details that explain their parents’ behaviors. For example, readers cannot know what happened after Abena left her homeland until her daughter Akua’s chapter. Through conversations with a White missionary, Akua learned that her mother was murdered by the missionary during a forced baptism, which explains why Abena died at a young age. Readers can uncover the truth by collecting clues scattered throughout, like a detective enjoying the fun of solving a puzzle.

Since Gyasi vividly illustrates the transatlantic historical background, the characters become vibrant and authentic. Their fates intertwined with the social developments occurring during their respective eras, and their behaviors highlighted the unique characteristics of different periods. Quey, the son of Effia, had a political marriage with the Asante emperor’s daughter and controlled the slave trade as an intermediary between the Asante empire and the British. He lived when sugarcane demand surged and American plantations lacked a sufficient workforce, so the slave trade supplied the necessary labor and contributed to a large proportion of tribal income. By trading in trafficked humans with the British, Quey’s village in Fanteland enjoyed prosperity and continuously increased its influence. Through political marriage, the tribe can align with the most powerful military force of the Asante empire and secure its position as a trading partner.

H, the offspring of Esi, was a convicted miner outside of Birmingham, Alabama. He was accused of “studying” a white woman and was sentenced to prison for ten years. After he was released and worked in the mine as a free worker, he joined a labor union to advocate for higher wages and better working conditions. His story reflected the awkward social status of Black Americans endured after the Civil War: even though the law proclaimed the end of slavery, oppression and discrimination remained. Also in that period, workers started to form alliances like labor unions to organize against the unfair treatment of workers. In H, readers can observe the complexities of the Reconstruction era. In other words, he represents thousands of similarly convicted laborers. By setting stories under specific social circumstances, Gyasi makes her characters seem like flesh and blood persons instead of idealistic figures isolated from reality and history. 

Gyasi interweaves a thematic clue throughout the text that connects each character’s story: Maame’s stone necklace. Maame gave each of her daughters a necklace. While Effia passed on her necklace for generations, Esi’s necklace was buried in a dungeon and never found. In some chapters, the clue emerges, contributing to the plot development. Akua, for instance, dreamed of a fire woman with two babies every night and could not have a good rest. Later, when she asked a priest the origin of her suffering, the priest answered that it was the power of the necklace—and that she was chosen by her ancestors to share family memories. Indeed, the description of the fire woman is similar to Maame, who had two daughters and set fire to a slave owner’s house. The necklace connected offspring to their ancestors, representing a cultural and memory inheritance. At the end of the book, Marjorie, the offspring of Effia, and Marcus, the offspring of Esi, returned to Africa from America together. Without realizing they inherited the same lineage, Marjorie placed the stone necklace around Marcus’s neck. This touching scene symbolizes the reunion of two families after centuries, creating a perfect endpoint for the unpredictable fate. 

However, Gyasi’s knack for telling family history rather than focusing on individuals has some unavoidable limitations. The life of each person is condensed into a few pages, making the narration rhythm too rapid and some of the characters unmemorable. Gyasi tries to solve this by giving different characters distinct personalities and perspectives on life. She applies twists, creating intensified conflicts between characters and families or society. For example, James Collins, the offspring of Effia, hated political manipulation and the unethical slave trade. He wanted to become his own “nation,” escaping from ambitions, powers, and corruption. This illustrates a paradox between family business and personal pursuit. Nevertheless, using too many twists makes stories overly dramatic; when readers get used to this trick, they then question the rationality of Homegoing’s stories. Besides, the novel is too rich. It involves too many topics, including personal growth, romantic love, and politics. These elements intertwine with each other, becoming a distraction to readers. Readers cannot instantly grasp the core idea of the book. 

Despite these intrinsic limitations of her writing techniques, Gyasi injected a moving picture of racial identity and colonial history into the stories of multiple generations of one family. Homegoing, to those people who suffered from racial oppression, means finding their cultural roots and embracing their identity. No matter where they are, their spirits and identity will be passed on for generations, toward the future.