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THE ROOT WORKER is a poignant tale of an 11-year-old African American girl's
disintegration and reintegration into the human race. Set in Detroit in the 1960s, we see
this tragedy played out against the backdrop of Catholicism and Voodoo. The cruelty found
in both religions provides a sharp contrast and mirror to each other. This is also a story
of scapegoating, wherein one child is held responsible for all the dysfunction in the
family.
The main character, Ellen, finds a way to survive in an insane household. She is so abused
by her mother that she dissociates into a second personality named Clarissa. Molested and
impregnated by a family member, she struggles to understand what is happening to her. With
all the pathos of a Greek Tragedy, we watch Ellen's continued victimization and descent
into insanity with pity and horror.
Although the story is told from Ellen's first-person point of view, she is an unreliable
narrator due to her mental condition. At the same time, ironically, of all the family
members, she is probably the most in touch with reality. Sometimes we're not sure if she
is Clarissa telling the story or Ellen, so we find two voices within one novel --- an
effective literary device for this book.
In naming her mother "The Woman" and her father "The Husband," Ellen
proclaims her sense of alienation within her own family. "The Woman" is a
fearful person manipulated by the neighborhood "Root Worker." In reading, we
discover the source of some of "The Woman's" villainy, which springs from her
own sense of abandonment by her mother and her own fear of "roots." "The
Husband" is a man also afraid of "roots." The marriage is a study of two
persons working and using "roots" on and against each other.
A carry over from the religion of voodoo, many of the fears of "roots" came from
the South. "Roots" were curses people believed were worked on them through their
food, through their hair, or even through the dead. Ellen's mother believes that the child
has worked "roots" on her and commits every type of abuse to try to exorcise
this "evil."
Through all these experiences, Ellen is in search of "glue," a harbor of safety.
We watch as Ellen's life becomes like an ongoing puzzle of horrors until one day "The
Cila Lady" moves in. From inference, "The Cila Lady," whose name is
Barbara, is considered to be a Voodoo Priestess. Ellen's mother and Aunt Della are
convinced that she is also a Root Worker, but Barbara brings a different power than
"The Root Worker" --- she wields the power of love. But is it too late? By then,
Ellen seems to have lost the ability to trust or to love.
The writing style is particularly strong throughout the novel. In the somewhat surprise
ending, Burton writes, "...as long as the foundation's good, it's salvageable."
Although she is speaking of refurbishing an old abandoned Catholic School, this is a
metaphor for people. When I finished the novel, I felt satisfied, as though I had partaken
of a meal of substance. I found THE ROOT WORKER to have humor as well as tragedy and I
often laughed out loud at our human pretenses and foibles.
Overall, this is a tale of betrayal, friendship, and the redeeming power of love. Sure to
be compared to Pecola of Toni Morrison's THE BLUEST EYE and Celie of Alice Walker's
COLOR PURPLE, I look forward to reading Ms. Burton's future works.
--- Reviewed by Maxine E. Thompson
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