Slavery In The Film: 12 Years A Slave

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The film, “12 Years A Slave” tells an eye opening, very illustrative story of how slavery in the states was a cruel and sickening part of American history. The story follows a once free black man named Solomon Northup, a successful violinist with a family living in the north who gets abducted and forced into the slave trade then sold at an auction. The events that happen throughout the movie elaborate the brutality of slavery on blacks, it shows the effects of slavery on them and also the slave owners, and lastly it depicts how women both black and white were subject to authoritative treatment. “12 Years A Slave” can be analyzed in serveral different ways including several different topics. It shows of course how awful the treatment of …show more content…

Solomon did not respond. Master Ford, who is the owner of the plantation, proceeds to say he is impressed with Solomons intellect on the situation. The white slave owners sarcastically compared him to a engineer which can be analyzed in a different thought. In the eyes of the owners, slaves are thought of as nothing but property, with no intellect to read or write but only to live and to work. The whites depict themselves to be the “masters” of the universe, they hold the intelligence because they hold capitalistic and authoritative beliefs. However a slave was able to analyze the task at hand and complete the job of an engineer. There were many scenes throughout the course of the film that bring out the aspects of how powerful and brutal slavery was on the blacks. One particular scene about mid-way through the movie where Solomon (Platt) was ordered to whip the fellow woman slave, Patsey for leaving the plantation to get soap. Platt refuses but eventually his master forces him to strike her. With each lash shows the power of the effects of slavery, the look in Patsy’s face as she is struck repeatedly and repeatedly. With each hit gaining more pain, it was unbearable and unappealing to watch how these slave owners can treat another man with such utter …show more content…

The effects of slavery forever changed not only these lives but also how we view humanity now. During the movie and also throughout history, slaves were sold at auction to be become a master 's property and nothing was said. Many slaves had to give up their families, forced to be split between different owners. This happened in the beginning of the film when Solomon and the other slaves were being auctioned. Master Ford was purchasing a black woman named Patsy, and felt some sympathy when she said she did not want to break her family apart and asked to purchase her daughter. The slave auctioneer refused saying she’ll be worth more money in the long run for himself. Master Ford

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