Analysis The further Northup progresses in his narrative, the more frequently he finds it necessary to distinguish himself from the “common slave” with whom he has been quartered. This doesn’t appear to be a design for belittling his fellow slaves, but rather an unconscious reminder of his self-worth and status […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 13Summary and Analysis Chapter 12
Analysis At first glance, Northup’s digression into the minutiae of southern agriculture, geography, and flora and fauna seems a mostly irrelevant distraction. However boring this chapter may be, though, it serves a vital purpose in both the overall story of this slave account and in the historical context from which […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 12Summary and Analysis Chapter 11
Analysis Northup’s experience as a slave seems to have heightened his sensitivity to the value and abilities of women. For example, in Chapter XI he exhibits this pre-feminist leaning with two stories. First is the story of the four “lumberwomen” who join the work clearing trees from Big Cane Break. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 11Summary and Analysis Chapter 10
Analysis The costs of freedom are emphasized through Platt’s escape into the swamp. The slave has done nothing deserving of punishment. He has simply acted in self-defense to prevent the white master from committing murder. Had he been a white man, he would have been legally and socially exonerated, but […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 10Summary and Analysis Chapter 9
Analysis Once again, Northup’s narrative touches on the themes of human dignity and man’s inhumanity to man. Both his white owner and his white protector have caused Platt to suffer unnecessarily—something that does not go unnoticed in Northup’s account. Tibeats, of course, is murderous in his treatment, but Chapin is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 9Summary and Analysis Chapter 8
Analysis Up to this point, Northup has dealt with the injustices of slavery in large strokes, including the kidnapping of a free man, the beating of an innocent, and the wanton fracturing of families. In Chapter VIII, though, the injustice of slavery is brought to light in an intimate, everyday […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Chapter 7
Analysis Chapter VII begins a new phase in Northup’s narrative and offers the first hands-on evidence of what it was like to be a human owned by another human. There is an internal moral struggle for Solomon here because he finds William Ford to be a man of unquestioned Christian […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapter 6
Analysis Chapter VI in Northup’s narrative is a rhetorical masterpiece, particularly suited to the ears of his Christian abolitionist contemporaries. He begins with a scathingly sarcastic description of the New Orleans slave trader: “The very amiable, pious-hearted Mr. Theophilus Freeman…” Already it’s obvious that Freeman is none of those things, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 6Summary and Analysis Chapter 5
Analysis Names carry both literal and symbolic importance in 12 Years a Slave. First, they serve to reinforce Northup’s constant appeal to make his memoir credible. Anyone who wanted to fact-check his story could easily find record of a slave trader named Theophilus Freeman in New Orleans. A survey of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 5Summary and Analysis Chapter 4
Analysis Eliza holds a significant place in Northup’s narrative, often symbolizing the plight of the female slave in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South. Her story also serves as a negative commentary on the role and status of women in that society. Northup’s pre-feminist sympathies can be seen throughout his book, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 4