Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of suicidal ideation.

Hurston establishes the traditional Christian conception of Moses as a law-giver who led his people out of slavery in Egypt. She also acknowledges other perspectives on Moses: Across Africa, Moses is worshiped as a god because of his ability to speak directly to God. In Haiti and other parts of the African diaspora, the descendants of enslaved people consider Moses to be a source of mystical powers and magic. In America, people of all races look to Moses for magical power: She points to the best-selling book the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses as evidence. A reverence for the power of his magical staff lies consistently at the heart of his legend.

In Goshen, the region of Egypt given to the Hebrew people, the new Pharaoh has prohibited the birth of Hebrew boys. Knowing their sons would be drowned, Hebrew women give birth in secret. The threat of Pharaoh’s violence lurks in every household, but Hebrew women keep getting pregnant.

Pharaoh’s oppression began with pushing the Hebrews out of their homes and into the furthest corners of Goshen. His next decree established the enslavement of Hebrews of all ages in Pharaoh’s brickyards and road camps.