ipl-logo

12 Years A Slave Odyssey

637 Words3 Pages

The novel “12 Years A Slave”, written by Solomon Northup depicts Solomon, a free man living in Saratoga New York with his wife and three children. One day he is offered a job playing violin with a circus group, and is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup is freed 12 years later by an abolitionist working on a plantation with him. While enslaved he meets a woman named Patsey. Their master, a man known as Epps, has a complete infatuation with Patsey, and shows how many slave owners develop an obsession over the “ownership” of their slaves. However this is not the case for his mistress, who strongly dislikes Patsey. Epps also shows the intense amount of work southern slaves are forced to do with little praise, and often many beatings.
During Northup's time as a slave, he is sold and moved to different plantations numerous times. While on Edwin Epps plantation, he meets a delicate, hardworking girl, Patsey. Despite being a persistent, loyal-driven slave, Patsey is always offered the short end of the stick. During the time both Patsey and Northup spent together, he recalls numerous times where he is shown the cruelty of Epps towards Patsey. For example, in the novel, Patsey goes to another plantation to receive soap, something she is denied by Epps mistress. It is evident the mistress of Epps does not like Patsey when Northup states, “ …show more content…

That is until he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Unable to find freedom until his twelth year enslaved, he endures many cruel events along the way. For example, he meets a woman name Patsey, who is tormented by both their master, Edwin Epps, and his mistress. Epps shows them time and time again that he owns them, and that they are nothing more than property to him. During his time spent with Epps it is also very apparent how mcuh work the slasves are forced to do, asnd how poorly they are

Show More
Related
1160 Words | 5 Pages

These included acting ignorant and working behind the scenes to disrupt the plantation’s efficiency without the master’s understanding. One method used by fieldhands was to conceal “dirt or rocks in their cotton baskets” to slow down work on plantations. Other slaves damaged property, stole food, or simply worked at a lesser capacity than they could. Only rarely did slaves try and escape and even less often did they openly rebel since the punishments for the crimes were not worth the risk. Stampp’s portrayal of slaves as disobedient and witty in their defiance of the slaveowners furthers his argument that the slaves were not content with slavery and that is was a harmful and oppressive

Read More
520 Words | 3 Pages

Turner throughout the story hints at promising nat his freedom, but as the story goes on and misunderstandings occur Nat is sold to a preacher Reverend Eppes. Reverend Eppes is described as an old, homosexual, disgusting, white man who is obsessed with young african American boys. Eppes begins trying to suduce Nat and when Nat refuses he is sold to two farmers who whip Nat and the other slaves

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

Our first reading of EN101, Fredrick Douglass’ “Learning to Read,” helped our class to better understand the privilege of being a writer. Douglass lives in Hugh Auld’s household for roughly seven years. During this time, he is able to learn how to read and write, though Mrs. Auld is hardened and no longer tutors him. Slavery hurts Mrs. Auld as much as it hurts Douglass himself. The mentality of slavery strips her of her inherent sympathy for others, making her hardened and cruel.

Read More
1377 Words | 6 Pages

The event utilizes irony because Northup is initially kidnapped and sold to slavery due to his blind trust in the actions and motives of white men, and twelve years later he is freed by that same trust. The use of situational irony intrigues the audience, and develops the imagination and interest of readers. Irony creates parallels to real life, where the outcome often diverges from expectations. While Northup uses situational irony to invert expectations, Douglas sought to expose the hypocrisy of Christian slaveholders through irony. Through God, one of Douglass’ slaveholders found “religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty…[he would] tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the

Read More
1146 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout Frederick Douglass’s Narrative, he recalls the inhumane acts that were thrusted upon him as a slave, but overcame the abuse of the common practice. Specifically, Douglass since childhood worked in a plantation as a slave, but from him learning to read and write, he escapes and teaches the people of the North the hardships of slavery, where he faced deprivation through exploitation, discovered there were more opportunities for slaves as he approaches the North, and gains power to change of his life due to his knowledge. For instance, the slaves were put into lower social positions than their masters through social manipulation, in ways of isolation and deprivation, so they would not leave the plantations. To illustrate, in the plantations many of “the white

Read More
1095 Words | 5 Pages

The writer does not hide his contempt for those slaveholders characterized as “blood-seeking wretches.” (Twelve Years a Slave 125) Such slaveholders as Tibeats and Edwin Epps, another ruthless plantation owner, who buys Solomon from Mr. Williams, fall exactly into such a category. Nonetheless, soon Northup admits that his life on Epp’s plantation proves to be even worse than working with Tibeats. The writer notes that Epps never spares his whip to extract obedience from the “niggers.” Moreover, “being fond of the bottle” and various violent amusements, Epps repeatedly makes his slaves dance for him in the middle of the night or lashes them around his yard with his whip “just for the pleasure of hearing them screech and scream.”

