12 Years A Slave Review

                On Wednesday we watched the movie 12 Years A Slave. This was a movie based on Solomon Northrup's slave narrative. He was a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The story follows Solomon who is now a slave in the south, and is desperately trying to make his masters believe that he actually is a freeman. After 12 years as a slave, he is finally freed. This movie made me feel things I have never felt before. The following will be my reactions to certain scenes from the movie.

                The one thing that seems to surprise me the most, even though it probably shouldn't, is the kidnapping of Solomon. Solomon is originally a free man living with his family, and he plays the fiddle really well. He gets tricked by two men who get him drunk and sell him down south. This is when we see him become a slave. I was so surprised by this. I mean, I know that it was probably, and unfortunately, very common. I couldn't imagine being kidnapped and sold into slavery. I can't even fathom someone doing that to another human being. But I guess that back then African American weren't considered 'human beings.'

                The next major part of the movie that took me aback was the obvious jealousy of Patsey by Mrs. Epps. I knew that Patsey was the favored slave of Mr. Epps because she always picked the most cotton out of all of the slaves. He was also sexually attracted to her and would rape her. Mrs. Epps was very jealous of Patsey. There was one point when all of the slaves were dancing in the house and Mrs. Epps threw a decanter at Patsey and it hit her in the face. She automatically dropped to the floor and started crying in pain. The only thing I could think of at this point was about how often this happened.

                Another part of the movie that stood out to me is when Solomon was forced to whip Patsy. Patsey went to another plantation where Mrs. Shaw lived. Mrs. Epps wouldn't let her have soap, so she went to get soap and was heavily whipped for it. The only reason Patsey was even whipped in the first place is because Mrs. Epps made Mr. Epps do it. He didn't want to do it so he made Solomon do it. This is the part of the movie where it actually made me start to feel nauseous. You could see the blood flying off of Patey's body with every whip. Solomon tried not to hit her very hart but Mr. Epps threaten to beat him. I couldn't even imagine being forced to harm someone. It's just terrible.

                The last scene of the movie will always be in the back of my head and in my heart. It was after Solomon was rescued and reunited with his family. There is a moment where there is nothing but silence between Solomon and his family. It felt like a moment of disbelief. He couldn't believe that he was back with his family. He was so sure that he would die a slave. I actually started crying at this point. The reunion was absolutely beautiful.