The Interdependence of the Maroon Identity

The social structure found in Edouard Glissant’s The Fourth Century depicts a bizarrely interdependent society initiated and based on the presence of master and slave. Although, power does not solely reside in one set of hands. The differentiation between maroon, slave, and plantation owner society exists from the moment that Longoue and Beluse are brought to island and, therefore, to the paradigm of slave and master. The hierarchy that is established on La Pointe des Sables and the surrounding hills and plains is a three-fold system. Slaves exist at the bottom of this hierarchy and above them are both the maroons and plantation owners. As independent societies the maroons and the plantation owners are mutually as powerful. The owners derive their power from the Eurocentric discourse that legitimates the domination of Europeans over people of colour. While the maroons draw power from their assertion of defiance against the slave system and, consequently, their acquirement of freedom. Both groups clearly recognize each others’ potential and present power which keeps them locked in an interdependent relationship based upon fear, respect, and self-assumed superiority. However, ultimately the maroon needs the presence of both slave and plantation slave owner to prolong his power and special status.

Longoue’s escape from La Roche is an escape from a future of inevitable servitude and a bold defiance to the enslaving structure. Already he is a "maroon from the first day" and even a "maroon from the first hour" (Glissant 38). The existence of the maroon society is a firm assertion that they are not slaves. The maroons will not adhere to being enslaved to the plantation owners, but they also view themselves as superior to the slave. In their minds’ eye, as those who have "refused" the maroons’ defiant spirit will always elevate them above the slaves who have chosen to "accept". At the same time, the maroon needs the presence of the slave to dialectically secure his position as non-slave. Because of their decision to take freedom and assert their power the maroons exist literally and figuratively above and beyond those whom they left behind. As dwellers in the hills, the maroon society literally looks down upon the slave society: a constant reminder of the differentiation. In fact, it is a conscious thought in the maroon’s psyche that questions "why don’t [the remaining slaves] all become maroons?" (90) and turn to the hills and embrace freedom. The two must exist separately in order for the maroon to remain as the powerful overseer.

The maroon society exists apart from the world of the plantation and therefore exists outside of its laws and hierarchies. The maroons were intended for slavery but they have decidedly cast off the slave mentality. They do not fit into the subordination of the plantation for they have physically removed themselves from it. However, from the plantation perspective the maroons, as clearly neither slave nor plantation owner, retain a status similar to their own. Both plantation owners and maroons are independent, self-sufficient societies who do not answer to a higher authority. The power that each holds is mutually respected, for it is recognized that one needs the other to exist to prolong this balance. Specifically, the maroons have the power to greatly damage the La Roche plantation in their revolts; likewise, the La Roche, with enough will, could ultimately seek out the maroons and destroy them. Longoue proclaims that "the whole time [he] protected [La Roche]" (108) from attacks and raids. Both groups are primarily motivated by self-interest and require their interdependence for survival. The maroons need the presence of the plantation to vindicate their existence. They ultimately need something to remain in opposition to: a subject to turn their defiance towards. The initial existence of the maroon society is based upon a dialectic with the enslaving plantation, and without its presence the foundation of the society is negated.