Personal Narrative: Rufus's Father

Upon Henry’s death, Moses must inform a slew of slaves that their master has passed and he informs all but one. Ironically, in an attempt to force Elias out of the narrative, Moses gives Elias the opportunity to stand out to the reader; upon hearing of his master’s death, Elias jokes, “you stick a needle in him to make sure” (Jones 58)? The other slaves’ somber, monotone mood contrasts sharply with Elias’s uncaring and indignant attitude: “ the death of his master was no more than the death of a fly in a foreign place he never even heard of” (Jones 60). Elias’s appearance on the narrative stage comes after the lengthy chapter devoted to Henry’s early life; his significance is tied to the bitterness he demonstrates toward Henry and serves as a reminder that Henry, who had been an innocent little boy mere pages ago, becomes a slave-owner. This significance is amplified when Elias decides to run away. Jones begins this section with an inner monologue by Elias describing the finished doll he made for his daughter. Again Elias has the reader’s undivided attention and sympathy, as his intentions are undoubtedly pure; all Elias desires in the known world is freedom for himself and his family. When William Robbins catches him, he is continually defiant: “Then he took two quick steps toward Robbins, thinking that if he killed the white man, there was no witness except the horse” (Jones 81). Elias is caught in a hopeless state of oppression; when he is given a character-space worthy of a major character, his ‘superiors’ immediately punish him and reduce him to an inconsequential

Many slaves on the plantation had been drafted by the confederates to fight everyone of them have not been heard from since. One day nathaniel came by to talk to me when I was picking cotton when he announced that he had just been drafted to fight. I had never seen Nathaniel in so much despair. He was was so sad because he had to fight against his own freedom.”

In the novel Montana 1948, by Larry Watson, we witness this through the eyes of David a 12 year old narrator, the sickness and death of his beloved caretaker Marie Little Soldier by the doing of his Uncle Frank whom he has always looked up to. An important character central to the story is David’s father Wesley the sheriff of Bentrock who is brave, courageous, conflicted and, protective of his family. A message Wesley helps us understand a thought-provoking message that it is difficult to choose between family and doing the right thing.

In the 1979 novel, Kindred, Octavia E. Butler writes of an African American woman who is "called" by her ancestor Rufus Weylin, who is the son of a plantation owner, to not only keep him alive, but also to ensure that her (what would be several times) grandmother is born. Though the novel is told from Dana 's (the main character) point of view, there are several instances where the reader is given a glimpse into the background of other characters ' lives, which helps the reader to gain a new perspective. In Kindred, perspective is key to understanding how the dark years of slavery shaped the views of both the slaves and Whites. This essay will analyze as well as compare five different dichotomies of characters ' views and experiences of

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass’s use of mirroring between and within the father/son dynamics on the plantation reveals slavery’s intergenerational plague on families. Topic Sentence 1: Through old Barney and young Barney, Douglass first establishes that slavery denotes not only a loss of freedom but also a loss of individuality. Not only do they share the same job on the plantation, but they also share the same name, and are “father and son” Same name: Douglass notes the lack of individuality given to the slaves on the plantation. As they likely did not pick those names themselves, this suggests the slave-owner view the slaves are all one and the same (they mirror one another). “Father and son”--> Douglass introduces the concept of lineage

5) In opposition to general characterization, Margaret Weylin is perceptually portrayed through Dana’s filtered perspective as opposed to an unedited observational eye. This time accompanied by Kevin, Dana is transported to the Weylin plantation where Rufus had fallen from a tree and laid beside a young slave named Nigel. Flash forward to sending medical help and carrying Rufus to his bedroom, Dana found herself in the red-haired boy’s room per his request, only for a screeching interruption to disturb their peace. “‘You’re to go out to the cookhouse and get some supper!’ she told me as I got out of her way. But she made it sound as though she were saying, ‘You’re to go straight to hell!’” Words, although crucial when communicating, are

“The son heard it, though he was some way off. He heard the crack of the whip and the groans of his poor mother. The cold chill ran over him, and he wept aloud; but he was a slave like his mother, and could render her no assistance. He was taught by the most bitter experience,

