12 Years A Slave

12 Years a Slave is a historical drama, directed by Steve McQueen, which was released in 2014. The film won best picture at the 87th Academy Awards, and budgeted over 187 million dollars worldwide at the box office. The brutally violent film is about a slave named Solomon Northup, and all his struggles through being a slave. It starts with Northup thinking that he was offered a job, but instead is brought into slavery. Perhaps the most despicable character shown throughout the film is Edwin Epps. He not only beats his slaves, but is also shown frequently raping Patsey, who is also a slave. One of the characters in the film, Samuel

thesis:Twelve Years a Slave, is a vivid memoir of Northup's captivity as free man in the slave ridden south. Solomon's experience was one of countless millions kidnapped, and sold into slavery. What makes his Solomon's story unique, is that he lived to tell the, horrors and atrocities of slavery.

I also felt that this scene was important because it was a perfect depiction of what slaves had to endure. This relates to chapter 5 by it explain how slaves ran away and also how they hide in swamps just like the black slave in the film. This relates to chapter 6 by as discussed in the book with the vigilance committees there was a house in the film to shelter the black man and his daughter with the women. I don’t think this was an accurate portrayal of slavery. From what I know I don’t think slaves was black smith because that will give them a chance to acquire their own tools. On the other hand some parts of the film that did portray slavery right like how the slaves escape in the film and also how they get hung if

The film 12 Years is an accurate and verifiable account of the common slave experience in the United States in the antebellum South. 12 Years a Slave is set in the mid to late 1800s and tells a true life story of the life of Solomon Northup a free Black man sold south into slavery. He was the son of an emancipated slave. Northup was from upstate New York, and was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Northup lived, worked, and was married in upstate New York, where his family resided. He was a multifaceted laborer and also an accomplished violin player. He was subjected to the cruelty for the next twelve years while he survived as the human property of several different slave masters, He continually struggled to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada he was was finally freed and is taken home. After being unsuccessful in prosecuting his kidnappers, Northup continues upriver to New York, where he is finally reunited with his family and where he meets his grandson, Solomon Northup Staunton, for the first time. In the end, Northup gives one final, powerful argument against the evils of the slave industry, pointing not to rhetoric or debates, but lifting up his own life story as a vivid commentary for viewers to consider. The main idea of the book was to share with the reader and give

She forced herself to be hopeful of the future and to survive an intolerable situation. Dugard’s personal story provides an example of the child abuse that existed in the 1990's. The following quote from Twelve Years A Slave, Northup, the main character, shared his story as a slave and how the experience powered the human spirit and determination of hope. Solomon Northup was an African American slave who was kidnapped and was sold into slavery. The slave is degraded, made to suffer punishments and disintegrated physical and emotionally.

He is wondering why white people have freedom and black people not. Why do the white people think that they have freedom to rule over the black people? Why do they think they are better? And also why they can sell a free man into slavery. Solomon also said to the other slaves at the farm on which he was sold to, “I don’t want to survive. I want to live.”( Solomon Northup, 12 years a slave). He knows the feeling of freedom in contrast to the other slaves there at the farm who were born into slavery. Solomon also knows that his wife and children are still waiting for him and that he won’t see them again if he can’t get his freedom back. That's why he ask why the white people could take your freedom away and why they are not punished for it.

Before President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, claiming a human being as property was the norm—slavery was completely acceptable. As portrayed in the film 12 Years A Slave, main character Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Throughout his twelve year, heartbreaking, journey as a slave, Solomon is stripped of his name, beaten, overworked, belittled, and dehumanized. Taking a sociological view of Solomon’s experiences, can lead to a different perspective than the average person interpreting scenes from this film. This essay will concentrate on theoretical perspectives, social/cultural context, sociological concepts, and one research method.

He never gave up on his dream of being free again and did his best to prove that he was a good man no matter the odds and others’ judgements. I admire the courage he had to start a tough journey in search for what he wanted and risking his life for it. I found the plot intriguing because of the graphical and realistic description that Solomon gives us about the situation and problems he faces. This narrative made me imagine how it felt to be a slave and all the pain those people most have felt. There is a particular event when Solomon is in the swamp running away from the dogs and going against dawn, that took me into a state of sorrow and

Through Solomon Northup’s story, viewers learn that socioeconomic status is no exception from racial realities. Solomon Northup was an educated, refined free black in the 1840s. His only mistake was thinking that being born free meant he was safe from the demonstration of white supremacy in America. Especially during this time, it didn't matter that he was educated, musically talented, and a family man, a person of color was threatened in a white, capitalist society and through the heartbreaking story of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave shows this sad time in American

It opened up my eyes to the horrors and truths of how slaves were treated. I witnessed the punishments received by the said “Incompetent” slaves, the terrible lifestyles of the salves, and the embarrassing ways my ancestors acted. The way I look at slavery will forever be changed for film has shown me the gruesome details of the lives of slaves in the 1840’s.

