The horrendous conditions that were forced upon slaves in Jamaica caused them to have a very close relationship with death and magic. It was often thought that death would be better than what they currently had to endure. Therefore ideas of the afterlife began to spring up along with magic in order to bring hope to an otherwise forsaken peoples. Throughout the Novel “Wide Sargasso Sea” recurring themes of death and magic display how these themes have been instilled in Jamaican culture even post emancipation. This is often portrayed through antoinette’s constant self conflict with the idea of death. These themes are also presented through the document “The Reaper’s garden” and the belief that when you died you returned to Africa. Therefore the Antoinettes preoccupation with the idea of death is one that is imbedded deep into Jamaican culture.

Antoinette battles with herself in a moment of self conflict when she says “I could hardly wait for all this ecstasy and once I prayed for a long time to be dead.”(pg 57) This quote plays on the idea that if heaven is so often portrayed as such a wonderful place then why is it that people even have the will to stay on the earth in such horrible conditions. This scene is also able to convey a common conflict among the Jamaican people in which many think of death as a release and prayed the idea of death. The document the reaper’s garden shines light on the subject of the purpose of these magical religions such as obeah. These religions that were full of the supernatural finally gave them something they could control and were based around the one thing that they could truly control in their lives which was death. This idea gave way to Shamans becoming political figures because people looked up to them. Therefore this conflict between Antoinette and death is not simply an isolated situation, throughout Jamaica people have this conflict and this is why religion such as obeah are created.

The close relationship and conflict that Antoinette experiences throughout the novel is experienced throughout Jamaica. The religions that represent these themes are deep set in Jamaica because of people’s conflict with death and the hope that is placed upon the idea of death. The people of Jamaica hope that they will return to Africa in death and will find that the conditions are far better than what they have had to endure in this lifetime. Therefore because Antoinette is born into this society that does not treat people of african descent as people and is mistreated throughout her life she relates to the Jamaican cultural idea of the afterlife being a better place than they are currently.