A new outlook on pre-Civil War slavery is portrayed in Edward Jones' novel "The Known World". Unlike many well-known novels that cover slavery, Jones chose to focus on the thoughts and emotions of both the slaves and slave-owners and how they interact with each other. Set in a wealthy Virginia county, the practice of owning slaves is common to the white man and the black man as well. The main focus of the story is Henry Townsend, a black former slave that was bought out of slavery by his father, who was also a former slave. As time passes Henry never loses the admiration he has for his former master and looks to him as an idol. Much to his parent's disappointment Henry not only enjoys his life as a free black man after being bought by his parents, but also takes advantage of his right to own slaves. He does not feel guilty for owning slaves, but instead feels that he is adding to his legacy and worth. Henry feels that if someone didn't want to be a slave that they should pay for their freedom, just as his father had done. If they want freedom bad enough they will be able to obtain it in his eyes. But, when Henry dies it is his widow, Caldonia, a black woman that was born free, is torn between her loyalty to her race and loyalty to her deceased husband. Ultimately Caldonia stays true to the legacy that her husband had built, but it is understood that she does this due to pressure from society. Jones chooses to show the thoughts of his characters rather than tell them which undeniably gives greater depth to all of the characters. Through the actions of both slave and slave-owner alike "The Known World" shows that the world surrounding the institution of slavery has more to do with social status than it does with race and the color o... ... middle of paper ... ...e reader into the story. It is this detail, however, that made the story get off track during several scenes. In his story-writing Jones has a tendency to be talking about thing and then suddenly tangent off into another direction for a few pages. All of these different directions that the story is going can make it difficult to differentiate between past and present time as well as it may confuse the reader about which character is being described at a given time. The vocabulary of the novel was not difficult to comprehend and even jargon of the slaves, which can be difficult to translate, was easy to understand. Overall, as long as "The Known World" is read carefully enough and differentiation can be made between tales of the past and present, the novel successfully sheds light of aspects of pre-Civil War slavery that novels of the past have failed to do.
This makes for a very interesting read. Johnson’s personal writing style does not shine through much due to the way he chose to build narrative around historical sources, but nevertheless he tells an interesting, cohesive story that draws the reader in and exposes some of the insidious history surrounding the trade of slaves in our history. The book is divided into seven sections, ten including the introduction and epilogue, as well as a section dedicated to illustrations of historical documents alluded to in the text. Johnson also includes a section entitled “Notes,” where he has compiled his sources. The “Notes” section is not a straight bibliography. It also includes helpful author notes describing the context of sources that did not fit in the main narrative, and references for those wanting to do their own research. For example, one note includes information on a book by Tadman which contains information on the number of slaves traded. The author includes a summary, including migration numbers and the percentage of those numbers directly related to the trade. This section is helpfully divided and labeled, with the notes referred to in each part of the book labeled by section. Each notation and illustration is referenced within the text by numbers, which coincide with each note or illustration offering more
For example, the majority of the film was concerned with the key question of “Where did they come from?” In Jones’ book, we learn very early on that the people in question had in fact came from Africa, therefore nullifying any claims made towards them that they could be considered property. In the movie, we are kept in suspense of learning this truth all for the effect of building tension, to have this realization be the pivotal moment where it was clear who should win the case. With such heavy focus on this one element, the film neglected to expand on details of other factors playing a part in the court’s decision, such as the looming threat of civil war, international relations with Spain, and the push from President Van Buren who desired an outcome that would increase his odds of re-election. The film is also guilty in misrepresenting the way the case was handled in the Supreme Court. It is implied through the film that the words of John Quincy Adams alone swayed the judges into voting favorably against slavery, however as we learn in the book the case was really centered on the Atlantic Slave Trade instead of the issue of slavery within America. Spielberg’s inclusion of the fictional character Theodore Joadson also takes away from historical accuracy and diminishes the contributions of the abolitionist Lewis Tappan. Therefore it can be said that the advantage of reading the book over watching the film is that the book is less focused on tension building and more focused on providing details on the legal battle and the ramifications of the decision
The novel showed a pivotal point prior to the Civil War and how these issues ultimately led to the fueling of quarrel between Americans. While such institutions of slavery no longer exist in the United States, the message resonates with the struggles many groups ostracized today who continue to face prejudice from those in higher
At first glance, the book “my bondage and my freedom by Frederick Douglass appeared to be extremely dull and frustrating to read. After rereading the book for a second time and paying closer attention to the little details I have realized this is one of the most impressive autobiographies I have read recently. This book possesses one of the most touching stories that I have ever read, and what astonishes me the most about the whole subject is that it's a true story of Douglass' life. “ Douglass does a masterful job of using his own experience to expose the injustice of slavery to the world. As the protagonist he is able to keep the reader interested in himself, and tell the true story of his life. As a narrator he is able to link those experiences to the wider experiences of the nation and all society, exposing the corrupting nature of slavery to the entire nation.”[1] Although this book contributes a great amount of information on the subject of slavery and it is an extremely valuable book, its strengths are overpowered by its flaws. The book is loaded with unnecessary details, flowery metaphors and intense introductory information but this is what makes “My Bondage and My Freedom” unique.