From an early moment in his life Douglass recalls, "… he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and her horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor" (5). This is one his earliest memories in his life leading it to be one of the most influential experiences he had. By giving excruciatingly vivid and horrid details of this, he makes the reader feel anger and guilt toward slavery. It puts into question this whole system, for those who had never heard of this kind of violence, it exposes the truth of the matter. While those who did know the extent of slavery, it helps make people realize how horrific the actions are, and to shame them for allowing it to go on. A major turning point in his life, Douglass recounts, "… but at this moment -from whence came the spirit I don’t know- I resolved to fight; and suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and I did so, I rose" (42). With all the experiences in his life, the story leads to the scene, by making the audience root for Douglass. Empathy is created in this scene, to make the audience feel remorse for slavery. He is created as the underdog of the story, making the audience feel for the population of slaves, seeing that they too deserve equal rights as

The permanence of slavery could only end in death. Dying before their time is an indignity faced by many slaves, but for most it is the only path to freedom. The author was able to transcend societal boundaries and show the reader that the slaves were just like them – people who value family, freedom, pride and life.

I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night. She was hired by a Mr. Stewart, who lived about twelve miles from my home. She made her journeys to see me in the night, travelling the whole distance on foot, after the performance of her day 's work. She was a field hand, and a whipping is the penalty of not being in the field at sunrise, unless a slave has special permission from his or her master to the contrary--a permission which they seldom get, and one that gives to him that gives it the proud name of being a kind master. I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone. Very little communication ever took place between us. Death soon ended what little we could have while she lived, and with it her hardships and suffering. She died when I was about seven years old, on one of my master 's farms, near Lee 's Mill. I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial. She was gone long before I knew any thing about it. Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of

Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life

Overall, the speaker of “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” reminds us that the system of slavery destroys lives. We see this notion play out in the narrative as the speaker talks of a female slave at Plymouth Rock. Here, we bear witness to her lack of respect for life that not only flaws her judgments as a mother, but perpetuates a sense of violence or

Society’s systematic dehumanization of slaves claims that their lives are not their own, but rather belong to their oppressors. For instance, Jacobs’s cousin Benjamin decides to escape from his masters who equate him and his people to “dogs, […] foot-balls, cattle, [and] everything that [is] mean” and taunts them by saying, “Let them bring me back. We don’t die but once” (27). By metaphorically comparing slaves to dogs and pieces of property, he reveals how little slave owners care about their charges. Rather than remaining under the control of such oppression, Benjamin decides to live and die on his own terms at the risk of capture and punishment, because

Rufus Weylin; a character first perceived as a young, curious and innocent boy, turns in to an over-obsessive and miserable tyrant. In Octavia Butler 's novel _Kindred_, the book revolves around the horrors of slavery in the United States in the early eighteen hundreds. White characters are given absolute power and control over black characters, and treat them like animals, making them live a long life of misery and unhappiness. As _Kindred_ unfolds, it becomes clear that Rufus turns in to a stereotypical slave owner and abuser. With every trip that Dana makes back to Rufus, there is a clear distinction of changes in his personality. He becomes more evil, over-obsessive and cruel as he gets older. In fact, he becomes very much like his

To begin with, Rufus was born and brought in the Antebellum South, which was filled with horrible institutions like slavery and the ideas that came with it. Additionally, as Rufus grew up he saw slaves being treated horribly and later through Dana and other slave's experiences, the reader begins to understand just how complex slavery is and how it affects both the slaves and the plantation owners. Moreover, the readers begin to understand that the slaveowners did not see slaves as anything but property; as a result, compassion for human suffering was non-existent. Rufus saw this as he was growing up and applied this by showing no compassion toward many slaves and treating them terribly. Furthermore, Rufus's father, Tom Weylin, influenced Rufus a lot by his behavior and attitude. Weylin was a brutal slave master and he was harsh with Rufus several times like when he whipped him when he set the stable on fire. Also, Weylin sold many of his slaves and the worst thing that he did was that he whipped many slaves and had slaves as his bedmates. Additionally, Rufus saw his mom, Margaret Weylin, shouting at slaves and assigning them work. Moreover, Rufus did a few good things like after Alice died, "early one morning a few days later, he left for Easton Point where he could catch a steamboat to Baltimore" (Butler, 253) to get his children. Also, after he brought the children, Joe came up to Dana