the initial reaction of Africans to whites. Johnson "liked" Sargy very much, as he himself declares with all sincerity (210), but at a deeper level he knows that Sargy and Rudbeck are strangers to him who can never truly be his friends in a fully-developed way. They have brought him corruption and death, but he tries to the end to do whatever he can in order to please them. He even tries to make it easy for Rudbeck to execute him for the crimes he has committed: "Excuse me, sah---I beg you pardon for troubling you---you go hang me, sah" (215).
Johnson is a man who has no true relationships---even with his wife. He and she do not even speak the same language. As with every other person in his life---white or black---he wants more than anything to be liked by his wife. To be liked by Johnson is to reflect in some way the power and prestige of the white man. To be
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