The Whipping Boy Analysis

On January 1st, 1863 an executive order was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. This order was the Emancipation Proclamation, and was considered a war measure during the American Civil War. It proclaimed that all slaves in the rebellious confederate states were free. The purpose of the Civil War had now changed. The North was not only fighting to preserve the Union, it was fighting to end slavery. Many slaves did not hear about the proclamation for months, and still considered themselves slaves. When they finally caught wind of it, many, now former slaves, rushed to enlist in the federal army, hoping to fight against the confederate states that had treated them so badly in many years1 . The short story “The Whipping Boy”, written by Richard

The writer gives this feeling by using different techniques. Creating a tragic backstory is one of these. The use of foreshadowing is used as a literary device to tease the reader about plot turns that will occur later in the story. This technique is used in the story too. At one point Mrs. Gage tells Martha that she is the only one who can save her son7 . Mrs. Gage knew that she had sinned (been together) with her son, and she feared that something bad would happen to him. If it was through the war, or through black people lynching him she couldn’t know, but she knew that Martha was the only one capable of saving her son. This was later on shown to be true. Martha saved Sterling from being hung by the neck by Tommy. The short story tells the tale of three slaves that have been mistreated and disrespected their whole lives. The only reason for this is because of the color of their skin. Black people were not respected, and were seen as dirty people that were up to no good. If they were just respected and had a chance to prove that they were normal people, a whole slave epoch could have been prevented. This problem with respect is still around