Roots: The Saga of an American Family

Kizzy Waller, or Kizzy Kinte, is the daughter of Kunta and Bell, and she serves as a kind of interim protagonist between the more fully developed arcs of Kunta and Chicken George. Nonetheless, Kizzy shows the opposite progression from Kunta, who came to America by force and slowly adapted to life as an enslaved person; Kizzy begins her life with more privilege than most Black Americans of the time. Malizy is astonished to find that Kizzy knows both of her parents, and Kizzy’s close relationship emphasizes the weight of her sale to Lea. Kizzy can both read and write, though she tries to give up both skills as she ages to avoid conflict with white people. As such, Kizzy is forced from a privileged position among Black Americans into a more typical experience of slavery, contrasting her father’s transition from intense violence into quiet rage.

Much as Kizzy is a transitional character within the novel in the literal, generational sense, as the mother of Chicken George and the daughter of Kunta Kinte, she is also a transitional figure for the oral history that builds the novel. Her experiences with Kunta as a child shape the later narrative passed down in the Kinte family, including her mistakes, such as thinking Kunta called a river in Virginia “Kamby Bolongo,” when he was discussing his homeland. Such errors show how each generation impacts the oral history of the family with their own unique contributions. Kizzy’s last words to her family before they are moved to the Murray plantation insist that each generation tell the next about Kunta, Bell, herself, and themselves, explicitly establishing the chain of narratives that would lead to Haley.

It is notable that Kizzy’s is the only feminine perspective given directly in the novel, even if only for a short time. When Lea sexually assaults her, she exemplifies the fundamental differences between how men and women suffered under slavery.

Chicken George is Kizzy’s son with Tom Lea, the enslaver who purchased Kizzy from William Waller. He is the third protagonist of the novel, replacing Kizzy shortly before he begins working with Uncle Mingo. George is, in many ways, a foil to Kunta, depicted as boisterous, funny, and generally carefree. He also lacks the intense moral fortitude that Kunta displays, with George having frequent affairs with women, even while married to Matilda, and showing less interest in his family. Nonetheless, George builds a reputation for gamecock training, which becomes his occupation as he ages and leads to his freedom. George is the first in the American Kinte family to achieve freedom and is the only family member to do so prior to the Civil War.

George’s character aligns with the period’s social expectations of masculinity outside of the near-aristocracy of men like the Wallers and Murray, emulating the type of poor white masculinity that Lea also expresses. His penchant for drinking, women, and gambling is entirely acceptable among white men of the time, including Lea, but as time progresses, George encounters trouble for being “uppity”: It is acceptable for a white man to dress with a hat and scarf like George’s, but white people see his fashion as a sign that George is acting above his station. George’s flamboyant personality and dress likely capture Cates’s attention in North Carolina, leading to George’s second departure from the family.

George’s role in the family, unlike Kunta or Tom, is to be a charismatic leader for the Black community. When George returns after the Civil War, he incites the wagon train to Tennessee. One can draw a close comparison between George and his perception of the roosters he raises: Both are inherently free-spirited and defiant. This defiance is tempered only under slavery, where George frequently notes that he has no control over his life in the face of Lea’s orders, but after the Civil War, George channels that defiance into the determination and leadership needed to bring his family west. George is also the first American Kinte to have multiple children, as Kunta and Kizzy each had only one child, while George ultimately has eight.