Despite most countries in the world officially historically abolishing slavery and it is a universally condemned practice protected by law, in 2016, there were an estimated 40.3 million slaves around the world, with numbers continuing to rise (“Modern Slavery and Exploitation”). Modern slavery commonly takes on different forms than most people understand in historical context. It primarily focuses on forced and exploitative labour, particularly of vulnerable groups.
Private labour such as farming, construction, and domestic work are among common economic sectors involved in addition to well-known exploitation for groups such as sex workers or child labour. Modern slavery is a predatory practice that is being utilized by businesses and organizations, some seemingly legitimate, worldwide through the exploitative and forced labour of victims and needs to be addressed at the policy and law enforcement levels.
Definition and Process
Modern slavery directly refers to the institutional slavery that occurs in present-day society through forms of forced labour via coercion, the threat of violence, or debt bondage. Modern slavery is often synonymous with human trafficking in the discourse on the topic. Although trafficking implies transportation of humans, the legal definition also encompasses acts of recruitment, harbouring, manipulating, and providing persons to be used in forced labour.
These individuals are considered victims regardless if they were borne into servitude, exploited in their hometowns or transported. Modern slavery takes advantage of vulnerable populations such as women and children, those experiencing poverty, and those who lack social support such as runaways, homeless, persecuted minorities (“What is Modern Slavery”). The economy of slavery in the modern day is devastating. While historically, slaves were a costly investment, and there were detailed records. In modern-day, there are no official records, making the extent of the issue unknown, and most slaves cost less than $100, having short spans of forced labour, but also being abused and experiencing traumatic consequences thereafter (Bales 13).
Often individuals are promised opportunities for a better life or income (as commonly practised with illegal migrants), and when they arrive, whether domestically or across national borders, they find that promised opportunities or conditions do not exist.
However, traffickers use manipulative methods such as keeping essential documents or forcing individuals into servitude over “debt” that has been acquired for the procurement of the promised job or transportation. Victims are particularly vulnerable as migrants where they lack the knowledge, language, and protection while being coerced (“What is Human Trafficking?”). However, it is erroneous to assume that victims only come from poor regions as countries such as the UK have one of the highest rates of origin for human trafficking victims (“2019 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery”).
Sex Trafficking
Human trafficking of primarily women and young girls for the purposes of sex work is the most prevalent and well-known forms of modern slavery. Sex trafficking is defined when an individual engages in a commercial sex act (i.e. prostitution) due to threats or application of force, coercion, or fraud. Similar to the process described above, women and sometimes children are forced into paying off an unlawful “debt” that is incurred through transportation or recruitment. For adults, they are compelled into prostitution through coercion. Even if initially it is a consensual act, the person is held in service through psychological manipulation.
Meanwhile, children are often exploited as well through patronization or solicitation, taking advantage of their naivete, but using force and coercion as well (Kara 3). While some countries do allow legal prostitution for adults, it is universally illegal to use children in commercial sex work. It is estimated that 4.8 million people are victims of human trafficking for sex purposes, with 99% being female. Asia is the primary region for such activities (70%), followed by Europe and Central Asia at 14% (“Global Estimates of Modern Slavery”). Victims are exploited for an average of two years before being freed or escaping.
Forced Labour
Forced labour is the performance of labour, often hard manual work, that is done involuntarily through coercion or under the menace of penalty with insignificant to none monetary compensation. Similar to sex trafficking, these individuals are forced through intimidation or means of manipulated debt, or retention of identity papers or denunciation to immigration authorities. Forced labour can be imposed by private employers as well as state enterprises, with 16 million people in the private economy and 4.1 million by the state. In forced labour, the female-male ratio is more equal with 57.6% female and 42.4% male. Breakdown by industry and types of work is: 24% domestic work, 18% construction, 15% manufacturing, and 11% in fishing and agriculture for the private economy (“Global Estimates of Modern Slavery”).
State-imposed forced labour is commonly overlooked as modern slavery but includes the use of labour by state authorities to participate in economic development projects, mandatory military conscripts performing non-military nature service, communal services, and prisoners working against their will. State forced labour is practised in many authoritarian nature countries such as China and North Korea and is shrouded by the state apparatus as legitimate despite being in principle forced slavery.
Conclusion
It is evident that modern slavery is prevalent and continues to grow in magnitude despite recognition and efforts by global institutions such as the UN-backed International Labour Organization. The issue is complex and closely tied to both domestic issues (poverty) and politics (immigration). To stop modern slavery will require a multifaceted approach consisting of economic and social protections, cultural understanding and recognition, and legal policy initiatives. It is necessary to recognize and extend protections and rights into the informal economy where modern slavery is prevalent. Given the cross-border dimensions of contemporary slavery, international cooperation is vital to success in its prevention.
Works Cited
“2019 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery.” HM Government, 2019. Web.
Bales, Kevin. Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves. University of California Press, 2007.
Religion refers to cultural customs or beliefs of a community in regard to what they worship. However, types of religion differ from one community to another. Just like any continent, America values religion and it gives its citizens freedom to choice of religion. Ronald Johnston gave a real insight on how religion is viewed and practiced in America. His famous book “religion in society”, analyzes religion as a process which acts as a social body, mutually dependent and offers instant interaction with other social aspects.
This paper will discuss the religion of Black Americans (African-Americans) during the time of slavery. It will also discuss the importance of church as an institution on African-Americans as well as the social significance of the Megachurch. Lastly, it will assist readers to comprehend the important role played by religion in a society. Nevertheless, whether balanced and unbiased, it shows the sociology of religion as a subject that is rich and bountiful (Johnstone 291).
The importance of church as an institution on African-Americans
In the ancient times, African-American churches were categorized by a congregation that was poor but totally committed to the pastor. These issues led to lack of participation in community outreach program and lack of higher learning. One of the most desired elements was the fact that despite their poverty level the members from these churches maintained loyalty to one another. However, with time, this changed since more churches were instilled with new improvements by the black clergy.
Black clergy stood prepared not only to accomplish the spiritual purpose but to offer basic needs like clothing, food, and medical care to the African- Americans. The great important issues brought by church institution to Africa-America society was the concern about meeting their domestic needs (Johnstone 303).
The clergy realized the truth that social circumstances bring out the difference in good health or health problem among their followers. For example African-American ministers and pastors were the first to take action during the Hurricane Katrina’s disaster. Their churches worked hard to bring the separated and displaced families together by providing shelter for them. Additionally, nurses and doctors where also employed to give necessary first aid and treatment needed.
The second important role achieved through institution of these churches was the aspect of the church being a social club as well as a counseling institution. Different age groups have a forum to discuss issues affecting them and in most cases they try to come up with solutions to these problems. For instance women have their meeting at a given time and this applies to youth, men and even children. These meetings usually bring people together and teach them how to cooperate with each other in times of need (Johnstone 308)
The institution of these churches served as a talent corner where members were given chances to explore their talents. These included music composition, acting, and works of arts. In effect, members work together to realize their talents in order to make the community a better place.
These churches also acted as areas of political arena since aspiring political leaders would use the opportunity to address the congregation. They would do so to articulate their manifestos and to seek votes from the church members. Apart from politicians seeking votes the churches were used as major avenues to mass demonstrations and the congregation helped activists in forming movements because they believe it was religiously inspired.
Churches also provided education to their members in colleges. This in effect led to an increase in education levels, better modes of communication and sense of belonging was finally realized by the black church members at large.
Prominent thinkers such as Dubois W.E. B came out and inspired Black Americas to relate with each other for economic, social and political benefits, rather than demanding to fit in the white American society which always differentiated them. He claimed that organized actions from church groups in relation to economic issues would allow the African–Americans to have better living conditions and boost their social life (Johnstone 306).
The social significance of the Mega church
Mega church is a church that is protestant and has 2000 average members who attend on weekly basis. These churches usually have large number of attendants and researchers believe that they are not so much into cultural practices but more familiar with modernization.
Mega churches are one of the key and prominent churches that promote social and economic development. Recreational themes are usually anonymous in mega churches by giving the congregation an opportunity to practice their best talent. They also contribute to unity among believers which in return promotes peace in the country.
This is achieved through fellowships and important small group meetings. The fact that most mega churches have a charismatic leader or pastor sets a good pace for young people since most view their leader as their role model. Furthermore, mega churches are great assets of technological advancement and contribute immensely to the growth and development of a country (Travis & Thurman 60).
Works Cited
Johnstone, Ronald. Religion in Society, A Sociology of Religion, eighth edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2007. Print.
Travis, Dave, and Thurman Scoot. Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America’s Largest Churches. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Print.
The debates on the problem of slavery took place in the USA in 1840s. The key point of the discussion was the prohibition or, on the contrary, the permission of the slavery on the new territories. The opinions of the opposing parties divided, and both parties pressed the case with rather strong arguments.
