Exploring The Middle Passage by Charles Johnson

A new installment from my MFA critical work, The Middle Passage by Charles Johnson is an exciting work about a freeman who works on a slave ship and their journey through the middle passage.

The Middle Passage by Charles Johnson uses a limited first-person perspective to tell the story of a freeman who sails to Africa on a slave ship. 

First-person limited is by its very nature limited. This leaves Rutherford Calhoun, the main character, as the only person we learn about to the detriment of the others. It also only gives us one perspective of the story, albeit a unique one. Through Rutherford’s eyes and ears, we have to learn bout Cringle, the first mate on the ship, or even know about the Captain and his homosexual habits buggering cabin boys. Even when the Allmuseri is brought on board, we learn about them only from Calhoun’s eyes, and the details are sparse. The perspective lends itself to genuine surprise if lacking in characterization. 

One of the advantages of this perspective is that we learn about surprising events right alongside the main character in real-time. For example, in chapter 2, when Rutherford is hauled into the local mob boss’s restaurant to find out that he can either marry the spinster Isidora or end up dead in the river, the reader is surprised about this development at the same time as the character on the page. This is where the first-person limited excels. The suspense for the character does double work as suspense for the reader so that the tension builds naturally through the entire plot. It’s effective because the reader cannot be any farther ahead on events than the character on the page. 

It fails because it is tough to foreshadow any events, and it is difficult for tension to build because there is a natural tension in perspective. Instead, pressure builds as Rutherford embarks on his journey to Africa to transport its human cargo from the barracoons of Dahomey to the new world. It is not impossible to foreshadow; Johnson does this beautifully when Rutherford is warned by Cringle, the first officer, that mutiny might be afoot. Rutherford also has an interaction with the Captain asking him to spy for him, which indicates that not all is well with the crew. It isn’t the same as giving the reader more information than the characters, but it is a way of foreshadowing. However, the real surprise of what transpires as the ship falls into the hands of its human cargo is still shocking. 

The journalistic style supports the limited first-person perspective because each story is told as a journal entry. Rutherford is, in essence, recounting the past. In the first entry, when he mentions that he is writing in the ship’s log but is clearly on the Captain, we immediately wonder how he’s ended up in his position. Still, he tells us it will be a while before we can find out how this has come to occur. Each chapter is listed as a journal entry, and he recounts the story of the Middle Passage in this way and describing what he sees and what happens. There is very little dialogue in the story, but what there is can create a powerful scene. “Ey, don’t mind him,” said Meadows. “‘E’s just hungry.” “I can tell.” His dog was starting sniffling at my crotch, poking his nose between my legs, which convinced me it might be time to do my laundry after all. “You want your shirt washed or wot?” I slipped it off and placed it on top of his pile, noticing one of Cringle’s blouses and the ragged cloths a few of the Allmuseri used to cover themselves. “Meadows,” says I through clogged sinuses, “you’re scrubbing clothes for the slaves too?” “Aye, might’s well. If you’re goin’ to wash, ’tis better to do a full load, wouldn’t you say? Saves on soap’ n’ water.” (pg. 79) 

Despite the limitations of the first-person perspective, the writer can still tell a compelling story of traveling on the Middle Passage between Africa and the United States. The writer consistently puts him in a situation to tell the story of what happens on the ship. Although characterization is limited, and we learn about the plot in real-time on the page, the journalistic style and perspective make compelling storytelling. I rarely use this kind of writing. I did it as an experiment for my short story collection just to stretch myself, but I prefer 3rd person omniscient to describe things quickly and get into other characters’ lives. This story would be all the more interesting if we could see the tale from different POVs or even just to get their thoughts. Instead, we just get Calhoun and the actions and words around him. It is an incomplete picture for me but a compelling one.