Nightjohn Theme

“To know things, for us to know things, is bad for them. We to wanting and when we get to wanting it’s bad for them. They thinks we want what they got . . . . That’s why they don’t want us reading.” - Gary Paulsen, Nightjohn. Nightjohn is a story about a slave, Sarny. She meets a man called John and makes a deal with him. Sarny gave John tabacco, so John gave Sarny letters, words, how to read and write. The book informs you about some of the hardships slaves had to endure. Along with having a great story, Nightjohn has many themes that get you to think. A few of the themes that stuck with me are prejudice, freedom, and getting along with others. In Nightjohn, Clel Waller, the slave owner, thought that African American people were lesser and were made by God to be owned and used by white people. He thought this without any real proof that God truly thought this. He justified his actions through religion and discriminated against African Americans. It was horrible what he did in the book. A part of me wants to believe that people like him, who do violent thing to other people because of their prejudice, should be denied equal rights. They can be a danger to society. However, I would become the
Look on the news, Prejudice is everywhere. It wouldn’t be hard for you to find someone in your own life who has a prejudice against a group of people. One of my relatives has an extreme prejudice against people who are racist or homophobic. We take the freedom we have of being able to express our prejudice for granted. Again, if you look on the news it is easy to find an article about another country where you can’t express our beliefs openly. In addition, the way we got along with other is something we all can easily see, without the news. In your life there is someone you can point out that uses certain methods of getting people to be their friend. The story and themes of Nightjohn are something I doubt I will