From the religious point of view, there were arguments, which defended as pro-slavery position, as well as those that were against it.
The adherences of the pro-slavery position, trying to defend their point of view, used those fact that there was no the distinct position in the Bible, which condemned the institution of the slavery. However, this point of view is rather disputable, the adherence of this theory adduced the examples from the ancient bible texts, in which the religious leaders had owned slaves.
The typical representative of the apologists was George Freeman, a Protestant Minister. In his arguments he emphasizes the fact, that the relations between the master and the slave are viewed by the Bible as a natural sort of things.
The Baptist pastor Stringfellow in his works uses such term as Christian mercy, which is given to the slaves by their owners. According to him it is a delight given by God to the Africans to be a slave of the Christian owners. Stringfellow believes that, by involving into Christianity, Africans save their soul.
One of the adherents of the anti-slavery position was William Wilson. He was strongly convinced that slavery had nothing to do with the Christian teaching. Together with Wilson, John Fee considered that the institution of the slavery had to be abolished. As well as their opponents abolitionists also referred to the Bible. They insisted on the fact, that God had created a man in order to dominate the animals and the nature, but not the human beings.
One of the reasons of the colonization of America was the search of the religious freedom. The desire of the early colonists was to escape from the religious interdictions of their countries. They wanted to achieve the freedom of conscience and the latitude in religion. These wishes affected the seeking of the new religion, which would have nothing in common with the Church of England, and at the same time would correspond to the believes of the people.
The first colonies were founded by the different religious groups on the basis of their cultural and religious traditions. The Puritans were among them. The adherents of this faith believed that the person should repent for his sinful condition by means of gospel. They also believed in the Holy Spirit as a way for attaching the unending bliss.
Though the idea was to escape from the religious pressure of Europe, the Puritans was the typical example of the religious prosecution. The nonconformists were subjected to persecution in order to make the Puritanism the dominant religion in all the colonies. With the course of time, the Puritanism has lost its dominant positions, and the religious persecutions were stopped. This fact affected the rising of the other religious tendencies.
There appeared such religions as Baptism, which was expanded practically in all the colonies. Roman Catholic faith and Protestantism were spread mainly in Maryland. End even the Lutherans organized their communities in Pennsylvania. Among the most widely spread religious traditions was the Anglicanism, which was established practically in every colony. The Anglicanism is the form of Christianity, at the same time its adherents declare their independence from the Pope.
Different religious faiths played a great role in the political and social life of America. The freedom of faith attracted the colonist from around the world, resulting the quick growth of the population.
Aristotle asserts that all political associations are in existent to achieve some good for the humankind. The different types of relationships that exist give rise to the diverse types of associations. He notes that the fundamental part of an association is the household that is comprised of three different kinds of relationships: master to slave, husband to wife, and parents to their children. Aristotle’s comments on the subject of slavery is recorded in chapters three to six of Book I of the Politics and in Book VII of the Nicomachean Ethics. He gives credit to slavery as the basic means by which the master gets his or her source of revenue. By Aristotle’s own definition of slavery, and the standards by which one should or should not be classified as a slave, are self-contradictory, or are illogical.
Main body
At the end of chapter 3, Aristotle sparks the debate by raising the question of slavery being natural or conventional. He claims that the former is applicable. In this respect, his slave theory asserts that some people are by nature born slaves while others are masters by nature. This gives the impression that everybody who is ruled has no otherwise but to be a slave, which does not look as if it is right. What natural characteristics must human being posses to be regarded as a slave? Who is singled out for subjugation and who for ruling?
In chapter 4, Aristotle deals with the principle of acquisition of property. He draws a line between the so-called instruments of production, and possessions as instruments of action. Since production and action are different, use different instruments, while life is an action and not a production, this means that the slave is a minister of action. Thus there is no difference between a slave and an inanimate tool for both are possessions and serve as instruments. This argument is flawed as it develops a natural inferiority for the slaves. Slaves reason with their masters, slaves provide a means of livelihood for the community, and if natural slavery were present, achieving a state of well being and the worthiness of life would have been separated from each other.
Did Aristotle consider slaves as his fellow humans? The Politics has an answer to this question. He describes slaves as possessions, instruments of action. Thus, he pictures a slave as lacking any faculty of reason, the same thing that guarantees his or her humanity. Therefore, the slave is deemed as sub-human animal. Are Aristotle’s contradictory views allowable in any society? Are slaves real animals, or is it simply a comparison to the degree of animals? Can they sit down and reason? After making all these claims about slaves being a tool for sustenance, dehumanized to the extent of an animal, Aristotle makes an amazing acknowledgement. He puts forward that anyone who participates in rational principle that is sufficient to pick up, but not to posses, such a norm, is deemed as a slave by nature. In other words, he is saying that slaves need to understand rational principles in communicating with their masters. The fault in this logic is that it is impossible for anyone to comprehend rational principles without possessing an internal rational principle.
Chapter 5, in relation to the scheme from chapter 3, addresses the question of the existence of any natural slaves. He makes the difference between the soul and the body in forming a human, the soul is the seat of the human’s rational function and the seat of the passionate element is the body. He then puts master and slaves in these distinguishing categories of soul and body that exists due to natural law. He likens the master to the responsibility of the soul while the slave to the responsibilities of the body. He even goes ahead to match up slaves to the animalist accomplishment of bodily desires. In this regard, Aristotle makes a comparison between slaves and animals that depend totally on instincts and bodily appetites, therefore slaves are not able to accomplish their functions as humans in the rational chase of wellbeing. If we stop analyzing this argument here, he seems to be justified since there are things that fail to accomplish their functions. An example is a rice plant cannot grow to maturity to become a full-grown tree. If there is a lack of fulfillment in a human not using moral reasoning in the hunt of ethical action, slavery in this case, justifies the action taken. However, if we continue to review Aristotle’s notion of the slave, we will realize that his thought of slavery contravenes the chase for a contented state of happiness.
Aristotle’s view that at birth some are marked for subjection and others for rule suggests that nature intends some people to be slaves. This view is self-contradictory as he says that the whole universe is aiming in the direction of a teleological end. If the elements of nature themselves calls for a deficiency of fulfillment for some of its entities, then how can the entire universe be said to aim in the direction of a teleological end?
In chapter 6, Aristotle seems to be in a state of quandary between war and slavery. On one point, he justifies slavery on the basis that it is natural, while on the other hand he claims that most slaves are made so because of acts of war when they are overpowered and someone makes them prisoners of war. Aristotle at last is forced to make a clean breast that in some sort of instances, slavery is justified. It becomes justifiable when both the master and the slave benefits, but when law and force has been used to enact it, it becomes unjustifiable.
Conclusion
In summary, Aristotle’s position on the issue of natural slavery and his contentions for that position are not fraudulent or ironical. The circumstances that give rise to natural slaves should not be permanent as some of the natural slaves can be empowered through education to come out of their state. Nowhere in his accounts does he say that it is not right to set free, or to avoid enslaving, natural slaves. What he says is that it is not right to put under slavery the people who are not natural slaves. The latter and the former are not the same. His views on slavery can be concluded that the natural masters are essentially the virtuous, or the one who have been perfected in their advancement, while the natural slaves are essentially the vicious, or the ones who have been in one way or the other, harmed or corrupted in their advancement.
Toni Morrison’s novel “Beloved” is a sensational story about the history of slavery and racial segregation in America. “Beloved” is based on the story of a fictional character named Sethe, who escaped from enslavement, and her children named Denver, Howard and Buglar. Their home is haunted by a visible ghost, whose presence is associated with bizarre occurrences, such as objects being are hulled at them and the mysterious death of Sethe’s mother in law (Morrison 33).
The ghost attacks are traumatizing and almost drive Sethe insane. Nevertheless, Paul D, Sethe’s friend attempts to restore sanity, and almost succeeds by driving the ghost away. The ghost, sensing Paul D’s power turns into a charming young woman. Seethe is won over by the woman’s charm, and banishes Paul D’s from her house.
The young woman’s charm seems to give her superhuman powers. She overpowers Paul D to the extent that she forces him to have sex with her. Paul D’s attempts to resist the ghost are efforts in futility. Instead, Paul D appears to be helpless. Paul D reveals to Sethe his intentions to impregnate the young woman (Morrison 293).
In the midst of this excitement, Sethe reveals to Paul D about her unfortunate past, and the reason why the community in Cincinnati fails to accept her. From this revelation, Paul D learns that Sethe had escaped from slavery, to her mother-in-law’s home. He also learns that, she attempted to kill herself and her children in order to “keep them where it was safe” when her master came for her (Morrison 233).
