The movie, 12 Years a Slave, is a true story based on a man named Solomon Northup who was captured and sold into slavery. He overcomes slavery and exhibits courage during his turbulent time. Directed by Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave debuted on October 18, 2013. Solomon Northup, who is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is a courageous and determined man who is driven to escape from the cruelty of slavery. 12 Years a Slave bluntly illustrates the cruelty of slavery and the triumph of the human spirit. 12 years a Slave allowed viewers to “actually [witness] American slavery in all its appalling horror for the very first time.” 12 Years a Slave shows the brutality that the slaves went through and how much determination they really had. Throughout …show more content…
He begins with Master Ford, who was the first slave owner Northup lives with. From the moment Ford met Northup, he liked him as a slave and a person. Ford saw the skills that Northup obtained, however, Tibeats, who watched over the slaves at Master Ford’s plantation, did not particularly like the position that Platt had on the plantation. Tibeat’s did not like that Northup was a knowledgeable man and did not believe that a slave should be as intelligent as Northup. Tibeat’s dislike towards Platt led Ford to treat Platt in a cruel manner. On the plantation, Platt was doing the work he was supposed to do and Tibeats wanted to whip him for no legitimate reason. Platt would not allow himself to be mistreated just because Tibeat felt threatened by him. Because of his resistance to getting whipped, he beat up Master Tibeats in defense. The repercussion for his behavior was to be hung by a noose. In order to survive, he stood on the top of his toes for hours. Instead of letting go and allowing himself to die, Northup would not allow Tibeats to have the satisfaction of Northup dying. Therefore, he suffered for many hours on a noose. This scene not only shows Northup’s strength, but it perfectly illustrates the concept of the triumph of the human spirit.; however, this is where Northup’s horrific journey as a slave …show more content…
When Northup arrived at his new Master’s plantation, Master Epps, he received a cruel welcoming of what a slave really went through. When Northup arrived, he was introduced to Patsey, who was played by Lupita Nyong’o, who has been a slave her whole life. She was the “queen of the fields” and befriends Northup. In one scene, Patsey tells Master Epps that she had gone to Mistress Shaw’s house fore a bar a soap because Mistress Epps would not give her soap to bathe with. Due to the envy and jealousy that Mistress Epps had for Patsey, she ordered her husband to whip her; however, he did not want to. Therefore, he ordered Platt to whip Patsey. It is prevalent from the moment that he began to whip her that he was heartbroken to do so. Afterward, Master Epps had taken the whip from Platt and nearly whipped Patsey to death. Before being whipped, Patsey disclosed to Platt that she rather have him whip her then Master Epps because she knew he would not be as rough as Epps was. He had lost himself and his
Extreme violence is central in Northup’s story, 12 Years a Slave; he emphasizes that the slave owner’s authority was controlled by terrorizing slaves they owned with powering violence. Nailed to the floor, Northup experienced painful activities to his naked body after he awoke in a slave pen; his enslavers paused only to ask for him to accept his new status
Northup described that a whip was always by Epps side and used it on a daily basis on the slaves. Northup goes into detail of what he witnessed, telling stories of human depravity and abuse. A story worth noting is of a slave girl by the name of Patsey. She is frequently raped and whipped by Epps due to his jealous wife. One story of her being whipped was when Epps’ wife refuses to allow her to have soap. In search of soap, Patsey heads to another plantation to find it. But when she returns, Epps is there and furious, believing that she had been intimate of another man. So he resorts to whip her, with Northup holding the leash. He described her as naked and helpless while begging for
Master Epps and mistress Epps were an example of what immoral aspect they wanted the slaves to do to the others. They handed Northup a whip in which he was given directions to whip anyone who was working slowly. If he did not do the job he was ask to do, there was a whip waiting for him. He never thought that he would be in the immoral act of making others suffering like they were doing to him. He did anything possible to avoid making others suffer and himself. He had no choice of declining this order because he was supposed to do what he was told with no hesitation. It seems like the abuse of his masters to him has affected him because he is to perform his duty than to suffer pain himself in order to avoid the punishment. His role as a tormentor is avoided when Epps and the overseers are gone but he brings up the idea that “It is not the fault of the slaveholder that he is cruel, so much as it is the fault of the system under which he lives.” He is suggesting that the slave owners are only cruel because of the way society wants whites to think of colored men and women. He has realized this by being told to do this order. This not only impacts the slaves but also impacts the community because it shows that other slaves can have control over their own slave
Slavery takes its part in history by containing the darkest, most cruel centuries of our nation. Often times, people are simply exposed to the surface of a very complex time period. Slavery in the United States has very intricate facets to it. In the outstanding film 12 Years a Slave, the life of a slave is captured through Solomon Northup's eyes. Although he was a free man, Northup was kidnapped and wrongly sold into slavery.
While several films about slavery in America contain adequate portrayals of slave life, 12 Years A Slave does so most proficiently. This movie offers a new perspective, putting the audience in the shoes of Solomon, a captured and subsequently enslaved freeman, rather than teaching the facts. The movie also provides a very real and meaningful character: John Epps. Epps, a cruel and unstable slave owner who purchases Solomon, allows for the viewer to experience the inner workings and thoughts of a southern slave owner. As a character, he is a representative of the cruelty of American slavery. The wonderful performances from the actors, specifically Sir John Epps, enhance the characters message throughout the film, making the film come to life. After watching 12 Years A Slave, I believe that this movie’s insight to the moral and emotional aspects of slavery in the 1840’s furthered my knowledge within our curriculum. This movie teaches the audience far more than a traditional history text or a slavery film: it allows students to grasp the struggle and pain of the slaves.
