The Known World

The title of the novel comes from a map named “The Known World” hanging in Sheriff John Skiffington’s jail. The map dates back three centuries and is clearly out of date—North America is much smaller than it should be (Florida is not even represented) and only South America is labeled as “America.” “North America went nameless” (174). The map is made of wood and is heavy. It is composed of 12 pieces that together create the eight-foot-by-six-foot map. John first assembled the map at home, but it was too “hideous” for his wife, so he laboriously disassembled the map and reassembled it for the jail. When the prisoner John Broussard offers to obtain a more recent map, John rejects the offer. He is happy to keep the map with the false boundaries. He keeps it because the map has become familiar and because moving the heavy pieces around is much too difficult.

The title The Known World implies that knowledge is limited. There is an inherent demarcation between what is known and what is unknown. The out-of-date map symbolizes John’s inability to recognize that the boundaries of his world are inherently flawed, despite his ponderous attempts to rationalize his world. He adheres to the slave-owning boundaries of the law despite his father’s desire to escape those boundaries.