IB2 English Literature
Toni Morrison Beloved Slavery
Context • Morrison’s novel is a slave narrative • The novel was written in 1987 • The novel is set in o 1873-4 – the narrative present (after the abolition of slavery) and o 1855 – the narrative past (before the abolition of slavery)
• The novel begins with the dedication Sixty million and more. • This is a reference to the number of people affected by slavery. It includes those who died on the forced crossing from Africa to North America (known as the ‘middle passage’). • Slaves began being transported to North America in the sixteenth century. Conditions were horrendous.
But the circumstances which struck us most forcibly was how it was possible for such a number of human beings to exist, packed up and wedged together as tight as they could cram, in low cells three feet high, the greater part of which , except that immediately under the grated hatchways, was shut out from light or air ... The space between decks was divided into two compartments 3 feet 3 inches high; the size of one was 16 feet by 18 and of the other 40 by 21; into the first were crammed the women and girls, into the second the men and boys ... Giving to the whole an average of 23 inches and to each of the women not more than 13 inches. Extract from Aboard a Slave Ship, 1829
It was not surprising that they should have endured much sickness and loss of life in their short passage. They had sailed from the coast of Africa on the 7th of May and had been out but seventeen days, and they had thrown overboard no less than fifty-five, who had died of dysentery and other complaints in that space of time, though they had left the coast in good health. Indeed, many of the survivors were seen lying about the decks in the last stages of emaciation and in a state of filth and misery not to be looked at. Extract from Aboard a Slave Ship, 1829
"Aloft all hands, strike the top-masts and belay; Yon angry setting sun and fierce-edged clouds Declare the Typhon's coming. Before it sweeps your decks, throw overboard The dead and dying - ne'er heed their chains Hope, Hope, mistaken Hope! Where is thy market now?“ Turner - 1812
Zong Massacre, 1781 • The Zong was a British slave ship. The journey from Africa was prolonged by bad weather, meaning the captain had an increasing number of dead and dying in his cargo hold. • If he delivered the slaves and they died onshore the Liverpool shipowners would get nothing, • However, if they died at sea they were covered by the ship's insurance. In law the slaves would be considered cargo: the ‘jettison clause’ covered their loss at £30 a head. • 122 sick slaves were thrown over the side. Another ten, defying the slavers, threw themselves overboard and in the words of a contemporary account, ‘leaping into the sea, felt a momentary triumph in the embrace of death’. • No officers or crew were charged or prosecuted for the deliberate killing of 122 slaves. The Solicitor General, John Lee stated:
What is this claim that human people have been thrown overboard? This is a case of chattels or goods. Blacks are goods and property; it is madness to accuse these well-serving honourable men of murder. They acted out of necessity and in the most appropriate manner for the cause.
• Slaves were viewed as property and given names by their owners • They had no legal rights. • Slaves were considered as less than human, as little more than animals (as schoolteacher does in Beloved). • Slaves could not marry. Any children were the property of the owner, no matter who the father was. • Slaves were often violently abused; women were often raped by their owners.
Watch the clip from Amistad – what are your reactions? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgTGiWeRCWc
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/blackcodes/videos/frederick-douglas? m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false Find out how Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery to become one of the most respected and effective abolitionist leaders.
Read the different slave narratives, answer the questions and feedback ideas In pairs sum up in one word how slaves were treated/viewed from the different sources that you have seen today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqbXOO3OiOs
20th century context: Jim Crow Laws and Segregation • Laws enacted in the U.S. between 1876 and 1965. • The situation was worse in the South, where black people were effectively denied the vote, and faced much violence, for example from the Ku Klux Klan. • There was widespread racial segregation.
Toni Morrison • http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=awsan0a9JDc