12 Years Slavery

William Ford, unlike other slave masters, is very comprehensive towards Platt and sympathizes with his slaves. Ford does not treat Platt unfairly like other masters do and is very understanding towards his slaves due to him being a priest. Slave masters treat their slaves according to what occurs in their lives and their personalities. William Ford is a very friendly individual which inhibits him to treat his slaves in a very similar manner. Because Ford treats Platt with respect, Platt tries to repay Ford with fine work, however, if Ford were to treat Platt crudely he would have resisted against Ford and would do a poor job with accomplishing his tasks.

Also in 1843, Eliza died from unknown causes. Solomon’s new master, Master Epps, is very different than his previous owner Master Ford. Master Epps is very cruel to his slaves and whips them frequently. One day out of fury Epps smashed Solomon’s prized possession, his fiddle. One of Solomon’s main jobs is carpentry on the plantation.

Persuaded by William Ford that killing Northup will only bring him the condemnation of his peers as well as financial loss, Tibeats hires Northup out to cut sugarcane in the "Big Cane Break" farther down the Red River. Around this time, Northup learns that Eliza has died of malnourishment and grief at the loss of her daughter (pp. 159-160). Soon afterwards, Tibeats sells Northup to Edwin Epps, a "repulsive and coarse" cotton planter whom Northup describes as being devoid of any redeeming qualities.(p. 162).

Solomon had to work on Ford’s Bayou Boeuf plantation, 27 miles away. Solomon and Tibeats engaged in several building projects for Ford. Tibeats was the opposite of William Ford being that he was very abusive, bitter, angry, dissatisfied, and unreasonable in his demands. When Solomon was given the wrong nails for a job Tibeats became enraged and tried to whip Solomon. He ordered Solomon to strip but Solomon replied “ ‘Master Tibeats...

Solomon has upmost respect for Ford and is displayed in this quote “he was a model master, walking uprightly, according to the light of his understanding, and fortunate was the slave who came to his possession.” (Page 90) Ford didn’t just preach to his church, on the sabbath he gathered his slaves and read and expounded the scriptures. Solomon explains what Ford preached “He sought to inculcate in our minds feelings of kindness towards each other, of dependence upon God— setting forth the rewards promised unto those who lead an upright and prayerful life.” It is truly ironic how Ford who preaches about kindness towards each other is a slave owner. Even if Ford is a nice slave owner, per se, the whole situation pangs with irony.

I don’t understand why McQueen would make Harrison Ford look like a bad guy while in the book he was a very well respected man and treated his slaves very well. And, it would make more sense that after that fight scene that Tibeats would want to sell Solomon away. I do not agree with him removing these key scenes in the film. Overall, the decisions that McQueen made were key to the way we understand

The first movie to discuss is 12 Years A Slave. Three details to be discussed for this film are: Solomon being captured as a free black man and being sold back into slavery, harsh treatment of slaves, and Solomon finally being rescued by his friends proving he was a free man and bringing him back to his New York home. These details reflect multiple social contexts such as: race relations and social inequality. As for race relations, the relations between whites and blacks during this time of slavery were very corrupt. Whites marginalized African Americans in a way whites believed that they were insignificant or not as important as them, hence the reasoning for having them as slaves. Slavery also depicted social inequality as the whites viewed

I enjoyed your post. You mentioned a point that I did not think about. However, I can see where Solomon was coming from. He had been aware of slavery because it was something his father educated him on, but he had also experienced the cruelty of slavery for himself. He was taken from his home as a free man and was almost immediately thrown into the world of bondage. He was beaten by a slave trader within his first day awake on the boat and knew that he may receive the same foul treatment again. So, when he was sold to Ford, a more gentle slave owner, he was relieved and worked as hard as he could for him.

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.

Steve McQueen 's 12 Years a Slave stars Chiwetel Ejifor as Solomon Northup, a free black man in 1840s America. He makes his living as a fiddle player, and his wife is a teacher. He is shanghaied by a pair of nefarious white men, and soon finds himself on a ship headed to New Orleans where he is informed he will be called Platt and is sold into slavery by a businessman. As he toils away for the kindhearted but conflicted plantation owner Mr. Ford, who recognizes that Platt is both educated and an artist, he butts head with Ford. After they have a violent altercation, Ford sells him to Mr. Epps, an alcoholic who owns a cotton plantation. Even though Epps reads from the bible to his property, as he frequently refers to his slaves, he is himself not immune to sins. He has taken Patsey- his best cotton picker -- as his lover, and this doesn 't sit well at all with his wife, whose particular hatred for blacks and her jealousy fuels her many degrading actions toward Patsey. Solomon bides his time, attempts to preserve a modicum of self-respect, and waits for the chance to reclaim his rightful name and his family.

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

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

Northup sets out to convince readers that his account of slavery is the truth. The detailed accounts that Solomon took to recreate his slave experience proves to be effective. Solomons story takes the aspect of being a free man, to enslavement in the South. Northup uses great parallelism in his narrative, often

After Solomon arrives on a sugar cane plantation, his master, William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), gathers all the slaves to read scripture and deliver a sermon in which he quotes from Luke 17:2, “It were better for him that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones.” Another example of When Solomon is sold to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), the oppressive owner of a cotton plantation, the commentary deepens. Epps quotes Luke 12:47 to his slaves: “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” He then shuts the Bible and says, “That’s scripture.” Epps takes this verse literally and whips the slaves who pick the least amount of cotton each day. When he has a good harvest, Epps attributes it to “righteous living”; when the crops die, he claims it must be a “biblical plague” brought on by his slaves’ unrighteousness. Both slaves members are using the bible as a source for justifying exploitative systems of

Slavery has always been a touchy subject for people to speak about. No one likes to discuss topics like this with their children, family, or friends because it is such a sensitive topic regarding inhumane treatment of blacks. 12 Years a Slave is a true story about a black man, Solomon Northup, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film reproduces his 12 year journey through slavery then back to freedom and his family. Cobb states that this film is the first ever major film to base the portrayal of US slavery based on a slave narrative. When I watched 12 Years a Slave, I was appalled and in disbelief that any person could be treated brutally and get away with it. It was a real eye-opener. Then, I decided to watch the movie with my children. As the movie played, I watched the expressions of my children as they sat in silence and sadness on their face. Why does this movie have such an emotional impact? I thought to myself, I have never really seen such a raw influencing film that brought the harsh history of slavery alive. In my paper, I will write about what I think what this film did to get such a reaction to the storyline and images portrayed in the film. How has this film affected my idea of slave history? Also, I will write about what my impressions are that this film wants the viewer to take away from the movie, and the behind the scenes theory of how a film goes about doing this. Finally, is there a hidden message behind Steve