Amistad Movie Essay

791 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of the film Amistad

One ironic things about this movie is that there is no real happy ending. It is true that the Amistad African people get to go home, but go home to what? Cinque family is gone when he comes back. Even though he escaped getting put into slavery, there was a strong possibility that his wife and kids did get enslaved. He went back to a home that was not a home anymore. I bit he would have given anything to be enslaved if it meant that his wife and kids were safe ad unharmed. Also despite that they were found innocent and this was a big accomplishment for African Americans, this did not stop slavery. It still happened for years after the trail.

The relation to this course it very simple. The movie deals with slavery and the mistreatment of them. …show more content…

The film focus on the main character Cinque. Cinque is an African man who is illegally kidnapped from his family to an illegal slave trading system. After being taken, Cinque is put onto a ship with many other African slaves from African to Cuba then to America on the boat named Amistad. During these they are all mistreated. They are all given new names, and striped away from everything they know. The weaker one are starved, they undergo whipping, and some get drowned to death. They are all put into a tight cargo room in the ship where there is no space, a horrible smell, and chains to hold them down. After all this mistreatment, Cinque decided he cannot take anymore, so he escapes out of the chains that tied him up. After he untied himself, he unlocked the other chains of the other slaves. Then they all killed the white people that harmed them during this process. Because they have never been on a ship, they spare the lives of two white crew members and force them to take them back to their home. Of course the white people trick them because they could not steer a ship, so they end up going to America. When they make it to America, they are put on trial for the murdering of the white crew members. They are also on trial to decide are they free or do they have to be enslaved. Basically even though they were illegally brought into slavery, ruthless white people try to

Show More
Related

  • Nightjohn: Comparing The Book And The Movie

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    important event and part of slavery that should have been shown in the movie. Even though I

    Read More

  • Amistad Discussion Questions

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. Describe the historical relevance of the following characters of the movie. (Joadson, Van Buren, Quincy Adams, Tappan) In the movie Amistad, therer were several people depicted from this historical period. Joadson is an a freed slave and also a abolitionist who is working with Tappan who is also a prominent abolitionist from New York on the defense of the Africans.

    Read More

  • Unchained Memories Summary

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though slightly frivolous to mention merely because of its obviousness but still notably, all the slaves came from the Southern states including and not limited to Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Virginia, South Carolina, and Arkansas. Economically, the United States’ main cash crops—tobacco, rice, sugarcane, and cotton—were cultivated by the slaves who the rich Southerners heavily depended upon. From this perspective establishes a degree of understanding about the unwillingness to abolish slavery and contributes to the reality of the clear division between the agriculturally based South and industrially based North. Having watched the film, I wished the Northern people were more aware of the abuses and dehumanization of the slaves though the saddening reality is that the truth of the slaves’ conditions couldn’t be revealed till much later on because the fear of retaliation and prosecution of the slave owners and white people was very much present. That the slaves’ mistreatment would be considered repulsive and repugnant to the Quakers and abolitionists is made evident the narratives of the slaves read by the different former slaves who elucidated the countless

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Thesis

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    They were packed into ships so tight you could barely turn yourself around. On top of that, many people were dying of disease because they were forced to live among their own filth, and the dead and diseased. It was all just on continuous circle of death and suffering and disease. They were all oxygen deprived and the air below deck was so incredibly rank it was basically impossible to breathe. They were beaten mercilessly, and tortured with the prospect of food and water, but hardly received any of either. As Olaudah said, the white men aboard the ship once caught too many fish for themselves, and instead of feeding them to the Africans, they just tossed them over board. Most of them died along the way, mainly the sick, young, and very old. Those people aboard the ships had to endure the hardships that today, people only read

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln: Inspiring Equality and Freedom

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before he started his life as a politician that advocate for the freedom of all slaves in the United States, he was able to see through his own eyes the effect that slavery have on many African Americans during that time. According to the letter send by Lincoln to Mary Speed, he describes through horrific details that many African American have to go to during this time. He said: “...[The slaves] were chained six and six together… In this condition they were being separated forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, their fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters, and many of them, from their wives and children, and going to perpetual slavery where the lash of the master is proverbially more ruthless and unrelenting than any others…”(Foner, page 11). There was no doubt that what Lincoln saw that day changed the way how he saw in many African American that was captured and sold as slaves, it

    Read More

  • Black Robe Film Analysis

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie revolves around a 1632 French missionary, Father LaForgue (Lothaire Bluteau) or Black Robe as the Indians referred to him. He traveled to North America to attempt to “save the savages on the new land”. His mission leads him to a Canadian settlement and an Algonquin tribe. There he is first introduced into the Indian religion, culture, and practices. This is also where his first major shock occurs, when he encounters a Frenchman, Daniel (Aden Young), having sex with the Algonquin chief's daughter, Annuka(Sandrine Holt). Shortly after, Father LaForgue decides to accompany a small group of Algonquin Indians on a...

