Slave by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis is a true story about a girl subjected to slavery at a tender age. After killing the adults, over thirty children in Nuba village were rounded up and taken to slavery in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum. Mende begins her horrific enslavement years in a wealthy Arab family that constantly calls her “Yebit,” to mean “girl worthy of no name,” as she referred to them as “master.” The young girl is subjected to constant mental, physical, and sexual abuse by her Arab owners. Further, she always slept in the shed and ate leftovers. Seven years later, she was sent to a diplomat in the United Kingdom as a worker and managed to make contact with fellow Sudanese in London. Her fellow Sudanese felt pity for her, and in 2000 she was a free soul.
Mende is extremely young when she is taken in as an enslaved person. She takes her formative teenage years toiling as a domestic slave in one of the Arab families in Khartoum. Although she is denied basic human needs like religious practices, she remains loyal to her masters and continues working for them. She is overworked from dawn to dusk with no resting minutes. Her survival depends on her obedience and commitment to her masters. Her innocence and young age come with various inexperienced thoughts and perceptions about things she meets for the first time, like a spoon, sink, mirror, and telephone. As a result, she cannot comprehend that some of these things could help her escape her mysteries.
Asha, an older woman Mende found in the house of her master, is key to her learning the ways of life as a worker to impress her masters, thus prolonging her life. She helps Mende understand the basics of Mende’s slave life before she can be taken in by Rahab. Having been brought in as a child, Asha also mastered the art of obedience to her slaveholders and ensured that whatever they needed was availed to prevent them from harming her. She passes this noble knowledge to Mende. She says, “Well, when I was just ten years old, very small like you are, I was captured and brought here, and I have been here ever since. I do not know what else to say. All I can say is be patient and do whatever they tell you. If you do not, they will beat you” (122). Mende knows after this conversation that trying to rebel will be the last thing on her mind. Taking everything slowly and doing as needed was the only solution to her survival.
When Rahab takes Mende in as her worker, she constitutes inhumane violence on the little girl. On the first night after her arrival, Mende sleeps in a tiny dirty room that is useless to the family. She can only find dirty sheets in the corner of the room to aid her sleep. Further, she is given her old utensils to use, different from the ones used by the rest of the family. She is also not allowed to sit on the couch with Rahab and her husband. Rahab gives her a small metal table that she would use whenever she wants to eat. Often, she is only permitted to eat leftovers after the rest of the family has left the dining table. Rahab further instructed her on various works she would undertake; these included taking care of her two children, Usra and Hanin. However, she is not allowed to touch or play with the children.
When Rahab finds Mende cuddling her younger daughter, she retorts, “Yebit, put her down! Do not dare touch my children! Do you hear me?” (144). consequently, this message is well taken in by the children. When Mende attempts to stroke Hanin’s hair, she jerks the head in a different direction. She tells Mende, “Do not do that. My Mama said I must not let you touch me. She said that you are sick and have diseases and that you are dirty. I will tell on you” (148). It is a dismissal tact for any relationship Mende wants to have with the children, even though she is still a child. When children are segregated on such a basis, they become emotionally tormented and distant. Mende notes that she tries to hide her sadness and pain by not reacting to the girl’s rejection. She feels hunted and deeply abused. But still, she remains obedient and loyal to the needs of her master and the children.
Mende showcases a strong religious Islam faith during her slavery days. She believes in the equality of humanity and knows the religious practices that Islam demands of its faithful followers. Before her village was attacked, her religious background provided moral support that extended even to her slave days. She talks about the Muslim prayer mat, Muslaiyah, and even applauds her masters’ own and how beautiful it is. It shows that Mende has a good heart and appreciates her oppressors’ properties despite the numerous abusive acts meted on her. She has a strong religious perception of Rahab and Mustafa and all they would do once they went to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. However, Rahab does not reciprocate this when Hanin tells her that Mende is praying. Rahab believes that Mende’s religious practice is hypocritical because she copies them. She goes ahead to racially abuse Mende that prayers are not for black people like her. Her silence to her master at this provocation is a sign of strength the young girl masters to ensure her survival is prolonged in Rahab’s house.
Mende’s survival is further pegged on the five personal rules she established for herself to facilitate a smooth working relationship with Rahab. The first rule is that if she is told to do something, she has to ensure she understands the context and the needs of whatever is needed. Secondly, she has to do a task as quickly as possible to avoid quarrels with the master. Thirdly, she has to minimize accidents that would lead to the destruction of essential property in the house. She does not have to be the mastermind of the accident to prevent its occurrence. Any chance of an accident has to be limited at any point. Also, she would not answer her master back in whatever she said. Finally, Mende learns to hide anything that would remind her master of her Nuba identity and people.
When Mende is badly hurt by her metal table after an altercation with Rahab, she finds herself in a hospital bed. The accident traumatizes Rahab so much that she becomes afraid of what the hospital staff will think her the nature of the accident and her relationship with Mende and whether it is Mende’s idea to work for her. She retorts, “Now listen, Yebit, I am warning you. If anybody asks you what happened, you tell them you were standing on a chair to reach something in the kitchen, and you fell over. If they ask you who I am, you tell them I pay you to work for me as a servant…” (184). It indicates that the nature of work that Mende offers is purely free while she is being overworked and overburdened by other psychological traumas. Rahab is enslaving Mende, and she does not want such a sensitive matter to be in public. However, Mende needs to survive this ordeal, and the only way to go past it is to lie about Rahab and her working experience when questioned by Nungha. It is also true when they visit Rahab’s mother, and an altercation occurs between Rahab and Mende. Rahab does not want to disclose the true nature of Mende’s work and threatens to kill Mende if she discloses any correct information about her working relationship with Rahab (198).
Mende lives with Rahab’s character through to the time she wants to go to London. Throughout the novel, Mende portrays a loyal servanthood trait amid abuses and altercations. Rahab realizes how helpful Mende has been and offers her services to her sister before seeking another worker from Abdul Azzim and his family. Asha is integral in the survival of Mende at Rahab’s house, giving her the tricks and methods to ensure her master does not kill her. Even though Mende tries to impart similar knowledge to Katuna, a 12-year-old slave girl, she runs out of time but offers the basics (221). Going to London opens a new route out of slavery for Mendes to explore better living standards as a paid and respected worker.
Conclusion
Mende’s survival is pegged on various factors in the story. Asha represents the foundation of her survival, giving her the basic rules she needs to abide by to ensure her master does not become highly ruthless and physical with her. Although Rahab gets on Mende’s nerves most of the time, Mende displays a composed character and holds her anger towards Rahab in every instant. Further, she protects Rahab from the public’s inquisitive nature, denying that she is Rahab’s slave. Her obedience, determination, and hard work take her to London, where she can breathe a sigh of relief and fresh air.
Works Cited
Nazer, Mende, and Damien Lewis. Slave: My true story. Public Affairs, 2003.
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