He also used African Americans as heroes in the story to help other African Americans either if they are free, or slaves. The villains in the movie did not have darker skin and the bigger nose and lips how it is in other movies, but paler skin, smaller nose and thinner lips. In the movie the director told one major story, and that was the story of Solomon Northup. Other stories are told from different slaves on how they were first slaves till when they want to be free of slavery. Different slave owners Solomon had treated him differently, but at his last masters house the master’s wife was African American first she was her husband slave but the master used to have his way with her, and later he replaced his wife with her. At this plantation house he also got help from and Caucasian individuals passing through who was against slavery, and the individuals sent help for Solomon to New York and he later was
When it comes to Hollywood movies it is hard to determine the fact from fiction, but the movie 12 Years a Slave, did a better job than most at portraying the truth of what Solomon’s narrative was really about. When comparing the book and movie side by side as to which narrative you would get the best experience from, the book offers the most meaningful, truthful, and effective way of understanding what really happened in Solomon Northup’s 12 years as a
When 12 Years A Slave landed on the bookstore shelves, people were not sure if they were ready for another slave storyline. But after all the rave reviews and the decision to make the book into a motion picture, many people decided it was time to view and or read what this story was all about. Majority of people prefer attending a movie when there is an option versus reading, for they do not have the patience to sit and enjoy a good book.
It features powerful and moving performances, and characters with a depth and realism so often lacking in period dramas. McQueen’s film stays true to the real Solomon Northup’s account and the historical era that account is based in, while also challenging racial stereotypes, and including elements of black resistance to oppression and diversity within the African American population. “12 Years a Slave” is to American slavery, what Spindler’s List was to the Holocaust. This film is a must see for American audience of all ethnic backgrounds, for it provides a heart-wrenching look into a less talked about period of our
Solomon Northup’s “Twelve Years a Slave” is considered a literary masterpiece for all the right reasons. It’s detailed description of his life as a slave was not only a rude awakening for those unware of slave life back in the 1850’s but also as an insight to what slavery was really like to us living in modern society. This book helped bring insight to slave life and how truly in distress many of those poor souls were.
12 Years a Slave is the most powerful and moving American slavery movie of all time. Although it’s a big statement, it is an accurate one. The film leaves you feeling as though you have just experienced slavery. The historical and biographical film tells the story of Solomon Northup who was kidnapped, sold into slavery and put to work for 12 years before his release. This film is gory and horrific but really tells the story of the past. This film will exceed any expectations.
Solomon Northup’s “Twelve Years of Slave,” is one of the most known slave narratives published before the Civil War. Born as a freeman in New York, he experienced the life of a slave when two whites, Merill Brown and Abram Hamilton, that deceived him captured him While his status as a freeman is threatened by his captors with the promise of more brutal beating, he has to answer if he, himself, is a slave. Throughout the twelve years, he is being sold to different masters ranging from kind to inhumane. Northup is kidnapped around age thirty and is saved after twelve years of his captivity by the help of Henry B. Northup, a white lawyer related to the family that owned Northup’s father as a slave and which he also took his last name. Solomon uses descriptions of plantation work, desecration of family, and violence to convey the inhumane life of an African American slave.
Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave, gives a shockingly accurate and detailed account of the common slave’s experiences and hardships in the pre-Civil War South. Northup is the son of an emancipated slave and born a free man, he lives and works in New York where he marries and has two children, he is also a very talented violin player. He is happy and successful up until 1841 when Northup is confronted by two con men offering for him to play the violin in a circus, so he travels with them to Washington D.C only to be drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. For the next twelve years, Northup survives as slave under several different masters, but the bulk of those years is spent under the harsh and cruel ownership of a southern plantation
Solomon Northup was born free, in Minerva, New York in 1808. Northup became known in his community as an exceptional fiddle player. When two men approached Northup and offered him good wages to go to Washington DC, to play in a travelling music show, he quickly accepted. Solomon Northup was drugged, kidnapped, captured, and sold into slavery. He served for many masters; some were violent and cruel while others treated him humanely. Solomon Northup experienced shear torture, cruelty, and the loss of his dignity, throughout his many years as a slave. After many years, he came in contact with an abolitionist, who sent letters to Northup’s family to notify them of his life and status. He was soon rescued from Louisiana and freed as a slave. The narrative of Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave reveals the lived experience of dehumanization of the male slave, female slave, and the masters during the slavery period in the American South.
When the mind and body endures times when inflicted with excruciating pain, the mind is able to recall in so much detail the pain it once felt both physically and emotionally. Northrup is representative of this, as he publishes an exceptionally vivid and detailed storyline of his slave life. He recreated his life’s emotional journey by visually recounting significant painful life events including the punishment he was sentenced by his master. This is demonstrated in the graphic and violent scene, he shared of being whipped to bleeding point.