Fortunately, she only manages to kill her eldest daughter. Shocked by the revelation, Paul D leaves the house, paving way for the return of Sethe’s dead daughter in form of a ghost. She haunts the house, but eventually the black community unites in Sethe favor and helps her to chase away the ghost.
Historical significance
“Beloved” is based on true story, and is of historical significance especially regarding American Civil Rights Movement. Set in the 19th century, “Beloved” reveals underlying biases with regards to concept of race.
The story alludes to major legislations that helped to define the concept of race in 19th century America. For instance, the arrival of a posse to reclaim Sethe and her children reflects the machinations of the Fugitive Slave Act, passed in 1850. The Act gave powers to slave owners the right to hunt down escaped slaves all over the US.
It is imperative to note that before the American Civil War, slaves enjoyed no rights. Sethe’s escape from slavery is a clearly portrays the lack of basic rights for all blacks. In addition to this, Sethe’s attempt to kill herself and her children also reveals age old crimes committed against innocent blacks by their own.
In the 19th century America, the only sure way of escaping slavery was death. Sethe is symbolic of many black mothers who chose to free their families from slavery through death. This however, is not to mean that the story is all bleak.
“Beloved” depicts faint attempts at granting basic civil rights to the black community. Before passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, blacks were not allowed to enter into legal contracts. This implies that no black was allowed to be legally married. Nevertheless, Sethe’s marriage to Halle signifies loosening of this rule. As a result, Sethe’s master allowed her and Halle to stay married. The rights to be legally married were introduced through the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
“Beloved” also portrays the reluctance with which blacks were given basic rights. Despite the fact that Civil Rights Act of 1866 allowed Sethe and other blacks to marry, the denial of voting rights alludes to Jim Crow’s Laws, which are largely perceived to have attempted to institutionalize racism. By institutionalizing racism, Jim Crow is thought to have hindered the advancement of the American civil rights movement.
Evaluation of the novel
“Beloved” is a sensational account of the historical challenges that have faced the black community in America since time immemorial. The novel also depicts a community in social economic peril. The novel, other than depicting a race suffering the worst form of inhuman treatment, also portrays one of the darkest periods in America’s history.
This resonates well with efforts to eliminate racism and racially aggravated attacks. It seems ironical however, that while “Beloved” is all about America’s dark past, the story is not all gloomy. “Beloved” depicts the determination with which black Americans fought for freedom. This is evident through characters such as Sethe who overcome insurmountable odds and survive when least expected to.
Additionally, Morrison alludes to the fact that the biggest challenge facing the marginalized black community is not racial segregation. The afflictions affecting Sethe, Paul D and other black slaves seem to emanate from the spirit world rather than from the physical world.
Critics argue that the ghost is Sethe’s murdered daughter. Her presence in the story seems to be Morrison’s way of rebuking to the black community for committing the abhor-able crime of murder. The ghost attacks seem to be much more harmful than those suffered from racial segregation. Critics argue that this betrays Morrison’s perceptions concerning the essence of human suffering; that it is more spiritual than physical.
Works Cited
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New Jersey: Knoff. 1987. Print
In the world just ahead of the Civil War, slavery had become an even more horrible thing than was depicted in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Some of the worst things done to slaves were even too horrible to be mentioned in this book. One reason that it was widely believed that this book exaggerated the plight of the slaves was that slave owners went to great lengths to discredit the autobiographies of freed and escaped slaves in order to project themselves as kindly protectors of the poor negro. Slavery had become an economic necessity for the plantation systems of the south, since the invention (by negro Ely Whitney) of the cotton gin. Another reason for the expressed doubt of the validity of Twain’s depiction of slavery was the book itself. While Twain’s depiction of slavery was fairly close to accurate, his depiction of the typical slave, in Jim, was not. Twain’s depiction of Jim and his relationship with Huck was somewhat flawed in order to obey the needs of the story, and also by Twains’ interest in slave autobiographies and also in blackface minstrelsy. So, while Twain’s depiction of slavery in Huckleberry Finn is closer than many other stories, it is also somewhat flawed.
Just before the Civil War, there was a rising protest against slavery, so there was a concerted effort on the part of plantation owners and others who defended slavery, for whatever reason, to discredit first-hand reports of the horrors of slavery and the huge gap between the depiction of the truth and the stereotypical depiction of slaves.
“The narrators wanted (and their African American readers expected them) to correct, complete, or challenge… stereotypes and the half-truths,” points out Frances Smith Foster. 4 A particularly significant gauge of the narratives’ impact is the ferocity of the counterattack from the slaveowners and their sympathizers, who denounced the narratives as inauthentic. 5 By the end of Reconstruction, the counteroffensive had virtually destroyed the slaves’ antebellum testimony. “The stilling of the black ‘voice’ assumed myriad forms, not the least distressing of which was the effective destruction of black arts and letters existing before 1865,” state Charles T. Davis and Henry Louis Gates. Many decades were to pass before scholars could even begin to restore “the fragments of the lost records of the Afro-American mind.” 6 (Mensh, and Mensh 35)
The plight of the American slaves was actually much worse than we see in Huckleberry Finn, as Twain left out the more offensive practices, such as slave owners’ treatment of female slaves. Families were, of course, separated whenever economically desirable. Healthy and strong male slaves could command high prices, yet breeding females were also valuable. One thing which was not realistic was the idea that runaway slaves might be killed. They might if they were no longer valuable workers, but economics generally required that runaways would only be beaten.
It is likely that Mark Twain was actually inspired by the first-person narrative of slaves. He left evidence of having owned a few dozen himself. He knew from boyhood how things operated for slaves. The world of antebellum Missouri was just as Twain painted it: brutally practical. “The account with which Huck Finn has the broadest connections is the Narrative of William Wells Brown ( 1847), which was also a bestseller. “The river, the boats, the hiding by day and sneaking by night… Brown’s narrative is a definitive prototype for Mark Twain’s treatment of these issues,” (Mensh, and Mensh 37)
Before the freeing of the slaves, many had a strong economic interest in prolonging, and even expanding, slavery. After the war, this continued in an effort to save face. Mark Twain had a keen interest in these first-person narratives and had many in his library. They informed what he knew from his own experience and from information gathered from other sources. What complicated matters were that Twain also had an interest in blackface minstrelsy. Both of these showed up in his depiction of Jim. This accounts for the inconsistencies within the novel for Jim’s character.
While the slave narratives stirred white consciences, the blackface minstrels anesthetized them. “Minstrelsy not only conveyed explicit pro-slavery and anti-Abolitionist propaganda; it was, in and of itself, a defense of slavery because its main content stemmed from the myth of the benign plantation,” states Alexander Saxton. According to the myth, “Slaves loved the master. They dreaded freedom because, presumably, they were incapable of self-possession. When forced to leave the plantation they longed only to return.” 19 Minstrelsy also included fugitive slaves among those who yearned for plantation life: they ended up as “repentant runaways,” points out Robert C. Toll. 20 (Mensh, and Mensh 38)
That Mark Twain studied both authentic first-person narratives and blackface minstrelsy had a strong effect on the character of Jim within Huckleberry Finn. His inconsistent behavior can be easily attributed to these two opposing influences. One example is when Huck finds Jim on the island, and Jim reacts in the stereotypical “stupid and superstitious nigger” fashion, including the black dialog and accent. “he did not hesitate to use some of the possibly offensive material from Huckleberry Finn (material that portrayed Jim in accordance with the “darky” stereotype) in his public readings. ” (Leonard, Tenney, and Davis 3)
We can almost see Jim with huge eyes and a most comical state of fear. This comes from the minstrel characters. However, in planning his getaway, Jim is rational, even clever, in planning how it would work.
Another inconsistency is that Jim learns to trust Huck, while he distrusts fellow slaves just before he leaves. In reality, slaves only trusted other slaves, except for those who pandered to the master. Jim’s behavior moves between the two extremes of intelligence, though not schooled (it was illegal to teach a slave to read or cipher.) rational behavior to stupid “blackface minstrel” dependency. Twain just never quite got it right with Jim. Part of the time he is the slave stereotype made popular in early silent movies and the “talkies” which followed, and the other part he is clever and honorable, though pushed by self-preservation. In truth, Twain never develops Jim past two-dimensional almost stereotypes.
One impacting factor on all of this is the character of the novel itself. It is an allegory, and, as such, uses mostly two-dimensional characters as foils against which the main character, Huckleberry Finn, undergoes a rite of passage, changing from boy to man. Jim is also two-dimensional. We never see him as a fully rounded character. The only character who has three-dimensional depth is Huckleberry Finn. We see all of him as if peering inside his memory. We hear his inner monologue as he tries to sort out the values of the world and his own personal values,
Huckleberry Finn offends some because it is not militant enough. It is a complex, yet simple story of a ten-year-old boy in a slave country learning how the world works and also how he will be able to cope with his own value system. How can he reconcile slavery, something which he increasingly believes is wrong with his duty to the elders and the clergy? We hear Huck talk to himself, actually looking carefully at what he was taught and what he sees. Because Huck Finn is the important main character, few of the rest are fleshed out at all. After all, it is Huck’s story, not Jim’s.
