Two of these characters are Willie and Akua. There are characters on both Effia and Esi's sides of the family that have special places in their communities because of singing. Furthermore, family connections can be traced through singing abilities. Music, especially singing, is an important part of many cultures, and it is a useful way to track cultural heritage and transmission. Perhaps because Marjorie has a stronger relationship with her grandmother Akua than Yaw had with his own mother, Marjorie does not truly confront her fear of water until she returns to Ghana with Marcus going back to Ghana together connects Maame's split family lines and enables Marjorie and Marcus to face their inherited aversions.

However, interestingly, his daughter seems more afraid of fire than her father ever was. Yaw's life is clearly affected by fire he cannot find a girlfriend or a wife for much of his life because most people are scared of his scarred face. This kills her two daughters, permanently scars her son Yaw, and injures Akua as well. Eventually, Akua is driven crazy by sleep deprivation and burns her family's hut while she is sleeping. In Akua's chapter, the young woman cannot get adequate sleep because of the dreams she has of a woman made of fire holding two babies. Whether or not it can be considered a curse, fire plays an important factor in lives of Effia's descendants, especially Akua, Yaw, and Marjorie.

She leaves behind her daughter Effia, and some believe that she also curses her daughter by doing this. This motif begins when Maame sets the fire that allows her to escape the place where she lived in captivity. In some African cultures, stones were even believed to carry the spirit of ancestors, which goes along with the theme of cultural heritage passed down through family.` Fire (Motif)įire is the motif that links people in Effia's lineage. A stone also has little value in itself, so the preciousness comes only from its connection to family and history. The stone is a dark black, and in the story, many characters are judged for their skin color, not only by white people but also by black people who have lighter or darker skin than them. The stone itself symbolizes many important themes of Homegoing. Perhaps it could be said that Marcus, Esi's final descendant in the book, connects with the stone again when he visits the Cape Coast Castle as a young adult. Esi's stone, in contrast, is left behind in the dungeon at Cape Coast Castle. Effia's stone is passed down through the family all the way to Marjorie, the last descendant of Effia in the book.

Though these daughters never meet, the stones connect their stories. Maame gives each of her daughters, Esi and Effia, a black stone. Buy Study Guide The Black Stones (Symbol)

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