Chapter 4 Of Night John By Gary Paulsen

In the start of Nightjohn chapter four, Alice is mentioned. Alice is slave that others thought would be sold soon, but, eventually, became a—forced—breeder. She was fiercely whipped by the master one night because she was caught walking by the white house—which was not allowed. Alice tries to run away, which reminds Sarny of the time that Jim and Pawley tried. Jim ran far—past the river, on top of the fence rail and back down to the ground. The mean dogs followed and found him. Jim hung from the tree; but, his legs were low enough, so the dogs could rip him apart. He was dead. The next man, Pawley, snuck away to see a girl; he did it often, but got caught one night. The dogs tore him apart—not to death; then,the master tied him down and cut

Towards evening, and soon after partaking of one of these positions, I began to experience most unpleasant sensations. I felt extremely ill. My head commenced aching-a dull, heavy pain, inexpressibly disagreeable. At the supper table, I was without appetite; the sight and flavor of food was nauseous”( Northup pg. 17). Northup was taken to his room so that he could rest, he was in and out of it all night, he was only able to recall bits and pieces of what happened that night: “ How long I remained in that condition -wheather only that night, or many days and nights- I do not know; but when consciousness returned, I found myself alone, in utter darkness, and in chains”(Northup pg. 18). Northup went to sleep a free men and woke up a slave. He could not beleive what was happening to him:”there must have been some misapprehension-some unfortunate mistake. It could not be that a free citizen of New-York, who had wronged no man, nor violated any law, should be dealt with thus inhumanly”(Northup pg. 19). As sad and unfair this situation was, it was true, Northup had been captured into slavery. A father stolen from his children and a husband stolen from his

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.

The discussion of identity in philosophy has a history equal in length to philosophy itself. Mathematics fundamentally relies on the Law of Identity, so it is a natural result that this law be questions qualitatively as well. Therefore, for the unacquainted reader or those who wish to refresh their knowledge, I will include an excessively brief overview of the relevant history leading toward the main topic of the essay: John Perry’s A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, and my subsequent response. The summary will include a segments on the Greeks, Saint Aquinas, and Cartesian Dualism. And will be followed by a brief introduction to Perry’s dialogue. Finally, I will argue that the main premise of Perry’s dialogue is ill-founded and

In chapter 4 of Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen, Sarny is telling us (the reader) about this girl named Alice, who was tourchered, Jim who tried to run away, and Pawley, who was with this girl from another plantation. First, Alice was someone who never worked on the fields, so the White House made her a breeder. She came out worse than she went in. One night, Waller found her near the White House and took her to the Spring House; he tourchered her. She was not looking too good, she wouldn’t eat or drink for the next three or four days; Alice ran and was found. Next, Jim tired to run away. Jim couldn’t take it anymore and ran away. He was found by the dogs and he was killed, but he still hung from a tree, where he tried to get away from the dogs.

In this paper I’ll discuss the life of enslaved children and what those experiences tells us about the institution of slavery. Over the course of the semester we have been introduced to several readings concerning the enslavement of Africans. I will be basing my paper on information gathered from these readings, “African American Voices,” By Steven Mintz, “Prince Among Slaves,” By Terry Alford, “Lose Your Mother” By Saidiya Hartman and lastly a secondary piece of literature by Frederick Douglass, “My Bondage My Freedom.” The life of a child captive in slavery would vary depending on their environment and whom they belonged to. Their experiences ranged from what was perceived as normal, aside from the fact that they were slaves all the way to cruel and unusual punishment. Childhood is essential to understanding slavery, focusing on children brings attention to the brutality of slavery, and also brings to light the system of enslavement children and parents dealt with regarding its sufferings and horrors. Even though some enslaved children had normal lives and were unaware that they were slaves at all; slavery was very harsh for most children. They were expected to do adult work, and punished when unable to do so, also many children were separated from their families at a young age.

First, when NightJohn first came to the plantation and met Sarny he had scars on his back and he had bumpy skin from where he was whipped. This showed that he was misbehaving at his other plantation. Was this from him teaching slaves to read and write? NightJohn agrees to teach Sarny to read and write if Sarny gave him tobacco leaves.

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..”.

Chapter four of the book NightJohn written by Gary Paulsen focuses less on the main characters Sarny and NightJohn and more on some newly introduced characters and the horrors of living on the plantation. The chapter begins by introducing a new character named Alice, who is mentally disturbed. Waller decides that she is not good enough for hoeing, and he makes her a breeder. Alice does not like this decision and fights back, she is eventually caught and whipped until her skin was ripped and the flies were laying eggs in her flesh. In the meantime Sarny has a flashback about the two slaves who tried to run away.

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

The book Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen includes a sequence of events that provides stories of times prior slaves ran away. A girl named Alice—in her own land— was always wondering and was never really working as hard as the other slaves did. She came close to the white house and Waller caught her. Later in the flashback, a boy named Jim ran away, climbed up a tree, and the dogs ate at him —he died. Finally, a boy named Pawley was sneaking out to see a girl and got caught one night, and he ran away. The dogs started to chase after him, and ate him, but did not kill him. He bled to death and since he was not a breeder; Waller let him die. After, Alice ran away, and the dogs ate at her, Mammy sewed her up and she lived—it was a sense of hope for

Inhuman punishments are displayed in Nightjohn, that can be verified in multiple sources. For example, when John got his toes slashed for simply teaching an innocent child how to write, which was considered a crime for non-whites to be literate. Also as mentioned, in Nightjohn, Alice, Pawley, and Mammy are beaten, whipped, and horribly treated by their heartless masters while these individuals committed minor crimes. According to, Mingo White’s interview in which he describes his graphic experience from slavery “ I kept up too, to keep from getting lashes.” In other words, these innocent people would get their

“ I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” - Harriet Tubman. In the novel of NightJohn by Gary Paulsen; Sarny a young slave learns to read and write. The system of slavery as a whole was an appalling subject to hear about. The establishment of this system, and abominable wrongdoing that one man could do to another. It is an institution that will never be forgotten. Despite the fact that Gary Paulsen’s novel, NightJohn, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of the bleak punishments, the backing of the gallant slaves, and the determination to gather important information.

In the United States history, slavery was made legal in most parts of the world from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Slavery was very common. People would own slaves and would use them to work or breed so they could have more young workers. Although Gary Paulsen's novel Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction , the descriptions of broke family structures, brutal punishments, and supports to one and another can be corroborated with multiple sources.

First, Elaine’s modern position of a leader in the family migration to a large extent seems to comply with the one of John Harrower’s from the 18th century. As an untold head of the family, the first, usually the most educated person, leaves the country of origin to prepare the grounds in the new location for the rest of the household to come. This claim finds in confirmation in both cases. John, the father of the family, boasting with high level of education1, was the natural natural pick, as he was the one most likely to survive and then adapt both due to his gender and some social awareness. Similarly Elaine, the oldest child, at the time of the migration being the most fluent in English in her family2, was chosen due to her unsaid superiority in capability of assimilating, largely because of her language skills. Therefore, one may conclude that bearing the responsibility of being a family pioneer in the migration movements is still based on the basic likeliness of adapting and survival. Furthermore, as an effect of this choice, both of them became responsible for the well-being of the family in the long run. Being the most experienced in the new region, the majority of the basic duties had to be dependent on them, as the rest of the household was still in the process of physical or cultural shift. In case of Harrower, the motion and the responsibilities are clearly drawn. Over the course of his diary entries, he explicitly mentions gathering money for his family to