Mark Twain was offensive with this story, but he was not offending blacks. Rather he was fooling the locals who believed in slavery. He pushed right up to the edge of reality and then used Huck Finn to push them some more. Mark Twain’s first consideration was to entertain. His wit is everywhere present in Huckleberry Finn. However, his depiction of slavery was actually mild. He always had an ax to grind and he did it with inoffensive stereotypes. Twain was simply too smart to have done these things by accident. He was poking fun at the clichés of anti-abolitionists. He used their own descriptions to show us how ridiculously shallow and self-serving these stereotypes of the faithful and dependent black who longed for the protection of his benevolent master.
Slavery was at the time of the writing of Huckleberry Finn every bit as horrid as depicted in the novel and worse. Mark Twain scaled-down the reality so as not to overpower the story. He was a moralist and his values were easy to find within his wit, but he was first a storyteller and a great one. What liberties he took, he did so for the sake of the story. He might have worked a little more on the character of Jim to resolve the inconsistencies, but he might not have seen them. More likely, he left these contradictions in order to make fun of the people who seriously tried to claim that any black might prefer slavery to freedom and forever miss the peace of plantation life. Life as a slave was harsh at that time, and Twain certainly pointed that out. Even though Huck’s learned attitudes have been criticized as being bigoted, they were true to life. Huck states the problems he has with his conscience very well and points to the inconsistencies himself as he has Huck argue with himself over right and wrong, sin and virtue.
References
Leonard, James S., Thomas A. Tenney, and Thadious M. Davis, eds. Satire or Evasion?: Black Perspectives on Huckleberry Finn. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1992. Questia. Web.
Lester, Julius. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism; Morality and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 161. Detroit: Gale, 1992.
Mensh, Harry, and Elaine Mensh. Black, White, and Huckleberry Finn: Re-Imagining the American Dream. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2000. Questia. Web.
The issue of freedom and the right of a human being to it has been actual for centuries. There was the belief that some people were born to be free while the rest of the world should serve them, being just slaves, deprived of any rights and is doomed to spend the rest of their life in the chains of slavery. This approach was popular for the major part of the history of humanity. However, with the development of society, human thought and tolerance new ideas started to obtain popularity.
More and more people began to think about the disgusting nature of slavery and the right of any person to be free and choose his own destiny. The mass movement for the abolishment of slavery stared at the end of the 18th century. Society had changed enough to understand the need for this process. However, not everyone was for it.
That is why there were many lively discussions in society. Progressive layers of it tried to prove the necessity of change. Throughout history being the voice of people, poets also joined this discussion. The topic of the abolition of slavery had become one of the main issues for the poets and their works at the end of the 18th century.
That is why it is possible to say that a great number of different poems had the same motif of their works. it is possible to compare and analyze literature of that time on the basis of such works as William Blake’s The Little Black Boy, William Cowper’s The Negro’s Lament, Robert Burn’s The Slave’s Lament and Phyllis Wheatley’s On Being Brought From Africa to America and To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth. At first gaze, it becomes obvious that the main issue of this works is the same.
They all are devoted to the topic of slavery. All poets speak against this institution, devoting their works to it. However, these poems have some other common traits. Blake describes the story of a young black boy, underlining his identity “I am black, but O! my soul is white” (Blake 2). The same do Cowper, Burns, and Whitley in their works. It becomes clear, that all these authors want to show the society at that time that black people are the same as a white, there is no difference between them and that all people have equal rights.
It was the first important step to do in their attempt to abolish slavery. There is also one more common motif. It is the topic of home. All heroes of the poems grieve about their Motherland, underlining that they were taken by force. “Forced from home and all its pleasures / Afric’s coast I left forlorn” (1-2) says the heroin Cowpers The Negro Complaint. The main character of the Slaves Lament revoices ” It was in sweet Senegal that my foes did me enthrall” (Burns 1).
In Wheatleys poem, the hero says with bitter irony “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land” (“On Being Brought from Africa to America” 1). All these people are slaves, and they do not want to leave their native country. However, they were forced as white people left them no chance to stay. The authors want to show the cruelty of society which promotes actions like that just to be supplied with a cheap workforce.
However, there are, of course, some differences and unique peculiarities in each work. In The Negro Complaint, William Cowper, a noted abolitionist, underlines the inhuman character of the slave trade. “Men from England bought and sold me, / Paid my price in paltry gold; / But, though slave they have enrolled me, / Minds are never to be sold” (Cowper 5-8).
The author wants to show the impossibility of treating a human being as a good, stressing the fact that it is impossible to sell the mind of a person and his soul. Cowper ends his poem with strong words “Prove that you have human feelings, / Ere you proudly question ours!” (55-56), appealing to society to change its point of view.
Burns poem The Slave’s Lament is different from the rest of the poems as it is made in the form of a song. A reader can imagine that he/she hears how bitterly cries a slave, being afraid of his future. Constant repetitions of the vowel o help to create more complete image of this poem, promoting its acknowledgment as a bitter and hopeless song of a slave who has to spend the rest of his life serving to white people.
Another side of the problem is revealed in the poem The Little Black Boy by Blake. One of the main motifs of the poem is the innocence of people who become slaves. Blake chooses a child as the main character of his work as it is always taken as a symbol of innocence. Moreover, this child is very pious. This fact makes the whole impression even stronger. The boy believes that he and a white boy are the same for God and the only difference is the color of their skin.
However, it is also the gift from God, as black color is obtained due to the influence of the sun, while God lives there “Look on the rising sun: there God does live / And gives his light, and gives his heat away” (Blake 9-10). The author wants to show that black people are innocent and the difference in appearance should not be the taken as the ground for discrimination.
At last, there are two poems by Phillis Wheatley, which also touch the problem of the abolition of slavery. Her poem On Being Brought from Africa to America is not long, though, very impressive work.
It is written in an unusual way as a black person thanks people who took him from his land and made him know that he is savage and not the same as they are. The third stanza of the poem To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth is also devoted to this issue. The hero explains his love for freedom by all troubles and horrors which he had to survive and overcome.
Having analyzed the poems, it is possible to come to certain conclusions. It should be said, that the movement for abolishing slavery was very strong at the end of the 18th century. Poets, being main representatives of ideas actual for the current age, tried to promote further development of this movement by underlining the unfair and inhumane character of slavery. Their main aim was to show that people are all the same and there is no difference between them and slavery should remain in the past of humanity.
Fredrick Douglas was born as a slave on the Shore of Eastern Maryland. His initial names were Fredrick Bailey and he only changed his names to Fredrick Douglas after escaping by train from Baltimore to Philadelphia. He changed his names so that he can escape from the slave catchers. After having been sent to live in Baltimore, Fredrick leant how to read and write secretly without the knowledge of anyone.
The impacts of slavery on the human conditions was that slavery denied people their fundamentals of like the capacity for bold action, a sense of community, personal identities, education and even fundamentals of owning a family. Slavery comprised of many inhuman treatments like beatings and lack of access to quality education. The white masters also committed a lot of sexual abuses on the slaves.
The institution of slavery drove and shaped the enslaved people to respond and behave in different ways in that Fredrick Bailey was forced to flee away from slavery and later changed his name to Fredrick Douglas so that to escape the slave catchers. On his escape, Fredrick Douglas became very committed in informing other people about the plight of slavery and the worse conditions of the fellow slaves he had left behind. On the other side, slavery drove Gabriel into organizing a rebellion against his masters which ended tragically for him. Gabriel was very annoyed at how the white masters treated the slaves and therefore, he saw the best way out that was not to flee like Fredrick Douglas did but to organize a revolt against his white masters (Douglas 171).
Gabriel was a literate slave who had planned to lead a rebellion against the white masters in 1800. Gabriel had initially planned the rebellion in the summer and spring of 1800 but torrential rains led to the postponement of the revolt. The white masters had all along been very suspicious of the rebellion. Information about the planned revolt was however leaked to the white masters before it was executed and therefore. One of the slaves gave out information regarding the rebellion with a promise of a reward which was not fully paid. As a result, Gabriel and Gabriel Prosser and some of the other members of who planned the rebellion were hanged. The death of Gabriel and his accomplices therefore led to the end of slavery and furthered the equality of the human race which has significantly prevailed in the light of the world history. Gabriel’s rebellion was a lesson which was intended to serve as an important example of the slaves who took action so that they sought their freedom.
