Torn Asunder: Play Analysis

Obie Award-winning playwright Nikkole Salter wrote Torn Asunder, a play that focuses on an African American couple, Hannah and Moses, who were separated due to slavery, and their journey to reunification. The play Torn Asunder is an adaptation from Heather Andrea Williams’ non-fiction book help me to find my people: The African American Search for Family Lost in Slavery. In this book, Williams uses narratives, letters, interviews, public records, diaries, and advertisements to examine the separation of African American families that occurred during slavery.
Thousands of families were torn apart and many of them did not find their relatives and loved ones because too many years and miles separated them. However, some individuals were able to …show more content…
Salter uses this book because she wants deep and powerful subjects that are the foundations for her adaptation or the “metaphorical floor for which [she] adds [her] wall, roof, and various rooms, that is, the characters, language, setting, and conflicts” required for a good adaptation (Murphy 19). The themes that Salter feels are powerful enough for her foundation are African American themes such as slavery, family, and relationships because those are the main themes in Williams’ book. All of the stories in the chapter involve separation that was caused by slavery. The theme of relationships is vital in stories such as Mingo White’s story where his parent’s friends took care of him. Salter uses this to influence her thoughts on using bonds and relationships as one of the main themes in her work. For instance, the bond between Hannah and Malinda is crucial for their survival when they get separated from their family. Furthermore, the majority of Williams’ chapter “Happiness to Deep for Utterance” is about reunions between families, such as Marin Barnwe II, who found his family and “claimed his wife and child, who gladly clung to him.” (Williams 187.) Thus, one can see Salter believes she must include family as one her main themes in the play. From Salter’s decision to use these themes, a person gets a feeling of what she believes will create a plot that best represents the separation and reunification of a family. One can get a sense of physical and emotional feelings such as love and pain that Salter believes is best to adapt from William’s work by analyzing the themes she chooses to portray in her

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