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How does The Kingdom of This World connect the Haitian Revolution with supernatural beliefs?

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Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo, Francisco Javier — Latin American literature Francisco Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo, statue at Central Station, Sydney, Austl.

In Alejo Carpentier's novel The Kingdom of This World, the Haitian Revolution is depicted not merely as a political struggle, but as an event deeply intertwined with the supernatural forces of nature harnessed by enslaved leaders.1

Carpentier, a pioneer of magic realism, portrays these historical events through the perspective of the enslaved population, who accept the extranatural aspects of their faith as reality. The narrative connects the revolution to Vodou—a religion that views the world as fundamentally spiritual—by showing how leaders utilized these beliefs to mobilize resistance against colonial oppression.213

By weaving these African-derived spiritual traditions into a realistic historical framework, the novel illustrates how the revolution was fueled by a belief in the otherworldly power of the maroons, effectively bridging the gap between historical fact and the marvelous reality of the Caribbean experience.41