Analysis Of Night John By Gary Paulsen

The young adult novel Nightjohn depicts the plight of enslaved African-Americans from the point-of-view of an adolescent so that readers can feel as well as learn about the difficulties experienced by slaves in the antebellum south. The book revolves around the prohibition of teaching slaves how to read. In the novel, a former escaped slave named John teaches a young girl named Sarney how to read. John or 'Nightjohn' as he is called, slips into the slave barracks at night when the whites of the plantation are sleeping, and attempts to spread empowering knowledge to his people. John could have remained safe in the north but he chose to return because of his belief in the power of the written word.

When Douglass was a young boy, he witnessed for the first time a slave getting whipped, Douglass's first encounter was of extreme cruelty that slaveholders can have. The slave receiving the whipping is Douglass' Aunt Hester. By witnessing this Douglass sees that slaves are treated no better than animals, they lived in continuous fear of being beaten if they did not behave. The issue of freedom is here as well. Do these animals have more freedom then themselves, it seems so. The slave owners dehumanized the slaves with the power of the whip, showing the horrors of traditional slavery and property they have over slaves.

Equiano will forever remember the fact that they “tied [his] feet, while the other flogged [him] severely.” The cruel beatings that the slaves received isn’t fair because they are just kids, if they weren’t kids they were adults. Slaves are not something you can just throw around and abuse, they are human beings. They deserve to be treated like everyone else, fair and equal. They deserve to be free. All slaves should’ve been let free since the beginning because the horrible conditions are not how one should be treated. Beatings aren’t something that should be given to anyone, let alone leave marks on their body. The way they were being whipped can be described as abuse. It is expressed that the slaves have no decision as to why or how they will be treated. as illustrated in “12 Years a Slave” when a slave was doing what he was told, which was nailing the pieces of wood into the designated areas and ended up being beat for his “wrong doing” (12 Years a Slave “I did as instructed” scene). The master watching him was frustrated and wanted to whip him when the slave stood up for himself. It is horrible to hear how the slaves are supposed to strip down their clothes so that the slave owners can whip their bare back. I can't ever imagine the pain one felt. Along with being told what to do and what you couldn’t do the slave owners would control when the slaves would eat and

Slaves found a happiness in each other, even though it was a hard time for them, they looked out for one and another no matter the cost. Nightjohn shows the audience that slaves made sure one was well taken care of and looked after. A couple examples of this are when Mammy took a whipping for Sarney and when Mammy cleaned up Alice after she was attacked by the bloodhounds. Andrea Williams wrote about pit schools, in her text, it gave background on how some slaves learned how to read and write. Her informative essay made it to the Harvard Library, they only bring in credible sources. In her essay she states “Slaves would slip out of their quarters at night and go to these pits, and someone who had some learning would have a school.”. This matches with Nightjohn because Sarney did attend a school where a slave that learned how to read and write taught others. The slaves that ran the school knew that they could of been killed for teaching others how to read and write because it is illegal for slaves to know those things. Slaves that were like Nightjohn cared for other slaves and wanted other slaves to be able to recall their events in slavery so they risked everything to educate other slaves. Northup also stated in his interview about his time in slavery “In about three-fourths of an hour several of the slaves shouted and maade signs for me to run.”. Although the slaves were supposed to be helping their Master in finding Northup, they helped alert him that danger was coming. If their master saw this they could of gotten a beating or a lashing, but nevertheless they wanted to help a friend escape the terror of slavery. This happened in Nightjohn when Nightjohn himself escaped slavery, Waller’s helpers helped alert him that Waller was on his way so he could be aware of the incoming danger. This shows that the slaves did care for one because they knew they could get in trouble, but watched

Simon would buy slaves, and give them one pair of cloths for a year. “Take good care of the clothes you’re in… On my place niggers make do with one outfit a year.” (133). That was smart considering if they don’t last a year or tear their clothes up all the time it would be a waste. Mr. Legree also doesn’t pay for medical treatment for his slaves. It would sink too much money into them. It was cheaper to just let them die and buy more, he did what was financially right. “When I tell you to do something, you’d better do it quick. When one nigger dies, I buy another.” (133).

Mammy constantly yelled at younger slaves so they wouldn’t get caught by master waller . Mammy constantly yelled at younger slaves if they were doing something wrong so they wouldn’t get caught by master waller. Then she would explain to them what would happen if they were caught by master waller. “ ‘Doesn’t seem so bad’ said sarny

Harriet Tubman an abolitionist born into slavery once said, “I would fight for my liberty so long as my strength lasted, and if the time came for me to go, the lor would let them take me.” Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen shows the audience a brief knowledge about slavery.Slavery was a dark time and lasted for a long time and left millions dead.Although Gary Paulsen's novel NightJohn, is considered historical fiction the descriptions of Broken family structure, Harsh restrictions, and brutal punishments can be corroborated with multiple sources.

