“The practice of separating children from their mother, …is in harmony with the grand aim of slavery, which, always and everywhere, is to reduce man to a level with the brute” (Douglass 24). Slaves are denied of their family, they are separated from their mothers from a very young age as if they were animals. Slaves were seen as having one sole purpose and that was to function as an instrument of production. Slaves in this period of American history were victimized by their owners by denying them their natural rights and stripping them off their
Also, we will talk about the power that the slaveholders got from controlling their slaves and the fear that the slaveholders maybe had to understand how they were changed. Thomas Auld had been a poor men and he came into possession of all his slaves by marriage. He was a cowardly cruel slaveholder and he didn’t have the ability to hold slaves. He also realized that his incapable of managing his slaves. However, he wanted the power and wished to be called master by his slaves (Douglass, p. 76~77).
Like most southern slave owners Thomas Auld was a cruel master who always disciplined his slaves for their wrong doings. He was a cowardly man because he didn’t have the ability or courage to properly hold slaves, but “he found himself incapable of managing his slaves either by force, fear, or fraud” (pg. 380). Auld was a merciless man that worked the slaves to the limit and barely gave them enough to eat. Douglass mentioned how often slaves stole food in order to survive and to prevent from becoming ill. “We were therefore reduced to the wretched necessity of living at the expense of out neighbors.
Though Tom was such a down to earth man, he was still beaten because he didn’t give into his master Legree wrongdoings when he told him to beat a woman (507). Therefore Stowe describes through Uncle Tom that slaves are human beings with wonderful characteristics. The author wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin intentionally to provide information on how slavery’s evil, by describing scenes with harsh treatment, separations of family members, cruel masters, and the good moral character in slaves.
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, Frederick Douglass establishes for us the many factors that lead to the continual enslavement of the black race by connecting his own plight to that of other slaves as a plea for the abolition of slavery. The evil of slavery infected every master to pervert the truth to his own satisfaction and Douglass explains how slavery corrupts the humanity of both slave and master. The legal system was also not an option for slaves to turn to for help because they had no legal rights. The fear of losing friends and never being able to trust anyone again was enough to keep many back in bondage. And the lack of education left their minds dulled to any thoughts beyond what they already knew which was just their own miserable condition.
Throughout his autobiography Frederick Douglass talks of the many ways a slave and master would be corrupted by the labor system that was so deeply entrenched in the south as a result of demand for cotton, and other labor-intensive crops. The master justified his actions through a self-serving religion and a belief that slaves were meant to be in their place. Masters were usually very cruel and self centered. Most had never been in the fields with the slaves. They didn’t understand the conditions that they were putting the slaves under.
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved the consequences of a lifetime of slavery are examined. Paul D and seethe, two former slaves have experienced the worst slavery has to offer. Under their original master, Mr. Garner the slaves were treated like humans. They were encouraged to think for themselves and make their own decisions. However, upon the death of Mr. Garner all of that changes.
It would be too unsafe for whites to educate their slaves because a slave “should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told”(47). Still, Douglass progressed to learn how to read and write without a formal teache... ... middle of paper ... ...ather and eat until they were full while the slaves who served them were starving. Frederick Douglass increased awareness about the evils of slavery by educating his peers and others who would listen about the injustice and cruelty of slaveholding and slaveholders. He was able to overcome the ignorance of educating slaves, secretly teaching himself how to read by utilizing the little knowledge that was accidentally shared with him. Douglass gained a better sense of religion by reading the Bible himself and he learned that his Christianity practiced in the south was often hypocritical.
The slave-masters throughout “Beloved” whether seemingly benevolent or not, have one effect on their slaves, they alienate them from all around them, even to the point (in the words of Fredrick Douglass) that they crush (the natural affection of the mother for the child”, (Da... ... middle of paper ... ...other. Morrison shows us through her novel that there is more to life than master and slave. She documents the struggle of Sethe, Paul D, Baby Suggs and Stamp Paid to escape this mentality, but as they do, the community is united and the horrors of the past (Beloved) are driven away. Despite years of social training, it is only when the alienation is broken that love and life can occur. Works Cited Day, Lanette.
Huck in those passages shows a special person, almost a hero, that was uncanny for the time period, showing emotions towards slaves where the rest of the society either didn’t think anything of it or just thought of slaves as property with no feelings. With all the issues of right and wrong, Huck tries to do the right thing even though most people in the society around him wouldn’t view them as correct. Huck breaking Jim out of slavery and Huck’s feelings of sickness of slave trading, give the reader insightful information on the characters perspective. Through Huck’s perspective we see how he deals with all of the racism and hypocrisy of society to form him into the character that he is and to serve the themes of the novel.