Nat Turner was born on the October, 2nd of 18000, just a week before Gabriel was hanged by the white masters. Nat Turner was an American slave who on 21st of August 1831 led a slave rebellion that led to the death of 56 people and which included a very large number of the white people to have occurred in a single uprising. Turner organized the uprising through the gathering of his Supporters in Virginia at a place called Southampton County. His legacy is very controversial owing to the killing of the white people. Consequently, Turner was convicted and sentenced to death through execution. 56 Blacks who were accused of being part of Turner’s slave rebellion were also executed. The white militias, who reacted with violence, beat and killed two hundred blacks. In addition, legislators came up with discriminatory laws to deny slaves education (Douglas 199).
Some slaves opted to use or enact violent rebellions because they were denied the rights to assembly by their masters and as such, there was no official communication. The were no channels of communication that the black slaves could have used to address their grievances to the white masters and therefore, the other slaves so that the only way they could make their voices heard was through the use of violent rebellions.
Some slaves like Fredrick Douglas opted to take a different path, that instead of organizing violent revolts, he opted to escape to another country. Fredrick Douglas opted that escaping was the only way out of slavery because unlike the other slaves, he was did not know his father or mother and therefore he was not bound by any blood relative that could have made him to stay at the white masters farm as a slave. The turning point in Fredrick Douglas’s life that led him to take the path he took was that it gave him a chance to become well educated and later got the opportunity against the effects and inhuman conditions faced by slavery. He fought for the rights of the blacks and slaves and therefore became a strong crusader who championed for the end of Slavery in the West.
The choice which was taken by Fredrick Douglas, though risk was the best since it enabled him to expose the inhuman acts which were being committed to the slaves back at the place he came from to the outside world. Unlike, Gabriel and Nat Turner, Fredrick Douglas was lucky to make a daring escape from the white masters and later on lived to tell the story. On the other hand, the choices taken by Nat Turner and Gabriel though in the first place had good intentions of speaking against the intolerant acts of the white masters later on emend tragically because it only led to their deaths and the prosecution of their followers. On the other hand, Gabriel and Nat Turner’s revolts made the white masters to be very aware that indeed, the blacks were dissatisfied by the conditions they had exposed them to. Turner’s rebellion led to the support of a policy which was very repressive against the black slaves, that of being slaves but free.
Turner’s choice of using violence was meant as a way to awaken the attitudes of the white masters to the reality of the imminent brutality they were unleashing to the black slaves. Turner later claimed that his intention was to actually cause terror and alarm among the white masters. Therefore unlike Gabriel and Turner’s choices which involved deaths, Fredrick Douglas’s choice included no bloodshed and therefore can be termed as being a safe option (Douglas195).
Slavery and slaveholding impacted negatively on the behavior and Psyche of both the Northerners and Southerners because they knew that the black people were a minority group which was best suited for slavery. Indeed, the backs were not referred to be human beings but rather meant to be slaves and be used for slave holding in their entire livelihoods. The white Americans looked down upon the blacks and therefore based on their race, the black slaves were constantly harassed and intimidated by their white masters. The white Americans therefore knew that the relationships between them and the blacks was that of the Master and the slave. The white Americans therefore positively responded to the slave trade and therefore saw it as a good channel to enrich themselves at the expense of the black slaves (Foner 287).
There was different types and transformations among the slaveholders based on their understanding of people based on their race. Some white Americans who thought that slavery as very inhuman and that the black slaves were normal beings just like them were less violent in their treatment of the slaves. The other white Americans on the other hand, who saw that slavery was indeed descend and that there was no equality between the Whites and the blacks resorted to the use of violence and horrific brutality in their treatment of the blacks. (Douglas 215).
The idea of slavery induced some of the white non-slaveholders into positions of compassion and moral outrage since they saw that the rights of the black slaves were being trampled on by their white masters and therefore sough an end of this indecent human acts. The non-slave holders saw it as morally wrong for their slave holders to trample on the rights of the slaves.
The white non-slaves in the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas who were the non-slave holders included people such as Mr. and Mrs. Auld, the little white boys, Rev. Daniel Weeden, Rev. Rigby Hopkins and Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Johnson on New Bedford were the ones who were against the idea of slavery and therefore openly ran into moral outrage to condemn their slave-holding counterparts. On the other hand, Mr. Plummer, Mr. William C. Coffin, Mr. Severe and Mr. William Freeland and Mr. Edward Covey were the white non-slaves who were the slaveholders and therefore constantly harassed and denied the black slaves their rights.
The institution of slavery and the society produced drove the slave holding whites into their brutal behavior because before the start of the slave trade, the society was very calm and very little cases of harassment and intimidation were reported. It was only after the introduction of slave trade that brutality was very rampant among the white slave holders. Therefore, it was slavery that drove these white slave holders into practicing brutality. Brutality would have been uncommon if in the first place slavery was not their. Therefore the brutal behavior of the white slave holders was not within them but it was only activated after introduction of the institution of slavery.
The slave holding whites are indeed the ones who created the society of the slaves and the products of this society were indeed the slaves themselves. The slave holding whites created the slave society because they continually upheld this illegal trade in people and totally refused to hear the advice of their white non slaves. In this case therefore they were the creators while the slaves were the products of the slave community or society (Douglas 225).
Brutality was based on racism during the society of slavery since no whites were subjected to the hard labor and discrimination which was being practiced by the white Americans. People were segregated according to their race and skin color and this remained the major factor to determine who became the slave and who became the master. In almost all cases, the blacks became the slaves while the whites became the masters.
The varying behaviors of the slaves and slave-holders tell us that human beings are the same before God and therefore should be treated fairly and justly regardless of their color, sex and race in generally. Their varying behaviors indicate that all people are equal before the eyes of God. Fredrick Douglas knew that the black people are always born Christians and suggested that it was his wish that the government and the law respected the religion of other people not according to color and sex but according to equality.
Works Cited
Douglas, Fredrick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. New York: Dover, 1995.
Foner, Eric. “Gabriel’s Rebellion”. New York: Norton, 2009.
The book, The Known World, is a commendable piece of literature By Edwards P. Jones. It paints a realistic picture of “antebellum Virginia” where the tradition of keeping slaves was in full swing. (ReviewsOfBooks.com, n.d.). The number of slaves a master owned, the vainer he felt. The story is based in a period of time when the culture of slavery was not at its climax. It is clearly elucidated in the book some of the African American slaves, although fewer in number, were freed.
The book presents a very interesting and rather strange case of a master named, Henry Townsend. It unusualness lies in the fact that Townsend was an African American master unlike most of the masters in Virginia or for that matter, in United States. Only white masters were heard of in those times.
There is another element of uncommonness in the story. Although the times were changing and the African American slaves owned by white masters were being released, the salves remained somewhat an outcast and it was difficult, if not impossible, for them to climb up the rungs of the ladder of social and economic class hierarchy. The slaves were remained in the custody of the white masters received the same treatment as that of bondage slaves. However, the book presents a story of an African American master, Townsend, who himself was a slave once, and owned slaves and treated them with kindness and sympathy (Deusner, 2003).
Henry Townsend himself was a slave. He was freed by his white master, William Robbins. The master had a “fatherly affection” for him. It can be said that if it was not for Robbins, it would have been difficult for Townsend to reach the status of a master and own slaves of his own (Deusner, 2003).
Townsend was freed when he was a teenager. He worked hard as a “leather worker and boot maker” to earning a living. Saving on the living he earned for himself, he able to own a farm and generate more income for himself. Later, the wealth he had accumulated over years bore fruit. His sheer passion for work and great efforts paid off and he was able to build himself a house (Deusner, 2003). This is where the path to his journey to masterhood.
What is interesting to note is that despite being an important character in the story, Henry Townsend is shown to be dead in the very beginning. In fact, the story begins at a point when Townsend had passed away. The book demonstrates the power of a dead character who influences the lives of many around him.
The story depicts the lives of the slaves after their master, Townsend, is dead. There are a number of different elements and aspects of the lives of characters arise as the story proceeds. Nonetheless, the fundamental gist remains that the slaves find it difficult to earn a social reputation for themselves.
The book is a beautiful representation of pre-war life in Virginia and how the widespread tradition of masters keeping slaves affected the lifestyle the society. The entire story is well-conceived and well-written. In fact, it is more like a book which illustrates historical evidence. The story actually provides a deep insight into the lives as well as the minds of the people of Virginia in old times. Jones’ collaboration of ideas and a thoughtful concept amalgamated into a single book is definitely praiseworthy.
It is due to this amazing portrayal of the life in Virginia before the war that the book has received many awards and rewarding critic reviews. The author has earned much recognition and admiration for himself not only in the literary world but also by an entourage of enthusiastic readers.
