 Blanche's anger at Hammond and jealousy of Ellen grow throughout the final third of the book until she retaliates by sleeping with the Mandingo slave, Mede.But unlike a white man having sex with a black woman, a white woman voluntarily having sex with a black man is so beyond the parameters of acceptable behavior, it can only be punished by death.The cultural taboo of white women having sex with black male slaves in "Mandingo" is filtered through the mind and experiences of Hammond Maxwell.