The Kingdom Of This World

Macandal develops an interest in poison and the ability to transfigure himself after losing an arm. What is the relationship between violence and supernatural power, as well as between disfigurement and the development of other senses?

This text is full of animals: livestock, dogs, and wild creatures. Discuss the imagery associated with two animals—cattle, dogs, horses, insects, etc.—throughout the text. What does each animal come to symbolize or signify? How does it interact with the white enslavers? With the Black enslaved workers?

Compare Macandal and Bouckman the Jamaican. How do their goals differ? Their methods? What leads to the eventual failure of each?

Much of African history is passed down through oral myth and legend to new generations. How do Macandal’s stories shape Ti Noël? How do they inspire him to raise his children?

This text contains many scenes of violence, including physical battery and rape. Some important examples include the rape of Mademoiselle Floridor, the imprisonment of the Capuchin Archbishop, and King Henri Christophe’s suicide. Choose one scene and focus on its details. What significance does it have in the text? What does it say about life under colonial rule? Do its gruesome details count as a kind of magical realism?

King Henri Christophe builds the citadel out of mortar mixed with bulls’ blood. Describe the significance of this detail. What does the blood protect against? What does it fail to protect against? How does this square with Christophe’s Catholic beliefs?

Ti Noël eventually becomes the “king” of the plantation he spent his youth on. Discuss the significance of this transformation. Why does he wear Christophe’s jacket? Is there a greater significance to his parties and orders?

Why do the geese reject Ti Noël? What does this say about the way power works in the animal kingdom versus the human realm? How does it lead him to a deeper understanding?