The Known World

Caldonia and Moses continue their sexual relationship, and when Moses asks Caldonia when she will free him, she is surprised. The next day Moses forces Celeste, six months pregnant, to work even though she is not feeling well. When Celeste collapses and loses her baby, Elias, her husband, is furious at Moses. Moses shows up at the house, angry at Caldonia for not having freed him. Suddenly, Loretta, the house slave, holds a knife to his neck, demanding that he leave. When he does, Loretta suggests that Moses should be arrested, but Caldonia assures her that Moses will return to his old self. “‘Henry’s death,’ she said finally, ‘has unsettled all of us’” (330). When Moses returns the next day, he is denied entrance to the house, and he realizes that everything has changed between Caldonia and him. 

Moses does not leave his cabin to go to work in the morning. Celeste brings him some food and leaves it at his door. He eventually eats it, then begins to walk away from the plantation. The next day he is reported as missing. Two slaves, Gloria and Clement, use the opportunity to escape as well. Elias is put in charge of the slaves, but Celeste urges against this.