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The Freedom of Caldonia and Moses
The Freedom of Caldonia and Moses
in
Edward P. Jones’ The Known World
Anjuelle D. Floyd
In Edward P. Jones’ The Known World the relationship between Caldonia Townsend, the
wife and widow of Henry Townsend, and Henry’s overseer, Moses, symbolizes the
psychological fallout that occurs, that is inherent, when one individual chooses to harbor
From the outset Jones presents Caldonia as a person with secrets in her family, possibly
kept from her, or worse denied by herself. She is a person of mixed and torn emotions.
Caldonia, “…was young and naively vigorous…had known but one death in her life, that
of her father, who had been secretly poisoned by his own wife [Caldonia’s mother,
Maude] …” (p. 5)
Midway the epic Jones amplifies his characterization of Caldonia and the nature of how
slavery ensnares not only the slaves, but also those who hold the slave(s) captive.
Jones reveals that, “…Maude fears that Caldonia in her grief would consider selling the
slaves... as if to accomplish some wish Henry...had been to afraid to try...” (p. 180)
9/28/2007 1
(all excerpts taken from Edward P. Jones’ The Known World of 5
ISBN-0007195303)
The Price of Freedom: Caldonia and Moses
in
Edward P. Jones’ The Known World
Anjuelle D. Floyd
the legacy meant slaves, and land... the foundation of wealth…” (p. 180) She later adds,
“‘…like your father, you have too much melancholy in your blood…’” (p. 181)
“….Tilmon Newman,” Jones exposes”… like Augustus Townsend [Henry’s father] had
worked to purchase his own freedom. His plan had been to buy the freedom of all in his
family [and then] to find a way to get all his slaves to freedom…” Of Maude Newman
Jones writes, “…Her own family free for generations….they had never had enough to
The true legacy Caldonia has inherited is the desire for financial freedom and the illusion
that possession of money procured by whatever means, not excluding the ownership of
human beings. Yet Caldonia's soul, like that of her father’s, is torn. Her actions reflect this
internal juxtaposition.
Evidence of this division emerges in the last third of the story when, “…Caldonia made
love to Moses for the first time…” (p. 284) On rising the next “…morning…Caldonia …
9/28/2007 2
(all excerpts taken from Edward P. Jones’ The Known World of 5
ISBN-0007195303)
The Price of Freedom: Caldonia and Moses
in
Edward P. Jones’ The Known World
Anjuelle D. Floyd
stretched and yawned and wondered what in the end she would do about Moses. She did
not think of him the way she thought of Henry Townsend the first morning after she met
him...[a] morning she had gotten out of bed, afraid...she would [never] have the pleasure
of seeing Henry again. Had she known that he had had similar feelings, she would have
What was it that Caldonia witnessed in Henry that she did “…not…have the pleasure of
seeing again?”
How and what about becoming intimate with Moses, her overseer and a slave, rekindled
Was the lack of intimacy between Henry and Caldonia rooted in Henry’s ownership of
slaves, a venture of which Caldonia’s mother vastly approved and participated in—the
And how interesting it is a member of what some might term, the weaker gender, Maude
banner of slavery?
9/28/2007 3
(all excerpts taken from Edward P. Jones’ The Known World of 5
ISBN-0007195303)
The Price of Freedom: Caldonia and Moses
in
Edward P. Jones’ The Known World
Anjuelle D. Floyd
When on the “…evening Caldonia allowed Moses to make love to her for the first time
since…[a time when] three slaves went missing…[and Moses asks] ‘When you gonna
free me?’”
Caldonia responds in accordance with the perceptions on life with which Maude has
equipped her. “‘Moses, I don’t want to talk about this.’ Freeing him had been on her
mind, but she had never put a day and a time to it… But Moses is persistent. “…I want
(pp. 324-325)
Having sent his wife and children into freedom Moses in his failed escape was brought
Caldonia marries Louis …the bastard son of… William Robbins who had once owned
Henry Townsend. (p. 371) Robbins had also owned Henry’s family. Setting Henry free
Robbins helped Henry establish Henry’s own plantation and taught Henry the ways of
owning people.
9/28/2007 4
(all excerpts taken from Edward P. Jones’ The Known World of 5
ISBN-0007195303)
The Price of Freedom: Caldonia and Moses
in
Edward P. Jones’ The Known World
Anjuelle D. Floyd
Yet the question remains: Why would Caldonia not set Moses free?
wherein Caldonia while intimate with him, tasted freedom--times that Caldonia is
liberated from the bonds and shackles of her mother Maude’s tutelage and the
Jones never states what Caldonia saw when with Moses that she only glimpsed with
Henry. This is the beauty of his work. What he does write in the closing of the story is
that the known world of Henry and Caldonia Townsend’s plantation was where Moses
“….went into his dark cabin...did not light a lamp…” and lived out his life. (p. 387)
9/28/2007 5
(all excerpts taken from Edward P. Jones’ The Known World of 5
ISBN-0007195303)