Northup was born free in New York. He was married with three children when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the southern United States. This memoir is the tale of his imprisonment for the next twelve years of his life. The story has been corroborated by documents Northrup cites, testimony from people who saw Northup on plantations he claimed to be enslaved at, and seems to be as true as possible.
It was certainly eye opening to read this book, but I have to admit to being a tiny bit disappointed. I feel like this kind of whitewashed the reality of slavery a bit with a lot of violence happening off page. I also feel like Northup is keeping the readers at a distance, but there were times I really wanted to know what he was thinking. When he left the plantation and other slaves who he had lived and worked with for years, how did he feel, knowing they'd continue on with their own plights? How did he feel when he saw his wife and children again?
(I am hesitant to type this paragraph, but I'm going to be honest. I was talking about this book with my husband and I mumbled "he didn't make slavery seem that bad." I can see how these types of slave narratives were used by pro-slavery people who would make claims that slaves liked being slaves. Northrup never stopped fighting for his freedom and there were descriptions of abuse and belittlement, so I don't think someone reading this book would think he liked being a slave - far from it - but, to be honest, the whole experience didn't sound that bad. Clearly I'm the problem here.)
I'm glad I listened to this, but I did sort of want more from a slave narrative. Maybe that's just putting my own modern sensibilities on a book from the distant past and that's not fair. I don't know. It's certainly worth reading. 3.5/5 stars
Lines of note:
It was but a short time I closed my eyes that night. Thought was busy in my brain. Could it be possible that I was thousands of miles from home—that I had been driven through the streets like a dumb beast—that I had been chained and beaten without mercy—that I was even then herded with a drove of slaves, a slave myself? Were the events of the last few weeks realities indeed?—or was I passing only through the dismal phases of a long, protracted dream? It was no illusion. My cup of sorrow was full to overflowing. (Chapter 5)
Really, it was difficult to determine which I had most reason to fear—dogs, alligators or men! Chapter 10)
In the course of the forenoon, while sauntering about the gin-house, a tall, good-looking man came to me, and inquired if I was Tibeats’ boy, that youthful appellation being applied indiscriminately to slaves even though they may have passed the number of three score years and ten. (Chapter 11)
Hat mentions (why hats?):
He wore a black frock coat and black hat, and said he resided either at Rochester or at Syracuse. The latter was a young man of fair complexion and light eyes, and, I should judge, had not passed the age of twenty-five. He was tall and slender, dressed in a snuff-colored coat, with glossy hat, and vest of elegant pattern. (Chapter 2)
It consisted in throwing balls, dancing on the rope, frying pancakes in a hat, causing invisible pigs to squeal, and other like feats of ventriloquism and legerdemain. (Chapter 2)
without coat or hat (Chapter 2) x2
They were all cleanly dressed—the men with hats, the women with handkerchiefs tied about their heads. (Chapter 4)
The men had hat, coat, shirt, pants and shoes...(Chapter 6)
Taking off my hat...(Chapter 8)
I was without coat or hat, standing bareheaded, exposed to its burning blaze. (Chapter 9)
I took off my hat...(Chapter 11)
he would forget where he left his hat, or his hoe, or his basket (Chapter 13)
uncle Abram had found his hat (Chapter 13)
new shoes and coats and hats (Chapter 14)
a rimless or a crownless hat (Chapter 15)
hat in hand (Chapter 18)
twitching off his hat (Chapter 21)
taking off my hat (Chapter 21)
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Have you read this book or any other slave narrative?
I haven't read this, but I've read a few "I was in a bad situation but it really wasn't THAT bad" books, and it is an odd feeling. I think it might be a combo of toning down the bad stuff to get the book published, and the writer needing to stay in their comfort zone to revisit the trauma. It's just a theory.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I have never read this, which seems strange. I would have thought that I would have. I didn't realize the premise: born free and then kidnapped, but that explains the "12 years" in the title.
ReplyDeleteThe book that comes to mind is Roots, which I have read, but it was a long time ago.
No, I've never read this. But I had the same feeling when I read Gone With the Wind- that slavery didn't really seem that bad. I knew that was only one version of the story, but the relationship between slaves and slave owners seemed very cozy and affectionate. If you could get past the part where people are "owning" other people, you might think there was nothing wrong with it. Reading "Kindred" was a good antidote to that!
ReplyDeleteA few months ago I read ‘The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots’ by John Swanson Jacobs. The first half is the author’s story, of being born into slavery, escaping and becoming an abolitionist, sailor, and minor. He moved to Australia and told his story in a newspaper there. He discusses the lie that is our US Constitution, and how all men are created equal but not the black men and women. It was written before the Civil War. He is mostly taking the US to task for our hypocrisy, and that any American who was OK with that institution existing is a despot, whether they own, buy, and sell other human beings or not. The thing is, I don’t do terribly well with 19th century writing, and the author is writing for contemporaries, for people who know the references and people that he names, and gah, I do not feel smart enough for that.
ReplyDeleteThe second half is written by the (modern day) man who found the story in some papers in Australia while he was researching Jacobs’ sister, who also wrote a slave narrative. One thing he discussed was that a lot of the slave narratives written in the US were whitewashed by abolitionists to take out a lot of the humiliation, torture, and cruelty. They may be against slavery, but they’re still white, and they still want their country to stay together. The second half is mostly a biography that the scholar researched, going back 9 generations in Jacobs family. That part is kind of snore to me, because I don’t care a lot about genealogy and non fiction.
I've not read this book, but I saw the movie years ago. I don't remember much aside from being totally mind blown that he was kidnapped and lost his freedom. My guess if I was reading this is that I would also want to know how he felt about leaving the people he'd spent time with and I'd want to know about his wife and children. Going that extra mile to dig deep and tell the feelings side of things would be important in a book like this, I think. I appreciate your honesty.
ReplyDeleteI remember the same feeling of being hesitant to be fully honest when I was reviewing Their Eyes Were Watching God. It was like "it was really nice to read about black people living joyful lives not always overshadowed by white people..... I mean, obviously their lives WERE still overshadowed by white people so SOME extent.... I just mean that it was nice not having the constant shadow of racism over everything... I mean." I think it's fine that he wrote the book he wanted to write and kept out what he wanted to keep out, and I think it's understandable that you think some of that material would have made the story more impactful for you.
ReplyDelete