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Nightjohn By Gary Paulsen

950 Words4 Pages

Nightjohn Even though the United States have improved, we must not forget the horrendous acts of slavery. In the historical fiction novel Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen, the topic of slavery is thoroughly explained. Although Gary Paulsen’s novel, Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction, descriptions of brutal punishments, resistance to conditions, and Determination to learn can be corroborated with multiple sources. The book Nightjohn shows the historical accuracy of brutal punishment as if the people who were enslaved were trapped in a cage with a starving tiger. In Nightjohn the author, Gary Paulsen, elaborates on this topic by writing about how the slaves would disobey Waller by praying for freedom at night, …show more content…

The topic is written about in the book by saying how enslaved people would pray when the stars shined the brightest and no matter how many attempts it took, they longed to feel the peaceful breeze of their escape. In an excerpt from Heather Andrea Williams’ African American Education in Slavery: Self-taught, it says, ‘...asking the white children to tell her everything they learned that day at school each day.” This proves that Nightjohn, even though it is labeled as historical fiction, is historically accurate because Sarny would repeat everything she did a day, since she could talk, so she wouldn’t forget just like in the excerpt. This is an example of resistance to conditions because even though the slave owners banned the enslaved people from reading an writing Sarny would disobey and repeat everything that had happened that day. Another key point is, Solomon Northup also talked about resisting conditions, in his Twelve Years a Slave book, when he states, “...until I had become an expert swimmer, and felt at home in the watery element.” This shows how enslaved people resisted conditions because no matter the consequences they still tried to escape until they succeeded. Solomon Northup kept escaping until he learned to be a great swimmer so he would feel relaxed when he reached the comfort of the water. As seen above, Nightjohn is proven to be historically accurate because other sources shows how enslaved people would resist the harsh

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In chapter 4 of the book Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen the chapter focuses on why the slaves don’t run away and why Nightjohn is teaching slaves how to read and write. Chapter four starts off with a girl named Alice who is mentioned to be weird. But when she goes to the breeding shed she freaks out and becomes even more crazy. She is so crazy she runs away but eventually gets caught and has to be sewn back together. Then Jim is mentioned, another slave who ran away.

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Numerous things have occurred in history that most people either believes is false, or denies that it has happened, one of which being slavery. In the realistic fiction novel NightJohn by Gary Paulsen, Paulsen describes the life of Sarny as she goes through the struggle of being slave. Information such as brutality, family seperation, and acts of kindness can be corroborated with Nightjohn through Fredrick Douglass, Mingo White, and Solomon Northup. Multiple examples of brutality can be seen in Nightjohn, the most prominent being whipping and the use of dogs to hunt down slaves. The first act of brutality to be read is whipping, where Sarny reports that slaves would be whipped for going too slow.

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The Slave Ship, by Marcus Rediker was wrote in 2007 about the cruel and brutal actions the slaves endured on their journey across the Atlantic Ocean. He states, “this has been a painful book to write, if I have done any justice to the subject, it will be a painful book to read.” Marcus Rediker accomplished exactly that. This book was not only compelling but emotional, heartbreaking, and makes a reader think, how could someone be so cruel to another living being. Within the first couple pages, the book brought me to tears.

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‘Be Music, Night’ by Kenneth Patchen is an intriguing piece of literary art. A picture is painted of human interaction with Earth immediately. The manner in which humans fall into her beauty and vastness is apparent in even the first lines of Patchen’s poem, but why is this important? “Be music, night, That her sleep may go Where angels have their pale tall choirs” This choir is brought on by our musical mother nature.

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Nightjohn, a novel written by Gary Paulsen, takes location throughout one of the finest periods of prejudice and racism in American records. Nightjohn is the story of a young slave lady named Sarny. Within the book, Sarny meets any other slave named Nightjohn, he teaches Sarny a way to study and write. Ultimately, after Nightjohn is punished for coaching Sarny, he runs away, however, later he returns to complete coaching Sarny. Sarny failed to accept the fact that she was a slave or the unfairness in opposition to her prevent her from learning.

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The Portrayal of Slavery in Antebellum Louisiana in Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave In his memoire Twelve Years a Slave, illegitimately enslaved Solomon Northup does not only depict his own deprivations in bondage, but also provides a deep insight into the slave trade, slaves’ working and living conditions, as well as religious beliefs of both enslaved people and their white masters in antebellum Louisiana. Northup’s narrative is a distinguished literary piece that exposes the injustice of the whole slaveholding system and its dehumanizing effect. It is not a secret that the agriculture dominated the economy of antebellum Louisiana (Louisiana: A History 183). Therefore the Southern planters needed relatively cheap workforce to cultivate

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The theme of Jason Reynold’s novel “Long Way Down” is that the continual repeating of mistakes and the repetitive nature of violence, shootings, and deaths in Will’s neighborhood must come to an end. It is the rules of the neighborhood that drive this horrible cycle of revenge and continue to destroy the living. The rules are no crying, no snitching, and revenge. The first rule, no crying, implies that one should not cry regardless of how challenging or sad the situation is. As for the second rule, no snitching means you won't inform the police or anyone else about anything you hear or see what’s wrong.

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The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass presents an insight into the power differences between a slave and his master. In this account , Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave but also the owner. The “poison of irresponsible power” that masters hold has a damaging effect on their morals and beliefs (Douglas 39). This immense control in the hands of a person will break their kind heart and finest feelings turning them into those of a demon. Douglass uses flashbacks , deep characterization, and appeals to the emotions to address the negative effects of slavery.

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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.

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Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

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From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

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Documenting not only the fear that the slaves faced but also the violence of both physical and sexual abuse, the most ghastly account was towards a slave women he was imprisoned with named Patsey. She was a slave who had the misfortune of

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