The novel starts the story at when Jane was a young slave. The Emancipation Proclamation was a decree announced my President Abraham Lincoln in September 1862 and formally issued on January 1, 1863, freeing slaves in all Confederate state still in rebellion (Abbott et al. 408). Jane and the other slaves where read the proclamation and where offered to stay on the plantation by their former slave master. The slaves then gather and decided if they should stay on the plantation of leave. In the time period many white where scared of that the now freed slave would do. The former slaves did not initially even dream of social equality; far less did they plot murder and mayhem, as the white people feared (Abbott et al. 439). Although the slave are set free the social frame work slavery continues.
The book is significant in the sense that it gives even the current generation the knowledge of slavery, how it happened and the reason for slavery. It also shows us that whites and blacks are equal regardless of the skin colour. The point of equality is supported by the scene where Nat’s plans about freedom do not work but we understand that he had a lot of intelligence to plan that rebellion. This proves to us that blacks have equal intelligence as the whites since everyone being equal. The author tries to take us back to the ages of slavery and make us suffer with the slaves so as to feel how it was really like. The author succeeds in making us feel the pain and he succeeds in making us get that clear picture of what happened.
The author made a point to explain what slaves had better than others.... ... middle of paper ... ... He touched on parts of the slaves' lives and what they really went through, but I don't think we even have a true idea of what it would have been like in their shoes.
The book follows Dana who is thrown back in time to live in a plantation during the height of slavery. The story in part explores slavery through the eye of an observer. Dana and even Kevin may have been living in the past, but they were not active members. Initially, they were just strangers who seemed to have just landed in to an ongoing play. As Dana puts it, they "were observers watching a show. We were watching history happen around us. And we were actors." (Page 98). The author creates a scenario where a woman from modern times finds herself thrust into slavery by account of her being in a period where blacks could never be anything else but slaves. The author draws a picture of two parallel times. From this parallel setting based on what Dana goes through as a slave and her experiences in the present times, readers can be able to make comparison between the two times. The reader can be able to trace how far perceptions towards women, blacks and family relations have come. The book therefore shows that even as time goes by, mankind still faces the same challenges, but takes on a reflection based on the prevailing period.
We discussed the details and differences between the types of slavery mentioned in the book, and they became just as confused and angry as I was.... ... middle of paper ... ... This book is also one of the first non-fiction books that I’ve had to write a reaction to.
When a new slave is introduced to the plantation, Sarney, a young slave, notices something different about him. Within the first nights the new slave, John, offers to teach Sarney letters in exchange for rolls of tobacco. Every night from then on, Sarney begins to learn the alphabet letter by letter- something very dangerous and illegal for a slave. One day, talking with John and Mammy, John explains to them how he was a runaway that eventually became free. “And you came back?” Mammy asks him, “Why?”. “To teach reading” John explains simply to her (pg. 55). It turns out John could have safely lived the rest of his life in peace- instead he gave up his freedom to return to the nightmare of slavery and for one reason only- to teach slaves how to read and write. “We all have to read and write so we can write about this- what they doing to us.” (pg.58). Because he realizes that there is a real problem at stake, John was willing to give up a free life to better the chances of other slaves.
In, “The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, readers get a first person perspective on slavery in the South before the Civil War. The author, Frederick Douglass, taught himself how to read and write, and was able to share his story to show the evils of slavery, not only in regard to the slaves, but with regard to masters, as well. Throughout Douglass’ autobiography, he shares his disgust with how slavery would corrupt people and change their whole entire persona. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos to help establish his credibility, and enlighten his readers about what changes needed to be made.
The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.
While writing about the dehumanizing nature of slavery, Douglass eloquently and efficiently re-humanize African Americans. This is most evident throughout the work as a whole, yet specific parts can be used as examples of his artistic control of the English language. From the beginning of the novel, Douglass’ vocabulary is noteworthy with his use of words such as “intimation […] odiousness […] ordained.” This more advanced vocabulary is scattered throughout the narrative, and is a testament to Douglass’ education level. In conjunction with his vocabulary, Douglass often employed a complex syntax which shows his ability to manipulate the English language. This can be seen in Douglass’ self-description of preferring to be “true to [himself], even at the hazard of incurring ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur [his] own abhorrence.” This is significant because it proves that Douglass can not only simply read and write, but he has actually obtained a mastery of reading and writing. This is a highly humanizing trait because it equates him in education level to that of the stereotypical white man, and how could one deny that the white man is human because of his greater education? It is primarily the difference in education that separates the free from the slaves, and Douglass is able to bridge this gap as a pioneer of the
The book, The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman draws attention to some very good points concerning globalization and the world economy today. Friedman emphasizes the status of America today in relation to the other countries of the world. As I looked at the things in which he warned about or highlighted, I realized the importance of this issue. He talks about a few aspects in which need to be kept competitive in order for America to retain their current standing in the world market.