FRACTURED SELVES: EXPLORING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF SLAVERY IN SADEQA JOHNSON’S YELLOW WIFE

Abstract

This research paper examines the concept of identity crisis in the novel, Yellow Wife (2021), written by Sadeqa Johnson. This historical novel is inspired by the real-life story of a mulatto enslaved woman, Mary Lumpkin, whose experiences are fictionalized through the protagonist, Pheby Deloris Brown. She serves as the embodiment of the perilous existence and the complex challenges faced by the enslaved individuals in the brutal system of slavery in the Southern America. This study argues that slavery plays a significant role in exacerbating Pheby’s identity crisis. It also unearths the hampering effects of double consciousness on her identity development. The protagonist’s fragmented identity as a result of the racially prejudiced social hierarchy shows her denied agency to construct a cohesive self. The research interprets the novel by employing Erik H. Erikson’s concept of identity crisis as the theoretical framework. Erikson (1970) contemplates the biological, personal, and social aspects of identity development and how these factors challenge a particular group of individuals. In the novel, the oppressive social system inherited from slavery deprives Pheby of the opportunity to construct a unified self-identity due to her subjugated status. The study concludes that the system of slavery is not only harmful to the physical well-being of the slaves but also erects an array of psychological problems that still have considerable impacts on the choices of black people.