Plot summary

Differences between miniseries and book

• All the characters surnames are different. (Waller is changed to Reynolds, Lea is changed to Moore, and Murray is changed to Harvey.) Additionally, Murray's first name isn't revealed in the book, whereas Harvey is given the first name Samuel in the miniseries.
• Kunta's grandfather, Kairaba Kunte Kinte, is only mentioned one time, at the very end of the third episode, as Kunta is describing his newborn daughter Kizzy's Mandinka lineage to her. While Sireng, Kairaba's first wife, isn't referenced in the miniseries as in the book, it's important to note that Kunta's narrative to his daughter is the final scene of the episode (the audio gradually tapers off with Kairaba's name barely distinguishable). Thus, presumably Kunta would have mentioned Sireng shortly after mentioning Kairaba.
• The book records the early life and adolescence of Kunta Kinte in Juffure while the miniseries covers only his birth and teenage years before his capture.
• The Character of Nyo Boto is a combination of the same character in the novel as well as Kunta's paternal grandmother Yaisa. Also Nyo Boto seems to be Kunta's maternal grandmother in the television adaptation whereas the novel portrays her as a family friend and someone who fills in the void of grandmother when Yaisa dies.
• Kunta has two more brothers besides Lamin, named Suwadu and Madi in the novel while he's only referred to have two total brothers in the television adaptation.
• The character of Fanta is a widow at least twenty years older than Kunta in the novel while she's portrayed as closer to his age in the miniseries. She also plays a more crucial role in Kunta's journey whereas in the novel she's only one scene, and is never captured along with Kunta.
• Kunta's two half-uncles Janneh and Saloum Kinte are omitted entirely.
• The sub plot of Captain Thomas Davies and his crew was expanded. In the book only Capt. Davies is named, two times, toward the very end of the book (pp 582-583, 1st Edition printing, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1976).
• The women captured, most notably one who commits suicide in order to escape, are topless like the men.
• The woman who tries to escape seemingly dies by drowning but in the novel she's quickly attacked and killed by sharks.
• An entire scene of John Reynolds and his family is only in the miniseries. Also later scenes of Reynolds and his brother were made in order to link the story.
• Kunta escapes at least three times from the Reynolds plantation during his first year there. While the miniseries only shows one escape when he's young, and the other when he's older.
• The characters of Fiddler, Mrs. Reynolds, and William Reynolds have larger roles in the miniseries than in the book.
• When Kunta is first purchased, the black slave bringing him back to Virginia is named "Samson" and is cruel towards Kunta. Kunta tries to kill him and is later sold and only then does he meet Fiddler. In the mini-series, Fiddler was present from the beginning at Annapolis.
• In the book Kunta's foot is amputated after his third escape at the age of seventeen, but in the miniseries this occurs when he's twenty six.
• Kunta's process of counting the number of rains he's seen by placing pebbles in a gourd has been omitted.
• Fiddler tries to buy his freedom in the book, something not mentioned in the mini-series, and comes to a very bad end with Dr. Waller (Reynolds, in the miniseries) who won't sell it to Fiddler except for double the originally agreed-upon price. Some may argue that this is due chiefly to the slave-price inflation of that day, spurred by the invention of the cotton gin and a resulting greater need for slave labor in the deep South. However, it's more likely that slave-owners seldom, if ever, felt obligated to keeping their word to chattel slaves and were not legally compelled to do so.
• Kunta is somewhat more willing to engage in sexual relations with other slaves in the miniseries than he's in the book. In the miniseries, a beautiful mulatto slave named Genelva directly propositions Kunta in his cabin, though they're interrupted when the overseer barges in. As depicted in the book, however, Kunta is far too proud a Mandinka to engage with anyone with the lack of self-dignity to not want to be free, until his eventual marriage to Bell.
• Bell and Kunta are married after just over four years from when she cares for him, but in the novel it takes nearly twenty two years after she cares for him before they finally marry.
• The character of Missy Anne is given a unique backstory as the product of an adulterous affair between William Reynolds and his sister-in-law. In the book Reynolds is simply Missy Anne's adopting Uncle. Also Missy Anne is slightly older in the miniseries as opposed to the novel, and plays a much larger role.
• William Reynolds's backstory involving Bell's admiration toward him and Missy Anne has been omitted.
• Kizzy's childhood has been omitted from the miniseries.
• Bell's knowledge of reading and writing was shared by Kizzy in the book. Bell seems proud--though very cautiously so, given the laws of that day regarding black people and literacy--with her daughter's knowledge, but in the television adaptation she's furious with Kizzy for learning how to read and write from Missy Anne.
• When Kizzy is sold to Tom Lea (Moore, in the miniseries) she befriends the cook Ms. Malizy and the two become good friends for years. In the miniseries the character's name is slightly changed to Melissa, and only appears in two scenes. Also several characters whom Kizzy befriends including Uncle Pompey and Sister Sarah have been omitted entirely.
• In the miniseries, there's only one "Pompey" shown. This is the drummer, whose real name is "Bodeyn Bodiako", who is plotting to escape to the north. In the novel, his real name is spelled "Boteng Bediako", and he isn't planning escape. Rather, he's an attendee at Kunta's and Bell's wedding.
• In the novel, Mrs. Moore is a scatterbrained but somewhat understanding woman who shows benevolence at times. But in the television adaptation, she's an aloof shrew who is very disturbed by her husband's adultery and has a quick temper.
• The romance between Kizzy and Sam Bennett, and her returning to the Reynolds plantation where she finds Kunta's grave, were both created for the miniseries.
• Matilda's father, a Reverend, is seen briefly, while in the book Matilda claims she never knew anything about her father except that his name was Virgil, and it was a reverend who formally owned her.
• Out of Matilda's eight children only Tom and Lewis and Julius remain in the miniseries.
• The plot regarding Nat Turner and his rebellion is dated as occurring in 1841 but in reality it happened a decade before.
• Chicken George leaves for England and doesn't return for fourteen years whereas the novel portrays his stay as four years.
• The selling of Chicken George's family and his later return to the Moore plantation are only referenced but never shown. Additionally, the skills that Tom Harvey shows as a blacksmith at a young age and his eventual marriage to Irene Holt, are not shown.
• In the book Irene is pregnant when she first meets Chicken George but in the miniseries she already has at least four children as opposed to eight in the book.
• C. J. Barnes is changed to Evan Brent.
• In the novel, Tom is shoeing horses for Captain J. D. Cates, a former Alamance County sheriff. In the mini-series he's working for Evan Brent.
• Most of the plot from the eighth episode was created especially for the miniseries and wasn't derived from the book.
• In the film, Martha is with Ol' George Johnson when he arrives. In the novel he goes and fetches her after a time.
• Senator Arthur Johnson was created for the miniseries, as was the selling of Sam Harvey's property and the delayed freedom of the slaves.

Cast