Review of Enrique the Black
This is not your ordinary historical fiction.
I've enjoyed it because it is a coming-of-age fiction set in an interesting location, has a compelling protagonist and an unusual take on historical events in this region.
The story opens in 1511, in Malacca, a town located on the west coast of West Malaysia peninsula. The protagonist is a Malay boy who lived with his father, a keris (traditional wavy blade) maker, mother and two younger siblings in that town. The boy is a wizard with languages—he first learns Portuguese from prisoners kept at the Sultan's palace while absorbing stories about foreign lands. He also learns other languages from Arab traders, Indian and Chinese merchants who come to conduct business in Malacca.
When Malacca has fallen to Portuguese soldiers under Alfonso Albuquerque and Ferdinand Magellan, the boy's father is killed. Captured by Magellan, the boy (addressed as garoto because his captors don't know his name) is brought to Portugal. This garoto makes himself useful giving Malay lessons to his captain and master Magellan. In Magellan's house, the boy takes on the roles of a helper and slave, and is baptised in church and given the name Enrique.
In order to curry favor from King Manuel, Magellan goes on a campaign to quell a Moor uprising at Azemmour, a city in Morocco. Enrique joins the Portuguese soldiers and fights the Moroccans, killing people for the first time. Although his side won the battle, Enrique is upset to learn that the Moroccan soldiers are just young boys and also muslims. After the battle, Enrique recalls his past, which bears similarities to the defeated people. He speaks Arabic to the captured slaves, and is kind to them, giving them food on the ship all the way to Cairo, where they are sold.
In the second half of the book, almost a decade later in 1518, King Manuel still refuses to fund Magellan's proposed expedition to the Spice Islands. Magellan has no choice but to obtain support from King Charles of Spain to sail west to acquire the profitable Spices. Spain and Portugal are rivals in the new territories. So this is an interesting and significant development because Magellan has essentially betrayed his own people the way Enrique has joined his enemies and even fought for them.
On the voyage, Enrique indirectly causes the death of two cabin boys by reporting their sexual relationship to Magellan. The Spanish captains of the other ships are suspicious of Magellan because he is Portuguese. Enrique, grateful to his master, stands by him and helps him stop a mutiny. After the sailors kill one of the mutineers, Enrique's task is to boil the dead man's lungs with herbs and display them to other sailors as a warning.
In a place that they named Patagonia, near the Southern end of South America, the expedition encountered giants that belong to the hunter natives called Tehuelche. Enrique and the Spaniards befriend them and go hunting. Enrique stabs the belly of a dead sheep when given a knife by a giant, thus learning brutality of a different kind. He is now more outspoken and warns his master that the Spaniards are still a threat, thus showing the five year transformation of the protagonist from a scared boy to a confident man who dares to talk back to his master.
Before continuing on the voyage, Enrique helps to capture two of the giants with reluctance, because this reminds him of how he gets enslaved after the battle in Malacca. After losing one of the ships which has gone ahead to explore the Straits, Magellan ponders about returning to Spain but Enrique encourages him to continue. This shows that Enrique is now a proactive player in the quest. In a letter written to his step brother, Magellan gave instruction to free Enrique if something untoward happens to him.
The food on the expedition runs low and the giant on Enrique's ship dies of scurvy. Enrique eats quince and drinks shark's blood to survive. Natives on two landmasses give the sailers fish and coconut, but some natives steal Magellan's dinghy. To retrieve the boat, the Spaniards burn the huts in a village and kill natives. Angered with this act of destruction by Magellan, Enrique speaks to the Chamorros who understand some form of Malay, and barters peace with them.
On another island, King (Rajah) Kolambu extends hospitality to Magellan. Enrique translates for the two men who become blood brothers. On the island of Sugbu, mediated by Kolambu and Enrique, Magellan also becomes blood brothers with Rajah Humabon. Through Enrique, Magellan finds out about the piercing of the female genitalia and other barbaric practices of the natives, and vows to convert the islanders to Christianity. The priest from the ship baptises Humabon, Kolambu and up to two thousand people from the islands, but Enrique advises Magellan not to be too arrogant and overzealous. Magellan learns that King Lapu-lapu of Mactan has refused to convert to Christianity. "I'm a slave without chains," Enrique told Lapu. Still, he starts to question whether he should be following orders that are morally wrong, no matter how indebted he feels towards his master. Reluctantly, Enrique complies with Magellan's order to burn the Lapu village in the night. However, the arrows of the fifteen hundred Lapu warriors have a longer range than the muskets of the fifty spaniards. Magellan is killed and the Armada retreats, but Enrique stays to try to avenge Magellan. Lapu reminds Enrique that he is now free, and the victorious Lapu warriors leave.
Rajah Humabon is angry that the Spaniards have sexually violated the local girls. Pretending to give the sailors a farewell banquet, he poisoned and murdered them. Enrique is angry because he is the one who has invited the sailors on Humabon's behalf. He steals a boat and escapes to Mactan, where Lapu gives him a ship to sail away. Free at last, Enrique still cannot travel to Malacca because the Portuguese control that city, but he eventually accepts his own original name and identity.
The story is ultimately about identity and loyalty. The protagonist's original Malay name is never revealed to the reader. For most of his adult period in the story, this name has not been used. Enrique still squirms when the Spaniards ate pork in the islands, though he is no longer Muslim at that time. This brings up the question: can one's identity and cultural roots ever change? King Lapu makes another thematic statement towards the end of the story: "A slave has no allegiance to anyone." Although the story reveals the savage and misguided nature of Magellan, the relationship between him and Enrique is nevertheless, touching, because master and slave have fought beside each other, protected and cared for one and other. This suggests that human bondage transcends culture, wealth and station in life. The loyalty that Enrique has towards Magellan is contrasted with the disloyalty among the other characters. Rajah Humabon is a blood brother of Magellan, but after Magellan's death, he murders Magellan's sailors without hesitation.
The descriptions in the book are vivid and the last quarter of the book is particularly exciting and raced along to the story's climax. These paragraphs are from the battle in Malaca:
"The first unit held bows and arrows that were drawn taut for a quick second before they fired, they were not accurate as that was not their purpose. Hundreds of arrows shot high and arced downwards into the water and dotted the shoreline with poisoned arrow tips that pierced kneecaps and thighs and boots and feet. Hundreds of Portuguese soldiers fell and created an effective bottleneck that gave signal for the second unit to come..."
Can you get more vivid than that?
For more reviews of this book, please see the Amazon page.