Formalist Criticism
The concept and the tradition of slavery and the treatment given to the slaves have been given pivotal focus. They build the very foundation on which the entire story of the book is laid. The different characters and the plots have been molded accordingly to portray a true-to-life scenario and lifestyle of Virginia prior to the war.
The plight of the slaves, especially those of African American ones, has been skillfully expressed throughout the book. The slaves, despite being freed at the will of their masters or breaking the bondage themselves, were, in reality, near able to eliminate the oppression imposed on them by the society. The greatest victims were the African American downtrodden class who suffered at the hands of the whites.
The book illustrates states a concept that the manner in which the slaves or the subjugated strata of society are dealt with depends a lot on the masters. Henry Townsend was fortunate enough to have a master who helped him rose to the status of a master himself. Townsend also believed in treating his slaves with kindness.
It is well purported in the book that the slaves wanted to break from the bondage. The more brutally they were treated, the more rebellious and stubborn they became. Even those who were being treated well by their masters did not want to live under the umbrella of a downtrodden class. They wanted to breathe free and be independent. They tried in whichever way they could to end the social stigma surrounding them and their social status. The slaves who were freed by their masters, often, were faced with a glass ceiling which prevented them from elevating their economic standing.
The story depicts the trauma, the anguish and the difficulties faced by many lives over a period of a lot of years. (ReviewsOfBooks.com, n.d.). The characters in the book have all been so tactically represented that they do draw real-life sketches of the ups and downs faced by the different members of the society in Virginia in the old days.
The book states that there were 34 African American families in 1855 in the Manchester County of Virginia which were freed. However, only 8 of those families were able to rise to the level of social status hierarchy where they could afford to own slaves. (Jones, 2006, p. 7). This is evidence enough that the African American slaves found it rather difficult to break free from the bondage of their masters and in case, they were able to get freed, it was not easy for them elevate their social and financial position.
When Henry Townsend passed away, his wife, Caldonia, took the charge of the farms. She tried her level best to ensure that the plantation was well-tended by the slaves. However, her grief and sorrow over the death of her beloved husband has been overwhelming. Despite the fact, the slaves were treated with much kindness by the Townsend family, they wanted to remove the label of slavery imposed them. This is a marvelous reflection of human nature. People would always want to be climb up the ladder of social and economic hierarchy and would always look for greener pastures.
Townsend’s death provided the slaves with an “opportunity” to break free from the reign of masterhood. They started to run away at night to break free from the bondage of slavery. Caldonia becomes helpless and the hope and love with which Townsend had built the farms starts to shatter with the passage of time.
The entire state of Virginia also faces an immense upheaval. As the slaves try to untie the knot of bondage, the white masters begin to feel that they are rebelling against them. A kind of resentment and anger brews up against the slaves who have served the whites for several years. In fact, some of the slave families had been serving their respective white masters since generations. Therefore, the white masters hire white patrollers to keep an eye on the slaves and fetch back those who run away.
As the patrollers are themselves low-paid, they find an opportunity in this. They start catching freed African American slaves and presenting them to white masters. In fact, it can be said that a kind of a mafia is created which engages in trafficking of freed African American and bringing them back to the world of slavery (Fantastic Fiction, 2007). Therefore, it is right to say that a vicious circle engulfs the lives of the African Americans who, despite tremendous efforts, are not able to live the lives of free men and earn a reputation and financial standing for themselves in the society. They are faced with many hurdles in their path to elevating their social status and economic position. Fate has been very unfair to them.
Conclusion
The story provides an enlightening insight into the lives of slaves particularly African American ones. The bondage of slavery is so overwhelming that those who have fallen prey to it found it rather difficult to elevate their social and economic status. The downtrodden class remains an outcast unless the masters consider them to be people having emotions and desires, and helps them achieve their dreams.
Works Cited
Jones, E. P., 2006, The Known World: A Novel, Amistad, Connecticut.
Deusner, S. M. “The Known World” Pop Matters. 2003.
“The Known World by Edward P. Jones” ReviewsOf Books.com. 2007.
Indiana is the first novel written by Amantine Aurore Dupin under the pseudonym George Sand and published in 1832. The author is particularly known for her rustic novels addressing several significant themes typical for nineteenth-century novelistic issues. In her novel about love and marriage, Sand raises a variety of central themes of that time society, including the line of slavery both from the protagonist’s perspective and the French colonial slavery. The central themes are revealed under the masterful combination of “conventions of romanticism, realism, and idealism” (Pollard 2). Moreover, considering that the main events are set partly in the French colony of Réunion, Sand managed to embody descriptions of the colony based on the travel writing of her friend Jules Néraud. With a particular focus on the metaphoric portrayal of the French wives’ slavery, Sand raises the critical questions of colonial slavery in terms of the national colonial history. Therefore, this essay aims to examine the issues of female enslavement through the historical context of one of the greatest slave-trading and slave-owning nations at that time.
The Analysis of the Protagonists
First, it is crucial to analyze the main character of the novel to better understand all the topics emanating from the protagonist’s vision and time of living. Indiana embodies a “weak heroine” who is passed from the control of one man, her father, to another man, her husband, throughout her life (Pollard 2). Even though Indiana holds the belief that women do not belong to men and should be allowed to live independently, she still relies on a man to save her from her marriage. However, he later involves her in another controlling relationship. Within her literature oeuvre, Sand embodies the variety of female characters in her novels that are all united by being inspired to a certain degree by the experience of the writer herself. Most importantly, it was a typical nineteenth-century environment for female writers who suffered under the patriarchy.
George Sand created a female character who is prohibited from being a revolutionary because she is too suppressed ever to have the ability to share her boundary-breaking values. There is a strong parallel between the protagonist and the writer herself, including the unhappy marriages, desire for freedom, and separation. Sand’s personal experience influenced the writing of the novel as she penned Indiana’s onerous journey out of the married life. Sand let her female character possess many attributes typical for “Romantic heroine,” although Indiana’s vulnerability demonstrates that women were not allowed to be heroes due to “female enslavement in the Romantic tradition and reality” (Pollard 21). Indiana is portrayed as a disempowered female by the societal boundaries of the nineteenth century and a woman enslaved to her husband. Nonetheless, she remains hoping that her only salvation is another man who can save her from enslavement. With this said, Sand depicts Indiana as an enslaved aspiring revolutionary, although with contradictory views and hopes, and blames the society that shaped her fate.
Understanding the Historical Context of the Novel
Apart from the women’s enslavement and its metaphoric equation in the novel, the scholars emphasize the peculiarities of the colonial content and context presented in the piece. Indiana is born and raised in a slave colony, and, thus, she is not only a slave as a woman but also has a strong linkage to “slavery as an institution” (Yuqiu 51). More specifically, the analysis of the themes concerning creolization, race, and border crossing, help understand the novel from both ideological and aesthetic frameworks. Yuqui suggests regarding the story as the experience of a group of transplanted colonial subjects in France in terms of the relationship between the trio of protagonists, including Indiana, Ralph, and Noun. Slavery is perceived as Indiana’s reality and a functional paradigm of the society she is brought up in. In addition, the Creole nation, the descendant of slaves, enslaved workers, and European colonists, manifested a radical difference from the Frenchness. For this reason, it can be said that Sand attempted to incorporate the sociopolitical concern of bringing the Creole people back to metropole while fighting the slave trade. Hence, according to many researches, Indiana highlights the national problem of emancipating the colonial subjects in the same way it illustrates the issue of liberating domestic women.
George Sand was called one of the most political women of her time, which marks her awareness of the salient points of the slavery issue and Empire, which established her prolific writing career. The skillful use of the metaphor of slavery by Sand in Indiana is distinct for its specific approach. The author develops the correlation between the oppressed slaves and equivalently oppressed wives in the colonial framework. By doing so, Sand provided reinforced meaning to the common metaphor of married females as slaves and focused on the complex relations confining gender and race. Furthermore, the writer brings a complete sense of slavery theme into the direct link with the real enslavement of blacks.
The institution of slavery remained a central theme in the literature and political discussions in the first half of the nineteenth century in France. George Sand was a prominent figure in French literature for being the strongest believer in the liberation from oppression among women of her time. However, instead of directly addressing slavery in her writings, the author used it as a metaphor to depict the tyranny of different degrees and types. The central historical fact underlying the issue of slavery in the nineteenth-century novels includes the restoration of slavery in 1802 by the about to be crowned emperor Napoleon. Such a historical turning point marked the time of approximately half of the century more labor, suffering, and early death for an enormous number of enslaved blacks. Slavery was terminated in the French colonies with the emancipation decree penned by Victor Schoelcher.
