Yellow Wife

Ruth Brown is a skilled healer and devoted mother. Pheby describes the unique wisdom of her mother: “Mama believed that the full moon was the most fertile night of the month, and that everything she touched held God’s power” (3). The greatest lesson that Ruth instills in her daughter is hope. She believes in the spiritual world and its ability to protect and serve those who are suffering.

Ruth’s status as seamstress and mistress sets her apart from the other enslaved workers on the plantation. She wears fine clothes and eats well. Like her daughter, Ruth makes difficult choices to secure the protection of her daughter. She gives herself to her enslaver to wield her influence over him and convince him to send Pheby to the North to be free and educated.

When Jacob visits Ruth, he acts like a husband. They sit at the table together and pray together. She shares her concerns and makes demands. Yet, Ruth is aware that her status is fragile. She is still enslaved, and Jacob could decide at any moment to punish her, sell her, or separate her from her daughter. The end of Ruth’s life serves as a stark reminder of her status as an enslaved woman. When she and Jacob are in a carriage accident, Jacob is rushed away to be treated by a doctor. Ruth is only rescued by other enslaved people on the Bell Plantation who find her and bring her back. Ruth is denied care or access to a medical professional; she is left to die from an infection. However, the lessons she instills in her daughter are a legacy that drives the plot forward.

Essex is an enslaved worker on the Bell Plantation. He is skilled with horses and respected by his enslaver. Essex is also Pheby’s lover. He and Pheby have secret signals to meet in the barn behind a haystack. There, they profess their love for one another and are intimate. Essex is positive and hopeful for his future; he wants Pheby to join him in his attempt to escape to the North.

Essex’s story highlights the reality of male rape and how it manifested during slavery. During one their meetings, Essex reveals that he has been forced into having sex with his enslaver’s wife Delphina, Jacob Bell’s wife. Delphina holds power over Essex: She can accuse him of rape or push her husband to sell him to another plantation. She uses this power to manipulate Essex to do what she wants. At first, Pheby is upset and angry that Essex would allow this to happen, emphasizing the double standard that often exists in conversations about male rape. The pervasive nature of power means that no person is immune.

Through Essex, Sadeqa Johnson shows The Dehumanization of Slavery. When Essex learns that Delphina is pregnant with his child, he knows that he must try to escape. If the child has dark skin, Delphina could accuse him of rape, and Bell would have him beaten and executed. Essex escapes to the North but is discovered and returned to the South as part of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. He is brought to Lapier’s jail where he is beaten and held in a cell with little food or water and no access to a bathroom or medical care.

Throughout the novel, Essex exhibits strength and love for Pheby. Even when he is suffering in jail, he shows concern for Pheby’s well-being and continues his attempt to escape. His presence helps Pheby to feel grounded and motivated.

Rubin Lapier is the owner and operator of Lapier’s jail, a holding facility and trading post where Black individuals are enslaved and sold. Rubin is based on the historical figure Robert Lumpkin, a jailer at the real Devil’s Half Acre who trafficked more than 300,000 Black men and women in the 18th century. Pheby firsts meet Rubin when she is being sold at auction. The men demand that she remove her dress, and she refuses. Rubin, who witnesses her defiance, decides that she is the woman he wants to help him run the jail.

White tradesmen of humans were often outcasts in their society. While white plantation owners did not mind buying humans, they did not want to associate themselves with the cruel and violent practices that upheld the institution of slavery. Many white human traffickers developed complex relationships with enslaved women, especially those with a diverse racial background who were more likely to produce a white child. In Yellow Wife, Pheby meets some of the other women who live as the wives of white jailers while also inhabiting their status as enslaved people. Rubin attempts to groom Pheby. She submits to him when she realizes she can use their relationship to secure the safety of her son.

Rubin is brutal and violent. He punishes Pheby repeatedly and exerts his will over the enslaved workers at the jail with little regard for their health. When Tommy accidentally sets a hay bale on fire, he whips him repeatedly. Pheby realizes that Rubin could easily buy more hay; the beating is about his own display of dominance and power rather than a punishment for a costly accident. When he finds out that Pheby has been reading, he beats a pregnant woman until she miscarries. Later, he gives Pheby books as a present. Rubin is inhumane, and his inhumanity is the product of his participation in the institution of slavery.

At the end of the novel, Pheby’s letters reveal that Rubin did not recover after the war. The eradication of slavery meant that he could no longer make money off abusing and dominating human lives. When he died, he left the jail to Pheby, and she worked to make up for its sullied history.