51 pages 1 hour read

Zora Neale Hurston

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2018

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 9-12

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary: “Marriage”

The following day, Hurston picks Kossola up in her car. As they ride, Kossola tells her about an African woman named Abila, who went by the name Seely in the US. Returning to his telling his life story, he explains that this was a woman he wanted to marry. When he asked her if she’d marry him, she agreed, and they were married one month later. Afterward, they converted to Christianity. The church told them that they needed a marriage license, so they got one. Kossola explains that back home in Africa there was no need for a marriage license. Kossola and his wife had five sons and one daughter, all of whom grew up, leaving him lonely. Each of his children received an African name and an alternative American name. He gave each of them his last name, a practice that he says they didn’t have where he was from in Africa. His children faced bullying as they grew up because they were African. This led his sons to get into fights. The people in town complained to Kossola about the boys’ fighting, but he told them that his sons fought only because people were provoking them. The people in Africa Town built a schoolhouse and got a teacher from the county.

Related Titles

By Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Drenched in Light

Zora Neale Hurston

Drenched in Light

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Dust Tracks on a Road

Zora Neale Hurston

Dust Tracks on a Road

Zora Neale Hurston

Plot Summary

logo

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

Zora Neale Hurston

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

How It Feels To Be Colored Me

Zora Neale Hurston

How It Feels To Be Colored Me

Zora Neale Hurston

Plot Summary

logo

Jonah's Gourd Vine

Zora Neale Hurston

Jonah's Gourd Vine

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Moses, Man of the Mountain

Zora Neale Hurston

Moses, Man of the Mountain

Zora Neale Hurston

Plot Summary

logo

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Mules and Men

Zora Neale Hurston

Mules and Men

Zora Neale Hurston

Plot Summary

logo

Seraph on the Suwanee

Zora Neale Hurston

Seraph on the Suwanee

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Spunk

Zora Neale Hurston

Spunk

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Sweat

Zora Neale Hurston

Sweat

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Tell My Horse

Zora Neale Hurston

Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica

Zora Neale Hurston

Plot Summary

logo

The Eatonville Anthology

Zora Neale Hurston

The Eatonville Anthology

Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

The Gilded Six-Bits

Zora Neale Hurston

The Gilded Six-Bits

Zora Neale Hurston

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston