In the beginning of the book, Solomon Northup describes his early life all the way to the point of his kidnapping. He talked about where he was born and where he came from. Northup also talked about his education, in particular, his talent for playing on the violin. When he was 21, he married a girl named Anne Hampton and conceived three children with her. After Northup describes his life prior to his abduction he transitions to when and where he was kidnapped, which was Washington D.C in 1841 at age 33. The moment he realized he was imprisoned so he could later be sold as a slave is when the story of his 12 year trek begins. When Northup kept on insisting that he was a free man his captor James H. Burch would physically beat him. But after …show more content…
When they land Northup is immediately placed up for sale at the slave auction. But while at the auction Northup contracts small pox which nearly kills the man. But he eventually makes a speedy recovery and is later sold to a man named William Ford along with a woman named Eliza. After being purchased by William Ford, Northup treks to Louisiana where Ford’s plantation is located at. Due to his devotion to his Christian faith, Ford is humane and friendly towards his slaves. Ford is so kind that Northup actually found it a pleasure to be in his service. Northup even goes as far as saving Ford time and money by devising a more profitable route by transporting lumber by water instead of land. But unfortunately, Ford runs into a number financial problems and eventually sells Northup to a carpenter by the name of John M. Tibeats. In a stroke of bad luck, Tibeats turns out to be a cruel and vile man. Northup describes that he was continually threatened and yelled at by Tibeats. The two would eventually end up having a physical confrontation. In which Tibeats attempts to whip Northup but with Northup being the stronger man he seizes the whip and whips Tibeats instead. Afterwards, Tibeats attempts twice to take Northup’s life but is saved by William Ford and his supervisor. Unable to take Northup’s life, Tibeats sells him to an infamous slave owner named Edwin Epps, whom is affectionately …show more content…
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
The book called Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, deals with many real life issues, most of which are illustrated by the relationships between different family members.
Solomon, a slave, had been a leader when he worked in the cotton fields in the South. One day he decided to fly back to Africa with his youngest son, Jake, leaving behind his wife Ryna and their twenty other children.
For example, Northup introduces the reader to a slave named Eliza Berry, who was forced to become her master’s lover, as well as to live with him on the condition that she and her children would be emancipated (25). This exemplifies how white men would use their status to sexually harass their female slaves, while avoiding the consequences because no one would believe them, and they were threatened with being whipped if they uttered a word. In addition, Northup introduces another female slave named Patsey, and he states, “Her back bore the scars of a thousand stripes; not because she was backward in her work, nor because she was of an unmindful and rebellious spirit, but because it had fallen to her lot to be the slave of a licentious master…” (116). Overall, this quote corroborates how severe their masters would penalize them both physically and mentally, as well as how unfair they were to
For example, Douglass recalls watching Aunt Hester being whipped by the slaveholder: I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I remember well.
In his true-life narrative "Twelve Years a Slave," Solomon Northup is a free man who is deceived into a situation that brings about his capture and ultimate misfortune to become a slave in the south. Solomon is a husband and father. Northup writes:
The men who use whips in the novel, Tom, Rufus, and Jake are all men that the slaves are afraid of. These guys are selfish and bitter and they use violence (whippings) for punishments, to hurt slaves, and even for pleasure. In the South, a white man with a whip often embodies evilness and anger. The functionality of the whip makes for slow and painful torture of the slaves. These whips are able to kill people, accept instead of killing very quickly, they kill very slowly and more painfully than other methods of killing. Whippings clearly show the white man had all the power, and that no one would be able to challenge them because of their desire for violence. All the white man wanted was to show his superiority, and with harsh whippings he surely
Many slave women suffered regular beatings. Frederick Douglass mentions several different instances where female slaves who he knew where beaten regularly. One of Douglass's first overseers, Mr. Plummer, would beat Douglass's aunt on a daily basis. Mr. Plummer whipped Douglass's aunt so often he began a routine, "He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush" (23). Frederick Douglass also recounted the killing of a slave girl because she slept through a baby's cry.
He was then sent hundreds of miles away from his mother to the southern states of America. He caused this being sold to a negro trader. The Trader, Mr. Mitchell, was selling a lot of slaves on the way down south but found it hard to sell him. He was a lot whiter then the other slaves which was a problem. This resulted to him being sent to Mr. Seed who he stayed with for a year. He also had a hard time selling him.
On one occasion, Solomon confronted Tibeat, one of William’s other employees, about the care he gave towards the slave’s sanitary conditions, particularly Patseys. Tibeat decided that Solomon deserved to punished for his comments so he started whipping him. It was only when Solomon retaliated, that Wiliam was forced to move him to Edwin Epps plantation. Edwin had a very different outlook on the slave trade as to what William did. Epps stated that “They ain’t hired help. They’re my property,” basically dehumanising and materialising them as objects or livestock. Epps forced
At its most basic level, the American Captivity Narrative is a biographical or autobiographical account of an individual’s captivity at the hands of the Native Americans. Though understood to be an accurate account of the individual’s experience, these narratives contain a number of common rhetorical features that serve to augment the emotional impact of the events described. Frequently, the customs and practices of each individual’s captors are the source of these notable occurrences. Common themes include: torture or suffering, adoption, hunting, and the sharing or discussion of spiritual beliefs. Taken as a whole, these major events weave a narrative of self-transformation. Though these texts do not typically end with the narrator converting
Since Northup wrote this book himself, it was able to provide readers with the truth and the experiences of living as a slave in the South. The good experiences written about by Northup seemed to be few and far between in the story, but the moments were big. In the beginning of the story, he talked about being with his family and the experience of being a free black man in the North. Once his freedom and family were taken from him, the next good experience he spoke of was when he met friends, either on the boat rides or on the plantations. These friends, although he was once free and most of them were not, had many things in common with Northup, and they all had similar views on slavery. A third positive experience that Solomon wrote about was when the officials came to Ebbs’ plantation to take him back North to freedom, which Ebbs could not believe. Although Ebbs wasn’t happy about it, Solomon was excited to go back to the North and his family. Being reunited with his family after ...
Once Northup was freed and returned to his family as a free man, he filed kidnapping charges against the men who had sold him as a slave and defrauded him. What followed was a long trial that was eventually dismissed based on technical details. Additionally, Northup did not receive any compensation for the 12 years of his life that they h...
Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get “engaged” to him. Their romance collapses when she learns that Tom has been engaged before—to a girl named Amy Lawrence. Shortly after being shunned by Becky, Tom accompanies Huckleberry Finn, the son of the town drunk, to the graveyard at night to try out a “cure” for warts. At the graveyard, they witness the murder of young Dr. Robinson by the Native American “half-breed” Injun Joe. Scared, Tom and Huck run away and swear a blood oath not to tell anyone what they have seen. Injun Joe blames his companion, Muff Potter, a hapless drunk, for the crime. Potter is wrongfully arrested, and Tom’s anxiety and guilt...
At this point in his life he is debating on whether he should dedicate his life to doing God’s work or politics. William was having strong feelings about doing God’s work and just giving up the political career. When William goes through this his friend Pitt, also known as Billy, tries to convince him not to give up on politics. Pitt then tells William about his plan on becoming the Prime minister and how he wants William to be by his side. Pitt was so determined to convince William to stay in politics. One night he brought a group of people to William’s house for dinner. William greets them all into his house benevolently, even though he is a bit clueless about who these people are. While William sits at the table wondering who these people are, he starts to ask questions. Before anyone answers his question directly a man named Thomas Clarkson pulls out a bag. He pushes his plate back and clears the bag, which contains chains that the slaves wore. Clarkson starts to explain how the chains were worn on the slaves and how they were transported. Oloudah Equiano, a former slave, was sitting next to Thomas Clarkson. Equiano explains the process that slaves go through when on the slave ship. He also shows them the mark on his body from when he got sold. He explained to William “once they put this mark on your body, you no longer belong to the Lord. You belong to man”. All of the guests that were brought into William’s home
He 's born a slave on Colonel Lloyd 's plantation, but as a child, he had mostly spared the worst kinds of suffering. For example, he sees his Aunt Hester get beaten, imagine how traumatizing that must be. Instead, he suffers without realizing it. He never knows his father and only meets his mother a handful of times before she dies. Ironically, he isn 't allowed to go to her funeral. He doesn’t realize for a long time that not being able to attend his own parent’s funeral, or not even know who his parents are is something a normal child shouldn’t experience growing up. So, the first turning point in life is a basic, but also major epiphany—he realizes that he is a slave a deals with what it