Twelve Years a Slave: Examining Pain & Suffering in Black Life - Essay Sample

Introduction

Pain and suffering are unpleasant physical and emotional sensations caused by injuries or mentally disturbed. The discomfort leads to the agony which interns causes and emotional disturbance to an individual; hence it is not a wanting sensation in life. The Twelve Years a Slave is a book which was written by David Wilson. The book marks great importance for the analysis of using the pain and suffering notion to the black individual diversely and brutally. Thus this paper will categorically argue on the imbalanced usage of pain and suffering in the story of Twelve Years a Slave.

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Pain and Suffering as Demonstrated in the Case of Solomon Northup

The book reflects on the life of the main character Solomon Northup who was once a free man with a young family of wife and two children. Besides, his introduction to the white individual led to the beginning of severe pain and suffering in his life. According to (Zacek 166), "the sensation of pain and suffering began when John Tibeats tried to beat Solomon." To show an emotional impression, in this case, Northup attempted to defend himself by intern beating up Tribeats, who finally got him a noose around his neck (Martin et al. 163). The image brought in the notion of pain and suffering in the book creates a different impression about the whites to the black individuals in society.

Another scenario that caused pain and suffering to Solomon is the trade done to him by Ford to Edwin Epps, who is a slave owner. The attempts of Solomon to explain to the slave owner that he is a free man failed as he got a negative response from Edwin. Edwin said that he was too afraid of helping him. According to Cook "the pain and suffering of Solomon in this case based on emotional sensation (300). Solomon was once a free man but ended up getting owned as a slave who was an extreme scenario as he left his wife and children hopeless and helpless (Mueller et al. 146). The situations made the life of Solomon more difficult and complicated as a slave where Edds is more ruthless and crueller. Hence, according to (Zacek 166), "the scenario shows how depressive pain and suffering can be, which creates a negative feeling towards white individuals."

The notion of pain and suffering gets expound when Northup tries to mail his friend in New York to seek help. It was through the betrayal of Armsby that led to the suffering where he gave up Northup to Edds concerning the deal of the mail. The suffering point comes in when Edds approached Solomon with a knife threatening and questioning him concerning the letter (Mueller et al. 149). It emotionally disturbed Solomon as he had no right to communicate or try to seek refuge from a better individual. Northup finally convinced Edds that Armsby was lying, which secured and prevented him from being stubbed in the stomach. The pain gets expressed when he burned the letter to avoid Edwin from finding it, which made him emotionally disturbed as he had hoped to seek refuge from his friend (Martin et al. 165). It can get narrowed down that the pain of Solomon was a chronic one since he never expected such events to happen in his free life (Zacek 168). It further shows that white individuals were ruthless and inhumane, which creates undesirable opinions towards them.

When Solomon reunited with his family, he displays an emotional entry through tears and cries and sees his wife and two grown children. In this case, he showed that his disappearance was painful and full of suffering (Martin et al. 173). Also, his adult daughter presented her grandson and husband. Solomon apologized for his absent since his life journey became difficult at that time (Mueller et al. 154). The family showed an emotional response through comforting Solomon, who also revealed that, indeed, Solomon's journey was full of suffering and pain. In this case, the use of pain and suffering notion is not equal to the joy in the storyline (Cook 307). Hence, a storyline should have a balanced view in terms of pain and suffering and joy.

Pain and Suffering as Demonstrated in the Case of Patsey

In a different scenario, the most favored slave, Patsey, who met Northup, also shows the negative image of pain and suffering used in the story. The pain begins where she got raped by the ruthless Edds, which creates both physical and emotional agony when it comes to humanity (Mueller et al. 147). The pain continues when Edwin's wife jealously abused and humiliated Patsey, which was also an extreme scenario that is unpleasing. Patsey faced a significant challenge from the two individuals, which was inhumane and disturbed her entire life as a woman. According to (Zacek 167), "Pain and suffering notion, is displayed on a negative impression about the white individual, which shows mental anguish they create to the black individuals."

