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Nightjohn By Gary Paulsen: A Summary Essay

1671 Words7 Pages

William Wilberforce a man who was against the slave trade and helped to end the trade in the British Empire strongly believes, “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” Slavery was a part of the past that most people would like to forget ever happened. Its brutality leaves scars on the minds of those who endured the cruel times. America is left to dangle helplessly by its past of heart-ache and selfishness. During the 17th and 18th century it was a common belief of skin color defining one as an individual. Discrimination increased all throughout the years against African Americans as they were brutally shamed and most were enslaved. Besides the fact that Gary Paulsen’s novel, Nightjohn, is considered …show more content…

Lash after lash their pride would be stripped away from them leaving a depressed and lonely soul. This was just one of his punishments that left their back torn into shreds with their skin hanging from flaps off of their back. The people’s freedom was held in the hands of an oppressor and this was the case for all enslaved people during this time. An African American interviewer conducted an interview on a man named Mingo White. He explained some of the things that they would have to do when they were being sold and what would happen if they didn't do as told, "We had to tell them all sorts of lies for our Master or else take a beating.” Slaves were forced to lie to the people that would buy them so that their Master could get a lot of money. Being beaten was a constant form of punishment and a threat to all slaves. It was very painful which is why it was used to scare the slaves to make them not do bad things and if they disobeyed it would remind them to never do it again or they would have to suffer the consequences. There was no hesitation in the beating process due to the aggression in the minds of the overseers and the master. Drenched in blood and bruises they would be expected to carry out all of their daily jobs regardless of their pain. The brutal punishments given to the slaves in Nightjohn can be confirmed by multiple other

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In chapter four of Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen has many details that show how cruel slavery was. In the beginning of the chapter we learn about Alice who was whipped because of how she went to the master white house. After that Sarny remembers two men who wanted to run from the plantation. This includes Jim who was older and wanted freedom, he ran but was caught, when he was hanging from a tree he was mauled by the dogs and died hanging from the tree, The second person was Pawlee who had a girlfriend from another plantation and so he fell asleep and as he woke up and started walking toward the plantation and Waller found him and let the dogs hurt him and then he was whipped to death by Waller.

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“She don’t know nothin. It was me that taught the girl letters” NightJohn by Gary Paulsen. A girl name Sarny got taken away from her mother when she was born into slavery. Mammy was the one who raised all the young ones, so mammy raised her for the years. Then a man named John came and was there for teaching her to read and write.

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The book NightJohn, by Gary Paulsen, proves that education is important and should be valued. The book is about slavery; Sarny, a 13 year old slave, is living on a plantation when another slave, John, was bought. John really values education, so he teaches Sarny how to read and write; this is proven when John said to Sarny: “It means A—just like I said. it's the first letter in the alphabet” (Paulsen 38). John wants to teach Sarny how to read because John values education, and he wants the slaves to be able to share their story when they get out.

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Many slaves being shipped to America had been betrayed by their own race, kidnapped and sold into slavery. The conditions on the ship were horrendous and each man was chained to an area and given about six feet long by fifteen inches wide. The boats were extremely packed with close corners and no bathroom, and women or children got even less space than the men. Many a times, the crew tried to justify the chaining by stating the it was a form of protection to avoid an uprising. In one of the examples Rediker gave, the slave ship, with Captain Tomba, who was known for brutal beatings including whipping, handing out cruel punishments to scare the other slaves into not acting out.

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Equiano writes how the white men would throw the dead over board as if they were basically trash, slaves were beaten severely if they refused to eat or tried to escape. These severe acts of punishment

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Slave owners could do whatever they wanted to do to the slaves, for not obeying what they want. Slaves were punished by Whipping, imprisonment, shackling, hanging, beating, burning, mutilation, and branding. They were often punished for not following their masters rules. In the novel Night John, the new slave that goes by the name of Night John teaches Sarny to read, he gets caught and gets punished. He gets his

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Nightjohn—a novel written by Gary Paulsen—issues slavery, which shows how everyone should be treated equally. Sarny is a 12 year old girl who is a slave and her owner is Clel Waller. Sarny was taken away from her actual mother at the age of four: “My mammy she told me that my birthing mammy was sold when I was four years old because she was a good breeder and Waller needed the money” (Paulsen 15). Sarny’s birthing mammy is her actual mother; her mammy is the woman who looks after Sarny. African Americans are treated as objects; they are sold at auction houses.

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283 Words | 2 Pages

Chapter four of Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen is very critical to the story. Sarny, the narrator, introduces a new character who’s name is Alice. Alice is an older girl who worked in the field, she was a little bit messed up in the head, and spent her time daydreaming. Her time had come where she was old enough and healthy enough to become a breeder. Alice struggled as she did not want her fate as a breeder.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

Slavery was a long, slow process of dulling. Slaves had the constant fear of physical violence, the threat of losing the ones they love, and endured a life of always being treated as subhuman. One way that slavery dulled those in its grip was the constant fear of physical violence. Their masters could hurt or kill them at any moment and there’s nothing they could do. Dana explains how whippings were

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768 Words | 4 Pages

White masters extensively used the threat of physical violence to maintain control and limit this possibility for slave rebellion. When slaves left the plantations or disobeyed their masters, they were subject to whipping, or to more extreme torture such as burning and castration, the punishment being both a a warning for other

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1232 Words | 5 Pages

Slaves were often beaten by their masters or overseers in order to keep them in line and stop them from disobeying their masters by instilling fear and a constant physical reminder

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The whole point of the war was to fight for freedom, and for the education of others. In the excerpt from Night john by Gary Paulsen the point of view was about learning the alphabet. The point of view was to teach the helpless slaves by teaching them the alphabet. Night John wanted the slaves to feel free, and to be free by disobeying the slave owner by teaching them knowledge. The whole idea was to get the slaves to break the rules by learning what they aren't supposed to be learning.

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Enslavement was no light punishment as it was common for slaves to be deprived of common necessities and simple natural human rights. Oftentimes, slaves were beaten and abused for not completing a task correctly, not obeying the master, planning to revolt, or just for any reason that the master wanted to (sometimes there was no reason). This can be seen when Douglass is woken up to his Aunt being beaten. In the memoir, Douglass said that, “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream and whip her to make her hush” (Douglass 4).

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On May 14, 1789 William Wilberforce presented a persuasive speech regarding the Atlantic Slave Trade. His intension behind giving this speech was, “the total abolition of the slave trade.” Initially mostly the individuals in The House of Commons listened to Wilberforce’s speech, but Wilberforce hoped for a global change—not just a change in the British Empire. He stated, “I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition.” Additionally, he set the boundaries for his audience by pleading his listeners to avoid casting the blame on other people.

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This abomination is dissected in its entirety, through the various slave narratives and memoirs that have been inked out. These narratives share many aspects among them. The most depicted aspects are, the destruction of familial bonds which creates tremendous trauma, the dehumanization of human beings and the resistance and strength the enslaved African Americans employ against their oppressors. In nearly all narratives of enslaved

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