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 way.

As “Platt,” Solomon has been working tirelessly for an unworthy master, adhering to Tibeats’ unreasonable demands and barely resting from morning until night. On this day, Platt follows Tibeats’ orders exactly, only to be rebuked as if he’d been flagrantly disobedient and ignorant. Tibeats’ injustice moves Northup to the breaking point when the master decides to whip the slave without cause. Solomon defends himself, as any free man would, but in this part of the South, a black man defending himself against a white man is punishable by death. To Solomon’s great relief, the overseer Mr. Chapin comes to his rescue, saving him from Tibeats’ murderous intent. Yet even Chapin, in his aid, acts unjustly toward the slave. After Tibeats has fled and the threat is gone, Chapin leaves Platt bound and suffering, alone in the yard. For Northup, these personal injustices from men who know him—not strangers like Burch or Freeman—sting almost like blows from a whip. Though he hates being a slave, he has been faithful in this role, yet his masters—even the kind one—have treated him as faithless nonetheless. In the South, it’s this kind of intimate, commonplace injustice that condemns yet again the very idea of human slavery in America.