Often times when we here of something unfolding, it has to do with the clarification or unfurling of new information regarding an investigation or legal proceeding. The unfoldment tends to have a substantial effect upon the exposure of veiled truths. The exposure of these truths creates new paths of thought and realization. The "unfoldment" of the Allmuseri in Middle Passage, serves as a catalyst in the alteration of Rutherford Calhoun's outlook on life, and ultimately his own self-discovery.
             Rutherford Calhoun, a newly freed slave, and disorderly rogue are desperate to escape the confounds of his own life which consisted of unscrupulous bill collectors and a looming marriage to a proper speaking, well-mannered schoolteacher. He jumps aboard what he believes to be a riverboat, but in truth is a slave ship en route to collect members of a legendary African tribe, the Allmuseri. Calhoun describes the Allmuseri as: "...popular servants. They brought twice the price of a Bantu or Kru. According to legend, Allmuseri elders took twig brooms with them everywhere, sweeping the ground so as not to inadvertently step on creatures too small to see. Eating no meat, they were easy to feed. Disliking property, they were simple to clothe. Able to heal themselves, they required no medication. They seldom fought. They could not steal. They fell sick; it was said if they wronged anyone" (78).
             While on board the Republic, Calhoun being a product of both African and American culture, befriends one of the slaves, Ngonyama. Ngonyama was chosen out of the slaves to be given responsibilities on board, because it was a belief of the captain, Falcon, that "the best way to control a rebellious nigger is to give him responsibility" (74). The narrator states, "Ngonyama unfolded before me like a merchant's cloth his tribe's official history, the story of themselves they stuck by" (76). Calhoun grew critical, yet fond of the Allmuseri culture. His assumption o...