Amos Fortune, Free Man

Most of the featured Black women in Amos Fortune, Free Man are either characterized negatively or meet an unfortunate end: Lily, Lydia, and Polly Burdoo fall ill and die quickly; Lois Burdoo is “shiftless” and irresponsible; Violet lies to Fortune and both she and her daughter, Celyndia, have internalized racial self-hatred. Why do you think Yates represents Black women in this way? How do these depictions reflect attitudes that are contemporaneous with the novel’s publication?

Analyze the role of Christian religious references in Fortune’s coming-of-age narrative.

Amos Fortune, Free Man is a biographical novel wherein Elizabeth Yates invents imaginative detail and uses creative writing techniques. Research the historical Amos Fortune and discuss how his life concords with and diverges from Yates’s portrayal.