'The war of my life had begun; and though one
of God's most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered.
Alas, for me!'
This line represents the entire contest in the book so far for me. Incidents in the Life of a slave girl cataougues instances of rebellion and agency in the torturous lives of slaves. We get to understand how these poor creatures, treated as 'chattle' show their resolve and grit. I found the particular scene where the grandmother is auctioned after her mistresses death extremely powerful. It showed how even the unlikliest of people have agency. A major theme in the book so far is that the slaves get immense agency if they have a good character and are skillful. Good character is respected by whites and they find their skill useful. This makes me sligtly question the agency of the slaves, because it is still derived from the same instituition of slavery and what it encompasses. The artistic mastery, talent, good faith etc of the honored slave are of little importance. It is his usefulness as a certain machine that is rewarded by honor. It is like giving more time off the leash to a good hunting dog. Nevertheless, the slave does have agency. And we see that, especially in the life of William. The way he says that he doesn't mind being whipped, but he dislikes the idea of it, resonates a powerful idea for me. It is not the actual beating, (for extremely horific cases of slaves being beaten to death may be a few) but the idea that one man owns another man in such a tangible, physical manner that is disturbing.
This line represents the entire contest in the book so far for me. Incidents in the Life of a slave girl cataougues instances of rebellion and agency in the torturous lives of slaves. We get to understand how these poor creatures, treated as 'chattle' show their resolve and grit. I found the particular scene where the grandmother is auctioned after her mistresses death extremely powerful. It showed how even the unlikliest of people have agency. A major theme in the book so far is that the slaves get immense agency if they have a good character and are skillful. Good character is respected by whites and they find their skill useful. This makes me sligtly question the agency of the slaves, because it is still derived from the same instituition of slavery and what it encompasses. The artistic mastery, talent, good faith etc of the honored slave are of little importance. It is his usefulness as a certain machine that is rewarded by honor. It is like giving more time off the leash to a good hunting dog. Nevertheless, the slave does have agency. And we see that, especially in the life of William. The way he says that he doesn't mind being whipped, but he dislikes the idea of it, resonates a powerful idea for me. It is not the actual beating, (for extremely horific cases of slaves being beaten to death may be a few) but the idea that one man owns another man in such a tangible, physical manner that is disturbing.
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