Creole Emancipation in Indiana
Despite the accustomed perceptions on the Anglo-American portrayal of slavery, there is a clear juxtaposition between the Creole people and Frenches, or more particularly, Parisians. As described by Powell and Pratima, Sand wrote the novel with a deep feeling of “horror and beastly enslavement” (41). However, the bondage in her vision is associated with the restricted, limited status of married French women. Indiana’s theme of slavery is concerned with the inequitable position of the French woman in marriage, family, and society in general. Sand managed to convey the voice of the protests for female liberation when brutal oppression of women and the leading role of men. George Sand was a radical feminist of the nineteenth century; however, even the author had to use a male pseudonym because male writers were far more respected than female ones. With this in mind, the topic of slavery in Indiana has to be analyzed through the lens of the time when it was created and the writer’s primary goal and message to the readers.
The notions of being a woman, a wife, and a slave are highly intertwined throughout the novel. Indiana was “brought up in the wilds” and was “living surrounded by slaves whom she could help only with her pity and her tears” (Sand 51). As such, the emancipation of slaves appears as a natural development of Indiana’s slavery from the bondage of her marriage to Colonel Delmare. The protagonist herself condemns this type of slavery after the night spent at her lover’s home: “I know I’m the slave and you’re the lord” (Sand 176). Indiana also claims how the society at that time encouraged deeply embedded female oppression: “You have the right of the stronger one, and society confirms you in it” (Sand 176). Sand created her novel during the time when republican France emancipated its colonial slaves, and, therefore, she asserted that women are slaves as a matter of principle. As it can be seen, the colonial history of slavery in the French Empire in the nineteenth century plays a pivotal role in defining the concept of slavery and its extension through the main protagonist.
It starts from the French transition to an elected government in the early 1790s and the renewed slavery subjection by Napoleon. Such critical historical events echo through the main events occurring in Indiana. The conversation about the false liberties promised to colonial subjects in France is grounded in the scene where Indiana confronts Raymon about the Noun’s death, a Negro Indian female. Raymon vigorously interprets Noun’s death, initially Noun’s suicide because of Raymon, as a “loving self-sacrifice” (Powell ad Pratima 45). Indiana yet allows herself to be a slave in the hands of her lover, Raymon, as she says, “It’s me. It’s your Indiana. It’s your slave..”, “I am your property, you are my master…”(Sand 231-232). Raymond failed to recognize his Creole mistress as a human being and was unable to acknowledge his paternal obligations for their unborn child. The era of the late 1820s marks the time of the Napoleonic restoration of France, which revealed that the broad emancipation of French slaves was an empty promise akin to the one of Raymon addressed to Indiana.
Understanding the historical context of Creole emancipation and the general governmental approach to reinforcing slavery in French colonies is crucial in studying George Sand’s novel. Within the text, these key historical moments of slavery reflect in Indiana, although they are enhanced with the metaphoric undertone of female enslavement. The colonial history in Sand’s piece helps obtain information of the transnational arrangement of the author’s domestic fiction. The recurrent episodes of misinterpretation of Creole people in Indiana identify the fate of freed colonial subjects in relation to the fates of metropolitan women. Such a writing strategy helps explore how both of these destinies are sentenced to passive citizenship, as well as deceptive patterns of liberty. As a prominent writer of her time, Sand was well-aware of the French restoration government, which only excused the fraudulent slave trade. It also prohibited divorces to falsely revive marriage in the interest of religion and monarchy, and its established oppressing morals.
The Issue of Slavery in the Sand’s Novel
Therefore, George Sand’s perspective on the theme of slavery merits particular consideration since it can be regarded as a critical element in the trilateral structure of race, class, and gender, which defines her literary heritage. Sand’s writing career begins only in the 1830s; however, she refers to slavery during the time of the First Empire in her novels. As such, the author asserts the absolute incompatibility between despotism and freedom and Napoleon’s connection with dictatorship. Hence, Indiana marks a crucial step in the literature guided by temperament and political conviction towards the Empire and monarchy of George Sand. Concerning the critics’ opinion about Sand’s novel, many argue that there is a strong correlation between women’s oppression in marriage and the general issue of slavery in the French colonies.
For instance, Rogers states that Indiana managed to embody the subjection of married women and its relation to the institution of slavery (Pollard). This can be traced in the similar lack of education of women and blacks and their corresponding absence of power under the legislation. In addition, Kadish focused on Indiana and Ralph’s choice at the end of the novel to live away from the island with white colonists (Pollard). As a result, they dedicated themselves to help the black slaves. Such a viewpoint on the text presents the case for defining Noun as a woman of color, whose servant’s status reflects the position of a slave. With this in mind, the characters’ representation by George Sand incorporates a clear judgment of slavery, affecting both blacks and women in the novel. The author also attempts to connect all the major points to Napoleon, together with the antislavery policies of the First Empire.
Furthermore, Indiana takes a special place in the literary research in recent decades, particularly for highlighting the metaphoric issue of slavery. Many researchers analyze the role of slavery “as a figurative discursive practice” in the first novel of George Sand, Indiana. According to Okoli, the scholars note the repetition of such a metaphor in the book, thus, manifesting “the institutionalized oppression of women on many levels in nineteenth-century France” (201). For instance, Okoli examines Indiana as a fictional message of colonialism and rhetoric.
By discursively employing the enslaved condition as a developed metaphor for oppressed females, including the protagonist, the writer enhances the racial conversations and enthusiasm of a colonialist ethos. The culminating point of the novel, based on the romanticized representation of French Empires-utopia on the island of Bernica, serves as a space of personal emancipation for white Creole lovers, including Indiana and Ralph. Summing up, the ideological ground deepened in Sand’s feminist idealism in the main female character partially depends upon the privileges of the “imperial capitalist reverie” (Okoli 205). The latter is strongly associated with the currency exchange, labor, and black bodies as portable possession at the heart of the expansion of the French Empire.
Metaphorical Undertone of the Slavery
Indiana embodies a much deeper meaning of slavery as a metaphor of gendered power structures, rather than illustrating the institution of colonial slavery. For instance, Jenson states that the exaggerated analogy of the cruelty towards white married women to lifelong and racially biased enslavement can be perceived as a “problematically narcissistic end” (Okoli 204). Moreover, the enslaved population presented in the novel serves more as an additional element of colonial scenery. This can be explained by the author’s primary aim to critically demonstrate the gendered power relations oppressive to French females, whether in the colonies or on the continent. Sand represents Indiana as an archetypal woman under siege, mirroring the universalism’s commencement essential to the French republican ideal. Therefore, in the symbolic context of slavery, Sand’s approach to depicting the protagonists as the expected manifestation of universal feminine experience can impact the specific exclusion of certain groups of women. This also refers to the struggles of enslaved and colonized women of color as vulnerable components of the Empire.
The distinct experience of slavery in world history was adjusted into a narrative about the universal feminine issue through the writer’s abstraction. Based on the analysis above, it can be argued that the core of the conversations about slavery within the novel applies the enslavement as a metaphor for Indiana’s position as an oppressed woman. The theme of captivity can be seen as “the material reality of slavery” only as an environmental component of the colonies aimed to reflect upon Indiana’s establishment as a feminine subject (Okoli 206). However, slavery represents an inevitable environmental factor, which continuously affects the protagonist of Indiana and shapes the sentimental education of this “cœur de femme” (Sand 162). In this case, the metaphorical interpretation of enslavement serves as a decorative and captivating element, the definition of Indiana’s willing slavery to desire and love. The protagonist is indeed not a slave in real life; however, her subjugation to the rooted male dominance and power remains a lasting point of feminist conflict in the novel.
George Sand adheres to a feminist rhetorical approach in illustrating the theme of slavery in the novel, wherein it is primarily liable to the gendered experiences of the white female body. The characters marked as black interpret and enhance apprehensions of race in the nineteenth century in France and French colonies to preserve the socio-economic structures of the Empire. To be more specific, the rhetorical manipulation of slavery as a general discursive ware of the French civil activists of that time is deprived of any obscure political impetus for abolition. It is also important to note that the metaphor of domestic slavery is inherently linked to the examination of the Creole characterization because Sand made her heroine a Creole mainly to reinforce such metaphor. The symbol of women’s enslavement is enhanced with the metonymic depiction of a wife surrounded by slaves, forming the relationship of proximity developing on its own in the novel.