A different occasion of pain gets seen when Patsey tried to seek soap from the neighborhood and got caught by Edwin. The inhumane nature of Epps did not let Patsey have the soap, but interns lead to another brutal action done to her. Epps ordered Northup to whip Patsey, and he refused to abide by the command, which created an anger that leads to other undesirable actions (Mueller et al. 151). It caused an emotional sensation from the two individuals, Patsey and Solomon, but the situation worsened up as Edwin brutally whipped Patsey to near death. It was a painful event for the lady as she got critically injured by the cruel act of Edwin. The event was unpleasing that shows and created an undesirable ideology about the white individuals towards the back people. The pain continues as Solomon destroyed his violin in a range to express the sensation and feeling towards the act done to Patsey. It was an emotional discomfort for both Patsey and Northup that caused anger, pain, and anguish (Martin et al. 167).

Pain and Suffering as Demonstrated in the Case of Samuel Bass

In the story, Samuel Bass shows emotional pain through the sufferings of the slaves under the rule of Edwin. It made him take action to help Solomon send his letter to New York to seek refuge and get his life back as a free man. Bass still suffered psychological threats from Epps, which made him hesitate to help the slaves from the brutal act (Mueller et al. 153). Besides, the Sherriff came to the rescue by asking Solomon a few questions that could favor his statement concerning the New York life. It was an opportunity for Northup to express the pain and suffering he experienced in his slavery life, which was different from the past life in New York. The expressions were sorrowful and painful to hear, which add credit to his freedom and needs (Cook 304). Also, Solomon knew the Sherriff as a shopkeeper, which was an added advantage for him in achieving his desires (Martin et al. 170). Solomon wished Patsey a sorrowful farewell as he departed, which shows the emotional suffering of the slavery act in the story. The extreme use of pain and suffering notion in the story was unpleasing as it portrays undesirable perception about the white individuals in the society (Cook 305).

Conclusion

In summary, the paper discussed the notion of pain and suffering as used in the book of Twelve Years a Slave, which was not balanced accordingly. Solomon, the main character of the story, displays the notion of pain and suffering in different ways of his life journey. For instance, one of the scenarios that caused pain and suffering to Solomon is the trade done to him by Ford to Edwin Epps, who is a slave owner. However, the attempt of Solomon to explain to the slave owner that he is a free man failed as he got a negative response from Edwin. Also, the notion of pain and suffering is displayed in the case of Samuel Bass. For instance, Samuel Bass shows emotional pain through the sufferings of the slaves under the rule of Edwin. Hence, this made him take action to help Solomon send his letter to New York to seek refuge and get his life back as a free man. Bass still suffered psychological threats from Epps, which made him hesitate to help the slaves from the brutal act. The third notion of pain and suffering is demonstrated in the case of Patsey. The pain begins where she got raped by the ruthless Edds, which creates both physical and emotional agony. The pain continues when Edwin's wife jealously abused and humiliated Patsey. The pain and suffering of Solomon, Patsey and Samuel, in these cases, is based on emotional sensation. Moreover, Solomon was once a free man but ended up getting owned as a slave who was an extreme scenario as he left his wife and children hopeless and helpless. Thus, situations made the life of Solomon more difficult and complicated as a slave. Hence, the discussed scenarios of pain and suffering on Solomon categorically justify the argument. The notion of pain and suffering, as illustrated in the case of Patsey, indicated that she suffered brutal treatment from her master. In this case, the story needs to balance the notion of pain and suffering from the joy to show fairness and prevent negative perceptions and sentiments.

Works Cited

Cook, Matthew R. "Counter-narratives of slavery in the Deep South: the politics of empathy along and beyond River Road." Journal of Heritage Tourism 11.3 (2016): 290-308. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1743873X.2015.1100624

Martin, Debra L., and Ryan P. Harrod. "10 The Bioarchaeology of Pain and Suffering: Human Adaptation and Survival during Troubled Times." Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 27.1 (2016): 161-174.

Mueller, Jennifer C., and Rula Issa. "Consuming black pain: Reading racial ideology in cultural appetite for 12 Years A Slave." Race and Contention in Twenty-First Century US Media. Routledge, 2016. 139-155. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315676425/chapters/10.4324/9781315676425-18

Zacek, Natalie. "Mallipeddi, Ramesh, Spectacular Suffering: Witnessing Slavery in the Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016)." Emotions: History, Culture, Society 1.2 (2017): 166-168. https://brill.com/view/journals/ehcs/1/2/article-p166_166.xml