The Intersection of Matrilineal Bonds and Spirituality in Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend

This paper focuses on Jesmyn Ward's novel Let Us Descend and examines the interweaving of matrilineal bonds and spiritual inheritance in the literary representation of American chattel slavery. Enslaved Blacks survived enslavement by cultivating both a fierce psychological resilience and forging spiritual rootedness. Ward's novel illustrates the enslaved workers’ spiritual grounding by weaving its narrative on a Black adolescent girl who must confront the brutal realities of her existence. Through a close reading of the stylistic devices and thematic choices that the novel makes to chronicle its protagonist’s tribulations, this study argues that the young enslaved draws her strength from the interconnected power of her maternal lineage and ancestral elemental spirits, which provides her with an effective framework for resilience. Drawing on an approach that brings traditional West African cosmologies into dialog with the psychoanalytic theory, this paper explores the complexities of the enslaved workers’ experience. It also highlights how the preservation of matrilineal heritage and engagement with Black spirituality function as coping mechanisms and as vital strategies for restoring and asserting liberty.