Georges

About “Georges”

Georges Munier is a sensitive boy growing up in the nineteenth century on the island of Mauritius. The son of a wealthy mulatto, Pierre Munier, Georges regularly sees how his father's courage is tempered by a sense of inferiority before whites and Georges vows that he will be different. When Georges matures into a man committed to "moral superiority mixed with physical strength," the stage is set for a conflict with the island's rich and powerful plantation owner, Monsieur de Malmedie, and a forbidden romance with Sara, the beautiful woman engaged to Malmedie's son. This novel, written by Alexandre Dumas, is the only book he ever wrote that confronts the subject of race. It features a Foreword by Jamaica Kincaid and an Introduction and notes by Werner Sollors, who addresses key themes such as colonialism, racism, African slavery, and interracial intimacy.