12 Years A Slave : An Accurate And Verifiable Account Of The Common Slave Experience Essay

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.

(1) The use of natural dialect can be seen throughout the slave narrative interviews through words and phrases used that were common during the period of slavery, but are not used today. One example can be seen in the dialect used by former slave Mama Duck, “Battlin stick, like dis. You doan know what a battling stick is? Well, dis here is one.” Through incomplete sentences and unknown words the natural dialect of the time can be seen. Unfamiliar words such as shin-plasters, meaning a piece of paper currency or a promissory note regarded as having little or no value. Also, geechees, used to describe a class of Negroes who spoke Gullah. Many examples can be seen throughout the “Slave Narratives”

12 years of a slave was about a Black free man living in upstate New York who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Solomon Northup (the main character) was the son of an emancipated slave and was born free who lived, worked, and married in upstate New York. He was a multifaceted laborer and also an accomplished violinist. Solomon was referred to two gentlemen looking for a musician to travel and play with them during their carnival tour down in Washington D.C. Solomon was tricked and poisoned by these two gentlemen and later victimized by his own kindness to trust these men. Solomon forcibly was sold into slavery as Platt landing him with a slave-owner named William Price Ford that lived in New Orleans. Solomon started to show his intelligence to others and helped build a navigation tool for the slave owner Master Ford which later caused one of the master to resent Solomon. Solomon was handed off to a cruel southern planter named Master Edwin Epps. Solomon spent the bulk of his slavery living with Master Epps until Solomon trusted another white man to deliver a message to the people who knew he was free so they could rescue him. One day in January of 1853, Solomon was granted his freedom from an old friend from where he resided. He returned home to upstate

12 Years A Slave is a powerful film that depicts the many hardships and cruelty shown to slaves in the late 1840s. This emotional story follows the painful events of Solomon Northup’s unfortunate introduction into many years of slavery. In his time spent being owned as a slave, he faces the many harsh realities and pain that came along with being owned in that time period. Through the many violent and gruesome scenes, this film awakens the viewers to see the immoral treatment of slaves. Northup’s grueling journey through slavery depicted the level of violence in society and the disturbing facts of slavery though the many harsh punishments and disrespect that were shown to slaves by their owners.

Written as an autobiography, 12 years a slave portrays part of Solomon Northup’s life as a slave in the 1840’s and early 1850’s.

The film 12 Years a Slave, an adaptation of the 1853 autobiography by a slave named Solomon Northup, depicts his everyday life after his rights and freedoms are ripped away. Through the unpleasant slave auction scenes to the sickening slave punishments, 12 Years a Slave is a heartbreaking story that unfortunately conveys the harsh truth on the issues surrounding slavery. Consequently, during the film there are many themes and events that trigger different thoughts and reactions varying between viewers, and importantly a better understanding of Solomon Northup’s story and slavery itself.

12 Years a Slave was an outstanding representation of the lives of a slave. It was accurate, heartfelt, and detailed. It portrays the feelings of Solomon and the other slaves perfectly. The film really makes you think about the people and the situation back in the 1840’s. It is an exceptional historical film that teaches you the slavery times and the life of Solomon Northup. A freeman turned to a slave and put through a terrible life experience that no one should ever have to go

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:

The daily life of a slave in North Carolina was incredibly difficult. Hard workers, especially those in the field, played from sunrise until sundown. Even small kids and the elderly were not exempt from these long work hours. Slaves were generally granted a day off on Sunday, and on infrequent holidays such as Christmas or the Fourth of July.

It didn't tell the critics name but it did show the dates. I'm guessing around the time the critics wrote these analysis they were adults---maybe mid twentys early thirties. They most likely had to fight slavery during this time. So reading and writing was very hard for them. Around this time in 1884-1885 African Americans were being lynched. I could imagine them having a tough time. They probably just obeyed their masters orders the whole time. Then again I could see them fighting slavery, since slavery was being abolished in other places. I think they were males who did this analysis. They most likely had to work on the field or had house duty. I don't really know too much about the roles that slaves had to play.

Whites have long argued that slavery was good for slaves because it civilized them and that slaves were content to be held in bondage. But such is not the case, at least not according to those who were actually held in bondage. The accounts of slavery are greatly known by emancipated or run away slaves. One recorded account of slavery is by Solomon B. Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave which was published in 1853.

During a time of cruel punishment and harsh conditions of life as a slave in the 19th century South, there was a book that shed a light on the life of a slave unparalleled in past as well as in modern literature. That book was entitled Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. Northup was born a freeman that was obtained from his father after being freed by the Northup family due to loyal service. Growing up in the free state of New York, Solomon was allowed an education that was rare because of the sad disposition of the majority of his race. Solomon gained much knowledge of industry and hard work from his father. As a free man of color, he enjoyed various jobs and hobbies from timber raft building to playing

12 Years A Slave, is a film based on the narrative memoir of Solomon Northup; an African- American who was born a free man but was later drugged, beaten and kidnapped from his hometown, Saratoga Springs, New York, and taken to Washington D.C (1841). Awakened in a slave pen, Northup is “sadistically remade from a black free man in the North into a slave in the South” (Mollie Lieblich). He was sold to a slave master in Louisiana and worked on cotton and sugar plantations until a friend from the North comes to his rescue after twelve years.

There are several personal slavery narratives that account of all the horrors of slavery. An example is Solomon Northup’s autobiography, 12 Years a Slave, which provides a personal account of slavery, all the violent and gory aspects that enslavement holds, and the terrible acts of people who dishonored the attributes of a true American. Northup describes in vivid detail the dreadful actions committed against him. Published in 1853, the autobiography has lost momentum over the years, but was recently revived by Steve McQueen’s 2013 film adaptation.

The movie 12 Years A Slave was released on October 18, 2013 and is a movie about Solomon Northup, a free African American living in New York as a violinist with his family. Solomon is a very respected violinist and so when two white men posing as circus owners tell him they want him to come play the violin for them in the state of Washington he goes for it, and is ultimately drugged, kidnapped, then sold into slavery. For 12 years Solomon was a slave, his freedom stolen from him, and given a new name to go by, Platt. Solomon’s faced with many near death experiences. After 12 years a white man from Canada named Bass, who believes that everybody is equal, is working on Solomon’s plantation and sends a letter to his family and friends as requested by Solomon letting them know he has been enslaved.