Family together Quote by Victor Hugo
““We were happy and powerful. But the Europeans came to our country; it was from them that I learned the accomplishments which you appeared to be surprised at my possessing. Our principal acquaintance among the Europeans was a Spanish captain; he promised my father territories far greater than those he now ruled over, treasure, and white women. My father believed him, and gathering his family together, followed him. Brother, he sold us as slaves!” The breast of the negro rose and fell, as he strove to restrain himself; his eyes shot forth sparks of fire; and without seeming to know what he did, he broke in his powerful grasp a fancy medlar-tree that stood beside him. “The master of Kakongo in his turn had a master, and his son toiled as a slave in the furrows of St. Domingo. They tore the young lion from his father that they might the more easily tame him; they separated the wife from the husband, and the little children from the mother who nursed them, and from the father who used to bathe them in the torrents of their native land. In their place they found cruel masters and a sleeping place shared with the dogs!””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, 1862
Colonial promises often mask exploitation, leading to betrayal and loss of freedom.
In simple terms: Colonial offers hide oppression.
Question promises critically.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- family migration
- land deals
- slave trade
- cultural displacement
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What responsibilities do we have to remember past injustices?
- How can societies heal from colonial trauma?
Narrative may romanticize colonizers.