I found this reading to be very upsetting for me to read. There were even a few parts that made me tear up. I got a horrible view of what slavery was like by reading about the life of Frederick, who was born into slavery and taken away from his mother before he turned one years old.
While Frederick was describing the horrible acts of violence he witnessed while growing up, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of person could do something like that. The slaves were abused so much, even though they worked so hard and obeyed their masters. They were treated as if they had no feelings at all. The part that bothered me the most was when Demby ran into the creek and stood at the depth of his shoulders to get away from being whipped by Mr. Gore. Mr. Gore told him that if he wasn't out of the water by the count of three he would be shot. Demby was tortured so much by getting whipped that he couldn't take it anymore, so he ran to safety and refused to come out even though he knew his life would be ended by his choice. That part made me really upset. Slaves should have never had to suffer like that.
The part that I liked reading about was when Frederick taught himself how to read and write. He had so much hope and passion to continue to learn how to read and write, even after Mrs. Auld stopped teaching him. Mr. Auld told his wife to stop teaching Frederick because it was unlawful and unsafe, and he would become unmanageable to them and would be useless to keep. Then Mr. Auld said, "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an eel," and I loved when Frederick quoted that in his writing once he learned to read and write because it meant that he had come so far on his own to learn , even though he could have gotten into a lot of trouble if he was caught. He was very clever too. Especially when he used to tell the white boys that he could write better then them, and ask to have a contest to see who would win. He did that just so he could have a chance to learn new words. He had so much determination to learn to read and write, and he did it.
At the end Frederick managed to escape the awful life of slavery. This was his second time trying, and he succeeded. I enjoyed reading that part as well. But I couldn't figure out where he met his wife, Anna. In his writing he said that he wrote to her immediately after his arrival to New York, so he must have known her from somewhere, but I couldn't recall reading about her in his writings.
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5 comments:
Yes I agree with this. It was very horrible to read about people being beaten and killed. I can't imagine that. Ending your life because you're so miserable and they treat you so bad.
I felt that the part where Demby was shot was a courageous act. Demby knew exactly what was going to happen, but who would want to live their life like that? The abuse that he was taking and the wounds on his body likely led him to think that it just may not be worth living. Normally I would not think that this event which was nearly suicide would be courageous, but he made a point to stand up for himself and in doing so lost his life. I considered if I were in this position what would I do? I don’t think I could be treated like that daily, and receive extreme punishment but continue to work for this person – helping this person make money through my work. It would be horrible to be treated the way that the slaves were. Overall, Demby saw only one way out of his miserable situation, and stood up for himself.
The slaves certainly witnessed so much violence and anger. How could any one do this to another human being? But slaveholders didn't view slaves as humans. They were almost equivalent to livestock. But after seeing the pain and hurt the slaves endured, how could one continue to hurt their slaves? But since it became such a normal behavior and there were no consequences to their actions, slaveholders could do as they pleased. I think it mostly has to do with control. Slaveholders want to keep control over their slaves, and this seemed to be the best way to do it.
I thought that the worst part of the piece was how the white slave holders justified killing the slaves. they justified themselves by creating a slippery slope and saying that if they dont control thier slaves then eventually there will be white slavery and the only way to stop this is by killing those who stand up to us. that is not only rediculous, but realy sad. the fact that they can get away with such brutal murders, such as when the woman killed her slave by hitting her and braking her nose and breastbone, and not being arrested is just aweful. people dont even do that to their animals, I cant imagine how they were ok with this, how they slept at night.
I agree with you- this piece did have it's upsetting parts. But what's even more upsetting to me is that slavery still goes on today in other countries. It's rediculous to me that in the year 2007, there are still people who feel the need to run other people's lives. To me the slave owners were cowards, especially the ones that felt slavery was wrong and actually treated their slaves well- why not just pay them then? It just goes to show that people are very reluctant to against what is veiwed as the "norm."
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