In the book 12 Years A Slave written from a primary source by Solomon Northup based on a true story describes the triumphant journey Solomon Northup goes through as he never lost hope of regaining his freedom and resisted the dehumanization of enslavement in many ways. Solomon was born a free black man in New York in 1808 while his father, Mintus was born a slave and gained his freedom as their master passed away also inheriting their masters last name "Northup". Growing Solomon worked on a farm with his dad and soon after his dad died in 1829 he soon married a women named Anne Hampton in which they soon moved to Saratoga Springs, New York and had three children of their own. They were living like any other free person was and soon Solomon was working in many industries and Anne established herself as a cook and in the 1830 's Solomon had a reputation of being a well played violinist. In 1841 Solomon had became unemployed and was looking for an occupation, he ran into Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton in who then offers him a job in a circus playing the violin. As they arrive in Washington D.C. which is slave territory, he begins to become sick and passes out which was planned by Merrill and Abram to poison and kidnap him in the slave territory and sell him in which he soon wakes up in chains in a slave pen. Solomon 's first master was James H. Burch who he was sold by the two men who had

Early on, he describes the process of being sold. Eliza was separated from her children, and he described how she became an absolute mess, eventually become a hollow shell of herself, when he saw her later on before he was freed. He also gives accounts on how the daily life on plantations went, describing how, especially Epps, would take pleasure in whipping the slaves who did not do enough work, or who seemed to be working too slow for his liking. This shows how brutal most of the slave owners were. The lives that were lived by slaves in the south were brutal, and people today cannot comprehend how bad it was. Solomon’s account serves as a basis for an understanding of the hard conditions. Another example of historical significance is how corrupt the system was. Solomon was born a free man and was kidnapped illegally by Burch. He was extremely lucky to eventually find someone, Bass, to get a final letter home without telling Epps about Solomon’s plan for freedom. After he is freed and obtains a certificate to prove he is a free man, he still cannot get justice. Burch lies during his trial, saying that Solomon asked to be sold into slavery. This shows how the prejudices did Solomon wrong even after he has been enslaved illegally for 12 years, and serves as a historical reminder of what was allowed to happen in the United States.This is another reason why 12 Years a Slave can be seen as an important historical

In his true-life narrative "Twelve Years a Slave," Solomon Northup is a free man who is deceived into a situation that brings about his capture and ultimate misfortune to become a slave in the south. Solomon is a husband and father. Northup writes:

Voice-overs, sounds and word choice are the essential tools the director applies to give the message that bondage destroys human dignity. Solomon starts off speaking about his life, his children and his wife. He is portrayed by other characters as the top violin player. He is a free man most importantly. This gives the audience the contrast between his first life and the life to come. Once captured, the voice-over switches to the master that bought Solomon. He gives a speech about Christianity and how through the Bible slavery is acceptable. Throughout the trailer he becomes more disgusting and ruthless with his words and what he says. “In seeking to dehumanize people, chattel slavery corrupts everyone within the system, from heroic slaves to humane masters” (Stauffer 318). McQueen’s brutal and pitiless words express the corruption inside the slavery system and the effects words from the masters have on the slaves. The director acknowledges the effects of words on a person’s dignity with powerful voice-overs[AM9] .

Before the Reconstruction which took place after the Civil War, many slaves began to acquire their freedom by many things, including escaping plantations, buying their freedom, or being granted freedom from their former owners. Once slaves entered the North, they were able to finally be seen as a free African American. The thing that scared African Americans the most, frequently happened, being sent back to the South into slavery. 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup gives a recap of how his life, filled with joy and freedom one day, became a living nightmare the next. Northup, a self-taught, master violin player is fooled into traveling with “gentlemen” to share his talents for a small fortune. Leaving his family behind, he decides to go with the men and once he reaches New York City, the men convince Northup to travel to Washington D.C. Solomon soon began feeling sick and one day wakes up chained in a cell. Next thing he knows, he is being sold into slavery. He lives a life of a slave for twelve years until he is rescued by Henry B. Northup, who saves Solomon while he was working in the field. Once back in his own home, Solomon writes an autobiography of his experiences. After many decades, a historical movie retelling Solomon’s autobiography was released. Throughout the movie, many differences are present. For example, the wife of Solomon’s master was portrayed to be an evil woman in the movie, but in the book not so evil. Another example is while slaves did not fight back