Abuse Of Power In Gary Paulsen's Nightjohn

Way too often, people in control abuse their force. It is human nature to always want more of what is already there, but for selfish people this issue could turn into a massive issue. Gary Paulsen’s dreadful novel, Nightjohn, goes along with the story of slaves on a plantation who are abused by their master in power. This all changes when a man named John comes to teach a young slave how to read and write. Similarly, another piece of writing that connects to Nightjohn is a piece called “The Monster of Monticello,” by Paul Finkelman, describes the truth of Thomas Jefferson. Finkelman describes how he had slaves, and took advantage of his slaves. He also explains how Jefferson was a hypocrite, and so much more. It is clear that a central theme

Gary Paulsen conveys this theme through the use of Clel Waller. Clel Waller is a master of slaves. He has power, and he uses it to abuse his slaves. One of the slaves he abuses is Sarny. In the novel, Sarny states, “Waller he loves to carry the whip and carry the gun and so he rides in the wagon his own self” (Paulsen 26). In other words, Paulsen presents how Clel Waller abuses the power he has to torture helpless slaves. Paulsen wants the readers to know that a person in power should never take advantage of their control or others. Paulsen does this by describing how the abuse is affecting the slaves and causing trauma. Furthermore, not only do people abuse power, but the people affected have to work around the abuse to get what they want. Gary Paulsen presents this theme through John. John is another one of Waller’s slaves, but unlike everyone else he is not afraid of Waller. John has a goal, to teach young slaves to read and write, so they can write about their experience

Finkelman explains how Jefferson owned and abused slaves even though he declared that all men are created equal. In “The Monster of Monticello,” Paul Finkelman states, “He sometimes punished slaves by selling them away from their families and friends, a relation that was incomprehensibly cruel even at the time” (Finkelman 8). In other words, Jefferson treated his slaves extremely cruelly, even for the environment and the time. Jefferson had the power to have slaves and mistreat them, and he took that opportunity. Finkelman wants the readers to learn about Jefferson, who he truly was, and his behavior towards his slaves. To add on, Thomas Jefferson did not use his power when he needed to. For example, he had plenty of chances to change the mistakes he made, but instead he ignored them. In “The Monster of Monticello,” Paul Finkelman explains, “As a state legislator he blocked consideration of a law that might have eventually ended slavery in the state” (Finkelman 9). In other words, Jefferson dodged opportunities to end slavery. Jefferson, being the state legislature he could have ended slavery in the state, but instead he stopped the law from going through. Not only could he have ended slavery in the state, but he also could have encouraged equality of all races. The reason he didn’t pass the law is because of his selfishness, and because he