In the United states, history is very important to us, thus accuracy is very important to find the accuracy of a statement, someone could prove or disprove it. NightJohn is a story about slaves on a plantation set in around the 1850’s where slavery was in its prime in America, it tells the story of a small slave girl named Sarny and a slave named John who knows how to read. The obstacles and events in NightJohn are directly authenticated by other documents correlated with the subject of slavery in the fields of; unnatural and unusual punishments, harsh restrictions, and the desire to learn.

In the movie, 12 Years a Slave, there are many scenes where it shows that slavery had a dehumanizing effect on slaves and slaveowners. One specific scene that shows the dehumanizing effect is when Patsey gets whipped. In this scene, Master Epps strips Patsey of her clothes and ties her to a stake. After Master Epps ties her to the stake, he then attempts to whip her, but he finds that he cannot because his emotions overtake him due to the fact that he is having an affair with Patsey. Instead of whipping Patsey himself, he makes Solomon, another slave, whip Patsey.

Although gary Paulsen’s novel, Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of brutal punishments, their terminology, and determination to learn can be corroborated with multiple sources. As we all know, slavery back then included brutal punishments, not only with actions but words. The novel Nightjohn reveals the reality of how awfully mistreated slaves were treated. It speaks on how and why; descriptively throughout. A source from a former slave-Solomon Northup spoke upon, “The dogs used on Bayou Boeuf for hunting slaves are a kind of blood-hound, but more savage breed..”.

"Where Slavery is there Liberty cannot be; and where Liberty is there Slavery cannot be."- Charles Sumner . This quote relates to NightJohn due to the interest that both NightJohn and Charles Sumner because both had similar thoughts about slavery NightJohn believed slavery was not the best but went through it and Charles believes that with if there is slavery there is no equality/freedom.The fictional novel by “Nightjohn” by Gary Paulsen is historically accurate due to the fact that there Is plenty of information to back up the novela that was read.such as “Salomao Northup , twelve years a slave 1853” , “Adapted Excerpt from Heather Andrea Williams’ African American Education in slavery; Self taught”, “mingo whites Narrative” and “Excerpt

In the book, Nightjohn there's two main characters one was a 12 year old girl named sarny, the other main character name was nightjohn , they were both slaves. Nightjohn once escaped but he came back with a rope around his neck,his body covered in scars to teach reading knowing that reading

It is interesting that some hold the stance that the slaveholders are kind and benevolent to their slaves. Douglass, however, shows the inhumanity treating he has been faced since he was born. “Now all the property of my old master, slaves included” (Douglass 41, Chapter VIII). Slave is not defined as human but as property. After the death of their mistress, the slaves are going to be inherited like the other property, which are cows, pigs and horses. At this stage, slaves are the same with animals. Since slaves are treated as property, how can the people request a property to appreciate the care they got from their mistress? The lives of slaves are also worthless in the eye of slaveholders. Douglass displays the murder of a slave Demby. Mr. Gore, an overseer, murders Demby without any punishment afterwards. This lesson turns out that occasional murder is a part of the job of an overseer. Being cruel is the requirement of an overseer. The life of a slave can come to an end at any time, for no reason at all. Although the lives of slaves are meaningless to the slaveholders, the slaves are tools for entertainment. Douglass is whipped by Mr. Covey due to the enjoyment Mr. Covey gets in the process. In order to look for an excuse to whip the slaves, Mr. Covey likes to hide in the glass and catch the slaves when they are taking breaks. This has becomes his hobby and even his habit. Whipping the

The physical pain the slaves suffered was unbelievably appalling. Under the circumstance, the way the masters and overseers treated them, was ridiculous. Surprisingly, to get the slaves to do their work, masters mutilated them and branded their slaves (Simkin, 2016). Blood rushed down the slaves back when the overseers whipped them. An addition to that, they washed their bodies with salt and pepper. Slaves sensed the feeling like they were an object being pushed around. A human being or a person should be welcomed to the world. Furthermore, some overseers made the slaves go pick sticks used for their whipping (Herman, 2010). Because slaves showed action eating sugar cane or was absent for work, they got beaten with a stick, cart whipping,

In addition, the author also intends to emphasize his concern of the physical mistreatment of blacks in the period of slavery. This is done mainly through his presentation of the symbolism of the whip used to exert pain and brutality on the population of