Dutchman and The Slave Lesson Plan

Why do you think The Slave is called “a fable”? Are the events in the play historically accurate, fictional, or some combination of both?

The Slave is called a fable because it contains historically accurate elements but is also somewhat fictionalized. That is to say, the play seems to be partially set in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, in which Walker is a leader who preaches black nationalism and encourages violent opposition to white supremacy (a leader like Malcolm X, for example, or a part of the Black Panthers). However, there was never a “race war” or military revolution such as the one described in the play. Baraka goes beyond the militancy and radicalism...