The Differentiations of Creoleness
In the novel, Sand incorporated the multiracialism of two Creole women in the story, Indiana and Noun. Most importantly, there is a definite and robust distinction concerning the acceptance and attitudes toward “Creoleness” of European and non-European origin in the metropole (Yuqiu 52). The author illustrated the complex mechanism of how the metropole dealt with its colonial subjects through the lens of racial bias and established slavery. To be more specific, the multiracial dimension of the Creole population should be critically acknowledged within the novel since it is deeply grounded throughout the book and defines the society of the nineteenth century in France. Two Creole characters are ongoingly contrasted with the French women; however, a poor coherence in depicting the typical features of Indiana and Noun inevitably reveals the ambiguity of the authentic notion of Creoleness. Sand conveyed a message of colonial sexuality through Raymond’s desire of both Creole females, reflecting metropolitan France’s allure to such fantasy.
At the same time, the novel highlights the importance of differentiating the Creole natives of European descent and the Creoles of African and Asian lineage. On the Île Bourbon, which serves as Indiana’s native island, the notion of Creoleness is considered a “malleable concept for the colonists,” encompassing hierarchy (Yuqiu 53). The French identity embodied by Indiana is reinforced by the island’s conservatives and represents the embedded construction of the authentic Frenchness. Indiana’s origin is perceived as the “pure essence of France,” rather than a cross-culturalism product, which remains untainted on the island in the Indian ocean (Yuqiu 53). In contrast, Noun is another Creole character, but with a different background, she is the descendant of slaves. Noun is the offspring of the indentured workers and European colonists, and, thus, she symbolizes the maximum contrast from the concept of Frenchness.
As it can be seen, Indiana is easily recognized as French, although her father is Spanish and her mother is of an unknown origin. Instead, Noun is not presumed French in the novel, which keeps the descendant of slaves in some state of uncertainty regarding her nationality. Therefore, one can argue that the Creole female of non-European background, whether of African or Asian ethnicity, is assumed undesirable. Moreover, she is commonly presented as a dreadful character enhanced by this accepted vision of slaves in nineteenth-century society. Consequently, the underlying love triangle in the plot between Raymond, Indiana, and Noun, represents a new extent of meaning. More specifically, Yuqiu states that Sand employs a “deep structure of metropolitan France’s differential conceptualization” of its subjects under colonial status together with the racial groups (54). Such a structure is based on Raymond’s encounters with two Creole women, representing a pure and genuine Frenchness of the man.
Underlying Racism as the Catalyst for Slavery
Racial connotations and racialized criteria take a special place in defining the manifestations of slavery in Indiana. The deeply entrenched racism in that time society can be seen in Raymond’s behavior towards Noun and his cruel abandonment of her as a mistress with an unborn child. The racism is enhanced when Raymond shows his preference toward Indiana instead of staying responsible for his clandestine encounter with Noun. In addition, Raymond gives Noun a characteristic of a Negro and an Indian, and, thus, he acknowledges the missing “element of European descent” in Noun’s cultural background (Powell and Pratima 47). Instead, this lacking component defines Indiana and marks the reason for Raymond’s preference of her as a lover.
The Sand’s perspective on slavery and its illustration in the novel merits particular attention as a crucial element in the trilateral system of race, class, and gender. These are the features that define George Sand’s oeuvre and her contribution to the literature of the nineteenth century. The author aimed to promote the humanitarian ideas that would later delineate her writing. One should note that the literature about black people from the 1820s formed many fundamental ties between “race and other forms of oppression” (Powell and Pratima 47). Indiana entails race-based enslavement, involving the representatives of different cultural backgrounds and biased societal considerations accordingly. The novel requires enhanced social importance despite the metaphorical quotations and race and slavery in terms of the real issues of race and human bondage.
However, Raymon’s confusion of Indiana with Noun might be regarded as the author’s attempt to blur the lines of racial determinacy in the text. Sand possibly wanted to destroy racial representation essential to colonialist discourse and social structures of that time. The novel presents many racially ambiguous evocations of the “Creoleness concept” (Yuqiu 53). Nevertheless, Indiana remains laden with discussions about biologically defined race, including Ralph’s Creole mix of inherently Spanish and English traits. Colonial perceptions of race dealt with the concerns of racially mixed Creoles while, at the same time, they continued to hold on to their faith in the integral partition of “black” from “white” and related austere racial classifications.
The False Liberties
The Creole character, Indiana, created by George Sand, is captured in the domestic space, wherein she straddles between the feminine ideal and female deviance. Indiana is depicted as both unfaithful and pure in terms of her ignorance of “French domestic freedom” (Powell and Pratima 50). By examining the novel through the prism of Creole representation, one may trace the important role of the debates regarding colonial slavery and imperial nationhood in the nineteenth century. The literature piece by Sand aimed to revise the domestic standards on the side of women through women as a nation. Sand managed to provoke the political responsibility for colonial enslavement and domestic norms established by society.
Furthermore, Indiana examines the system of European laws of nationhood and family institution by including Creole characters in the urban environment and homes and recording the failure of Creole assimilation. In her novel, Sand reevaluates the “female virtue and imperial national identity,” which directly depends on Noun’s death, who is a Creole (Yuqiu 53). Despite all the historical facts regarding the governmental policies advocating for full political and civil rights of people of color, such core principles of philanthropy remained only a theory within the colonial territories. These false liberties promised to colonial subjects in France in the 1830s pervade the final encounter between Indiana and Raymon. In general terms, Restoration France during Napoleon’s reign revealed the joint emancipation of French slaves to remain an empty promise. When Raymon was unable to recognize the Creole woman, the novel proved the displacement of slaves in France.
Understanding the recurring scenes of Creole misrecognition in the novel has a direct linkage to comprehending the theme of slavery and Sand’s multiple approaches to employ it in the text. Such a misinterpretation of a particular cultural background connects the “fates of freed colonial subjects to the metropolitan women” in Indiana (Powell and Pratima 54). The deeply inserted female enslavement through the novel and the lives of Indiana, Noun, and purely French women, demonstrates how they are convicted to such passive citizenship. They are unable to be free and independent subjects in the established marriage system based on patriarchal order and are failed to be recognized for their national identity. It only doubles the experience of being a slave from two different perspectives: being a slave as it is commonly perceived in that time society and being a slave under the husband’s control and marital restrictions. With this being said, Sand’s striking novel identifies the brutal inscriptions of the term free (libre) within a French law and regulations in the nineteenth century after the first French Revolution.
Understanding the Fundamental Slavery in the Novel
George Sand managed to write both a romantic novel and suppressed revolutionary piece using her protagonist as the oppressed French-Creole female attempting to fight for her rights, although contradicting her own self. Another character, Noun, shows the historical undertone of the real slavery recognition in the French society of that time. Sand created the powerful feminist novel that confronted the position of a woman in the society and family and the socio-political ideals that ensured such a position. A narrator clearly states that “woman is naturally foolish” to clarify Indiana’s naive behavior (Sand 192). The author reasonably used a male narrator with a sexist worldview to reveal the established adverse statements about French women, Creole women, and women in general.
Therefore, the novel reveals the male power over oppressed women, referring to females’ weakness based on emotional, physical, and mental aspects. Society has critically failed in empowering and recognizing women by restricting their gender roles. As such, Sand demonstrated a woman trapped in “violent slavery to her husband and society,” justifying women’s subservience to men as an expected natural occurrence (Yuqiu 55). This fundamental disagreement between the grounded attitude towards females and Indiana’s rebellious spirit asserts the vivid feminist motivations behind George Sand’s writings.
Conclusion
By analyzing the central theme of slavery and its multiple perspectives presented in Sand’s novel Indiana, one can state that the novel serves as a social critique of females’ disempowerment. The author attempted to reveal the social injustice of women’s condition in the nineteenth-century society in France. Being a strong feminist herself, Sand created an influential piece based on the radical contradictions of the revolutionary protagonists who failed to act as one. Indiana was fighting against female enslavement; however, she allowed her lover to be considered a slave. Together with the consistent allusions to blacks’ slavery, Sand reveals how the fundamental societal values fail to address the issue of justice, equality, and freedom in the marital and colonial environment. For this reason, the illustrated escape from the restricting and abusive society, Sand’s work became a phenomenal feminist piece, brave enough for the nineteenth-century literature.
References
Okoli, K. Adele. ““Que ne sommes-nous assez riches”: Colonialist Reverie in George Sand’s Indiana.” Nineteenth-Century French Studies, vol. 44 no. 3, 2016, pp. 201–217. Project MUSE. Web.
Pollard, Delaney. George Sand and Her Heroines: Boundary-Breaking Women in the Age of Romanticism. 2020. Baylor University, Honors Thesis.
Powell, David A., and Pratima Prasad. Approaches to Teaching Sand’s Indiana. Modern Language Association, 2016.
Sand, George. Indiana. Oxford University Press, 2001 (first published 1832).
Yuqiu, Meng. “Continue Recanonizing Sand: Creolizing Indiana.” European Journal of Literature and Linguistics, no. 4, 2019, pp. 51–55. Web.