Themes In Nightjohn

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

This is an essay about NightJohn and how he needed to use Bravery, leadership, and freedom to gain control. NightJohn is a book about slavery and not just any slaves but NightJohn and Sarny.

Freedom has been a concept integral in our modern society, and it’s difficult to think about the fact that a few decades ago slavery was sadly, a very common thing. The only items slaves held were given to them and could be taken away. There was just about nothing that slave owners couldn’t take, they took food, clothes, and hope. One of the few things that couldn’t be taken was what was not visible to the eye, intelligence and knowledge. This is what Nightjohn sought to give to the slaves in the south, the reason he escaped slavery only to selflessly return under the cover of night. Anything that slaves can permanently keep and that cannot be taken by the slave owners’ is virtually priceless. It has unlimited value and nobody, absolutely nobody can take that away.

Nightjohn is a book about a slave who has gone through so much, he ran away from his plantation, made it all the way North and became free, but turned around and came back to teach other slaves how to read and write. He taught Sarny how to read and write for tobacco the first night he was at the plantation, and helped her get through tough times by reading, writing, and teaching her valuable lessons throughout the book. Although Nightjohn was trying to be a nice person and teach them how to read and write if they got caught the consequences would be horrible.

Frederick Douglass was very fortunate to have learned how to read. In his time if you were a slave and had no education you couldn’t escape to freedom. Frederick Douglass’s key to education was his mistress (155). At first she was very nice and was giving him the education he needed and wanted but then from the influence of her husband she became rotten and denied him the right to his education “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband no, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else” (155). But then he was fortunate enough to get some boys around where he lived to continue teaching him “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these I could I could, I converted into teachers,

This demonstrates that slaves didn’t go to school to learn how to read and write unless they escaped to the North and they didn’t even know how to read or write their names. If slaves were allowed to learn how to read and write the owners thought that they might revoke against them. In the text, it states, “Fearing that black literacy would prove a threat to the slave system whites in the Deep South passed laws forbidding slaves to learn to read or write and making it a crime for others to teach them” (Simkin ). This demonstrates that in order to make sure that the slaves didn’t try to revoke against their owners it was illegal for them to learn how to read and write.

Learning how to read significantly helped Douglass gain freedom because it caused him to rebel (E1)For example, Douglas explains why reading is not a desirable trait when he writes, “A slave should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best slave in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that slave (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. ( Mr. Auld)”

When Hugh Auld let Sophia Auld stop teaching Douglass education lessons, afraid Douglass would not be manageable anymore. Douglass states that "against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn"(Douglass,30). From his master's words, Douglass understood that the reason why slaveholders would not allowed to learn reading lessons, whites afraid slaves knew they are not naturally enslaved by others. Douglass wanted to be educated to become

     Illiteracy was an instrumental tool used to deprive slaves in an attempt to keep them ignorant and manageable during the 1800’s. If slaves were to learn how to read, they could in turn be educated. The oppressing class during this time period realized that if slaves were able to become educated they could no longer be useful, for it would be increasingly difficult to exploit their services. The ability to read was the white man’s power over slaves. Douglass, realizing the situation of his enslavement, took advantage of his privileges and began to secretly learn how to read and write. As he become more proficient in English, Douglass began to gain a following of slaves who were willing

People who are literate break their goals down and do little by little at time until they accomplish their goal. Douglass persistently fought for equal rights to combat slavery and women suffrage. He inspired many activist around the world to fight for equal rights. Through the power of literacy, he overcame great obstacles to gain his freedom and the freedom of others. Obstacles did not hinder him in any way. He help numerous people of his time even in the present time he still inspires civil rights activist. Literacy is an important tool to open your to a new way of think as in Douglass’s case. Douglass once said, “I didn’t know I was an slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted” (Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick

If Douglass had been devoid of the ability to read, he may never have been able to see himself as equal with the white slave masters or even understand the extent of the injustices meted out to him and his fellow slaves every

To answer that question we look at the article by Bennett Barrow--"Plantation Rules." Within this documentation, Bennett Barrow wrote in his diary about rules that a master should place on their slaves. The rules itself is rather simple; however, it reveals an indirect way on how the slave are resisting their master. there is no

The slave masters did not care whether their children or relatives were undergoing the harsh conditions of slavery. It is believed that Douglass’ father owned the slaves, “the opinion was whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion I know nothing.... My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant” (p 10). Slave masters use totalitarianism as a means of monitoring their subjects. The slaves are required to behave in a particular manner when they are interacting with their masters. Slaves themselves encounter cruel interaction among their peers and slave holders. Slave masters administer fears among the slaves, since this is what keeps them going. When they speak the truth, they are penalized by their owners.

Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery.

Slave owners often would punish any slaves that tried to educate themselves. They didn't want their slaves to be educated in fear that they