Who Is Northup's Intended Audience?
Who is Northup’s audience? How might he had geared the lessons of the story to his intended audience?
The intended audience would be any person who fought for the abolition of slavery. The book is a memoir of slave Solomon Northup, who was originally a freeman in New York. After being tricked, kidnapped, and sold into slavery he had to endure years of torturous treatment. Because the book follows his life starting in 1853, Northup wanted to appeal to sympathizers who were against slavery. He would not have intended it to be for his fellow slaves as most were unable to read or write. “Since my return to liberty, I have not failed to perceive the increasing interest throughout the Northern States, in regard to the subject of Slavery” (Northup …show more content…
The slave auction shows no evidence of the treatment of slaves as people but, as property. The best property was strong, educated, and non-rebellious. “Freeman charged us to remember our places; exhorted us to appear smart and lively” (Northup 49). If the slave had lashes then this meant that they would be hard to deal with. “Customers would feel of our hands and arms and bodies, turn us about, ask us what we could do, make us open our mouths and show our teeth, precisely as a jockey examines a horse” (Northup 50). Northup is direct in accusing men of moral sins and shows the hypocrisy that was rampant during the 1800’s especially with his description of what a “good” slave looks like.
What does Northup’s [Platt’s] prolonged confrontation with his second master, Tibeats, reveal about slave-master relations in the antebellum …show more content…
Most slaves worked the cotton field which started before dawn and did not end until late at night. They must work the entire time and never be idle. “They do not dare to stop even at dinner time, nor return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to halt is given by the driver” (Northup 117). For if they did stop they were severely lashed. Even after they finish in the fields, the slaves must do other chores like feeding the mules and cutting wood. Platt was no exception. He and the other slaves were in constant fear of being whipped by Epps. He was constantly “lashing them about the yard with his long whip, just for the pleasure of hearing them screech and scream” (Northup
The intended audience would be any person who fought for the abolition of slavery. The book is a memoir of slave Solomon Northup, who was originally a freeman in New York. After being tricked, kidnapped, and sold into slavery he had to endure years of torturous treatment. Because the book follows his life starting in 1853, Northup wanted to appeal to sympathizers who were against slavery. He would not have intended it to be for his fellow slaves as most were unable to read or write. “Since my return to liberty, I have not failed to perceive the increasing interest throughout the Northern States, in regard to the subject of Slavery” (Northup …show more content…
The slave auction shows no evidence of the treatment of slaves as people but, as property. The best property was strong, educated, and non-rebellious. “Freeman charged us to remember our places; exhorted us to appear smart and lively” (Northup 49). If the slave had lashes then this meant that they would be hard to deal with. “Customers would feel of our hands and arms and bodies, turn us about, ask us what we could do, make us open our mouths and show our teeth, precisely as a jockey examines a horse” (Northup 50). Northup is direct in accusing men of moral sins and shows the hypocrisy that was rampant during the 1800’s especially with his description of what a “good” slave looks like.
What does Northup’s [Platt’s] prolonged confrontation with his second master, Tibeats, reveal about slave-master relations in the antebellum …show more content…
Most slaves worked the cotton field which started before dawn and did not end until late at night. They must work the entire time and never be idle. “They do not dare to stop even at dinner time, nor return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to halt is given by the driver” (Northup 117). For if they did stop they were severely lashed. Even after they finish in the fields, the slaves must do other chores like feeding the mules and cutting wood. Platt was no exception. He and the other slaves were in constant fear of being whipped by Epps. He was constantly “lashing them about the yard with his long whip, just for the pleasure of hearing them screech and scream” (Northup