Themes Of Nightjohn

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave and the movie Nightjohn are similar in a number of ways. First, they both are about slaves that have to deal with hardships and tough lessons. Another critical similarity is both masters were merciless and controlling white men who opposed their slaves learning to read. An equally important similarity is both main characters wouldn't give up in their hunt to become readers. Finally, both works share a mistress that was kind in the beginning, but later showed her real self as their cruelty came out from the shadows into the light.

NightJohn, a story written by Gary Paulsen.Clel Waller was a cruel man because of his punishment styles. Were these ways worth his time and were they necessary? Did Mr.Waller need slaves? Without the punishments the slaves might have not feared Mr.Waller. He instilled the feeling of fear to get the work done. The methods Clel Waller used are not appropriate. They are very cruel and offensive. Instead if slaves were rewarded the story could totally different. But also not only the slaves will be getting spoil by rewards the cruel punishment can harm the owners work done by slaves.

The book mentions, ”Second night he called me over to where he lay. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘H’ “ (page 78-79). Only the second night after his torturous time with Waller he was back to teaching Sarny. His devotion kept him coaching Sarny on letters. He was suffering at the time, yet he felt that he needed to complete his job no matter what the cost. Nightjohn risked his life to help Sarny, he knew what could be around the corner, yet he continued to teach her letters, so they could finish what they had

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.

Night john was a book about a escaped slave. He went back into the south to help other slaves escape. He taught slaves to be able to read and write. The NightJohn book was published in 1993 and the movie was created in 1996. There was bravery and prejudice even the feeling of freedom in this book and movie. NightJohn was a brave man even with the risk of slavery over his head.

In Chapter 4 of Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, it explains in detail what would happen to slaves during a crucial time period. On Waller's plantation Sarney remembers a time when two men tried to escape the plantation without anyone knowing. One man named JIm tried to escape the plantation to get freedom, he tried to run. The dogs, Waller, and the field hands were able to catch him because he tried to climb a small tree, the dogs were able to reach him and they shredded his legs than left his there. The second man named Pawley tried to escape for a different reason; he went to go see a girl he was dating.

Chapter 4 in Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen there are a lot of important events. Chapter 4 starts of with the story of Alice; it explains how Alice was abused. She was whipped so bad that the skin on her back was ripped and bleeding. However this is not the only time that Sarny knows of when someone was abused on her plantation. Sarny shares her knowledge on what she knows about Jim. Jim tried to escape by hopping the fence, but he was not able to because he was caught by the dogs. He ended up dying from his injuries. Sarny also knows about Pawley. Pawley was caught when he was coming back from another plantation.The dogs killed him when he came back. There is also the part when mammy caught Nightjohn teaching Sarny letters; mammy thinks that Nightjohn

NightJohn changed people’s life in a big way and he was a great leader. He could help people and wouldn’t be afraid to do no matter if he was risking his life. He didn’t care if he would get hurt doing it, his goal was just to teach people how to write and read. He never let anybody down no matter if he would get in trouble he would not care. He would always help others before helping himself. NightJohn was a very brave man and back then everybody was afraid to speak up but he wasn’t.

Night john escaped slavery but came back to teach young slaves how to read and

In Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen there is a theme that flows through the whole story. That theme would be that reading and writing are crucial. This is shown throughout the story, and example of this would be, “We all have to read and write so we can write about this-what they doing to us. It has to be written.” (paulsen 58). This quote is clearly showing that writing and reading is very important to everyone. They want to learn no matter the cost, even if it is to lose a their thumbs. Similar to this it states, “He put the chisel to the middle toe and swung the hammer. Thunk.”(Paulsen 74). This quote is showing the effects of learning how to read and write, even though this is happening Nightjohn still wants to teach others about reading and writing.

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

The tragic stories of slaves have been told and their struggles to survive shows the dark side of slavery in the history of the United States. NightJohn, a novel by Gary Paulsen portrays the heartbreaking scenes that are told through the eyes of a 12-year girl. The girl, named Sarny describes in detail some event in slavery. Slavery was not only an act of "Americans" keeping humankind as property but also involved disturbing actions taken towards slaves. Oppressive restrictions, resistance to conditions, brutal punishments, and support to one another are all contributors in the stories of slaves and in NightJohn making the novel historically accurate.

“ 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.

The three themes that stand out to me in Nightjohn are Leadership, Freedom, and Prejudice. These themes stand out to me, because I enjoy stories that feature these themes. They show triumph is an unexpected way, and who can hate that? The three themes put together equal a fascinating story. A group of people who’re suppressed by prejudice desire freedom, and extraordianry leadership leads them to freedom.

My two themes are Choices and Identity. I chose these two themes because for me they are the most related to the book. This book is all about a choice and the person's identity. The best example for my two themes is the "Choosing Ceremony", because it demonstrates how a person has right to choose and identify themselves in a faction. Another example for Identity is the "Aptitude Test", it gives each person a way to find their identity in different obstacles.