Read More
1972 Words | 8 Pages

Throughout American history, many sources display the era of slavery, but little of them exhibit slavery as well as a book called, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” This book represents an accurate first-hand account of slavery that allows historians to analyze the era of slavery today. According to this narrative, there were many dehumanizing aspects of slavery, which include physical torture and forcing inhumane lifestyle onto slaves. Many of these scenarios of torture were demonstrated in expansive, horrific detail throughout the narrative. Although slaves were immensely dehumanized, this historical piece humanizes Frederick Douglass along with African Americans as this narrative is a marvelous piece of literary art with many

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

Most owners would do whatever they wanted to their slaves, causing the slaves to rebel and runaway. Filled with fear, endless hours of labor, ill-treatment, cruelty, and unfairness this cycle never really ended for a slave. Slaves were used as property, whose labor would only benefit their master’s profit. Instead, of houses and rest hours a slave’s day consisted of their work, then their own personal chores,and finally sleep. A slave’s life consisted of the unfair treatments from owners.

Read More
1033 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the history of slavery in America, there was always the false promises, and broken deals when it came to slaves being able to be emancipated by purchase, or manumission, and Leckler exposes his intentions, similar to most slave-owners, of never letting Josh become free (2). Alternatively, Josh exhibits all of the exemplary characteristics of a person, although being subjected to the imprisonment of slavery, uses his intelligence, ingenuity, and courage to survive and achieve. Hardworking, honest and a loyal servant, Josh outwardly personified all the positive attributes that slaveholders would expect and have pride in their slaves’ acquiescence to their conditions (2-3). Spurred by the innate urge to become a full human being while

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

Read More
821 Words | 4 Pages

After living with Pap as a young boy and continually getting beat up, Huck looks for a way out. Huck shows early signs of maturity by escaping to Jackson’s Island while Pap is asleep and by covering the house in pigs blood to make it look as if he was murdered. While still in the very beginning of the novel, Huck has already matured tremendously. Another experience that Huck goes through is when Jim turns to Huck and says, “Pooty soon I 'll be a-shout 'n ' for joy, en I 'll say, it 's all on accounts o ' Huck; I 's a free man, en

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

In regards to the abolitionist movement, Solomon Northup’s slave narrative was particularly important because it revealed the inhumane treatment, such as the brutal beatings done by masters and overseers, the sexual use of slave women and the merciless separation of families, and in his personal case the abuse of the Fugitive Slave

Read More
1838 Words | 8 Pages

“Yes, sir, he gives me enough, such as it is.” The colonel, after ascertaining where the slave belonged, rode on; the man also went on about his business, not dreaming that he had been conversing with his master. He thought, said, and heard nothing more of the matter, until two or three weeks afterwards. The poor man was then informed by his overseer that, for having found fault with his master, he was now to be sold to a Georgia trader. He was immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment’s warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends, by a hand more unrelenting than death.”

Read More
1133 Words | 5 Pages

Laleshka Santiago-Rivera Professor R. Stephens English 2110-902 20 February 2018 Captivity narratives originated around the 16th and 17th century as America progressed and writers adjusted to the change. Two of the most well-known captivity narratives are A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano. Both narratives influenced their reader's actions by sharing the commotion of being captured and enslaved, and why they didn’t give up, therefore changing the path of history. Rowlandson’s narrates the occurrences of a 39-year-old white woman captured by Indians in 1675 and

Read More
1227 Words | 5 Pages

The article “My family 's slave” by Alex Tizon has sparked many debates. Tizon’s was a journalist who 's article was featured in the Atlantic cover. As the story hit the surface many people had both negative and positive reactions to the story. The story of Tizon family enslavement occurs all the way back Tizon’s grandfather. As Lola escapes a arranged marriage she is given Tizon’s mother to care for but little did she know that this was a life sentence debt.

Read More

More about 12 Years A Slave Odyssey

Related Topics

Open Document