    Read More

  • Amistad

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are too many strands in the film which lead to no-where. At one point Cinque makes an interesting point of international law that might help the case. While the legal minds are inspired by his insight and initiative, the idea is quickly dismissed as unworkable and he plays almost no role in designing the case which might lead to his freedom. The events on the slave ship are even more scattered. Cinque is involved in a brief eye-contact relationship with a young woman but there is no development to give it emotional power. The women's ensuing death is as shocking as it is unexpected and while it works as a good visual, her undeveloped role as a real person results in the loss of any deeper meaning. Furthermore, the Amistad case is portrayed as a spark that helped ignite the Civil War, but the movie does not go into greater detail. It simply flashes ahead and shows that the Civil War had begun.

    Read More

  • Life in a Nutshell: Black Girl, A Short Story by Sembene Ousmane

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story clearly illustrates that when one thinks of their ideal lifestyle they mainly rely on their personal experience which often results in deception. The theme is conveyed by literary devices such as setting, symbolism and iconic foreshadowing. The abolition of slavery was one step forward but there are still several more steps to be made. Steps that protect everyone from human trafficking and exploitation. Most importantly, racism is something that needs to stop, as well as providing equal opportunity to all without discrimination.

    Read More

  • The Garies And Their Friends And Clotel Analysis

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    This novel is based on the lives of Clotel, her mother Currer and sister Althesa They are a mixed race family whom are slaves of Thomas Jefferson. After the death of Jefferson Clotel, Currer, and Althesa are all sent to the slave trade. This is an example of how unrecognized slave lives were; when one master died, they would be shipped off to a new one without any say or consent. In the salve trade, Horation Green, a white man, purchases Clotel to be his common-law wife. Just like the Gaires Horation Green and Clotel couldn’t become married due to the laws against miscegenation. Although they are not wed, Horation Green and Clotel have a child together. They live a fairly normal live until Horation decides to get into politics. Soon after he abandons Clotel and Mary and marries a white woman who forces him to sell Clotel and Mary to the salve trade. Clotels skin color was the reason that her “husband” had the ability to leave her without any say. It shows us how mistreated African Americans were, aside from having no rights their master were allowed to dispose of their slaves whenever they pleased. Aside from Clotel her mother and sister remain “in a slave gang” until Currer is purchased from Mr. Peck. Currer remains enslaved until she dies from yellow fever. Soon after Althesa marries her white master after passing as a white woman. This is a prime example as to why blacks only received mistreatment based off of skin color. If you were able to pass as a white

    Read More

  • Examples Of Justice In The Movie Amistad

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the first forms of justice in the movie is the retributive which is seen when many of the people believed that the slaves should stay slaves no matter the evidence shown, because of their social status when brought to America. The court systems involved in the film also had a lot to do with the retributive form of justice considering this form has to deal with the punishment of law breakers and the compensation of victims.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Black Like Me and Black Boy

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    His journey then began and he lived the life of a black man. It is with such bravery that he went and risked becoming a Negro. He knew that adverse consequences would occur once people knew the truth. He did not care; I was fascinated with his desire to see what stood between both races, not minding what others would think.... ...

    Read More

  • A Rose For Emily

    1740 Words  | 4 Pages

    takes place in the south, where at the time, slaves were newly emancipated and things are

    Read More

  • Similarities Between 12 Years A Slave And The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    This movie is a nightmare as its not fiction and truly happened during that time. It reinforced that even if you were granted freedom, you still had no equality in America. Northup is tricked by two well appearing gentlemen, drugged, and sold into slavery for 12 years of his life. He learns very quickly to play illiterate and not let people know who he really is as it could get him killed. He is systematically tortured and treated less than the livestock in which Douglass refers. The bigger issue is even though he had freedom, he still had no rights. He was a well-respected, law abiding citizen who had a heinous crime committed against him and no one even cared because of the color of his skin and their monetary gain. Again, his life is a series of misfortunate and fortunate events as he is one of the very few lucky ones to be returned to his family after enduring unimaginable torture. It very disheartening to see all of the emotional turmoil African-Americans were put through and the disregard for their mental health, even after if they became free. Even though he is returned to his family, his mental state must have been irreparable just as Douglass. Northup was never even granted justice against the men that kidnapped and sold him because they were white and he was black. Northrup and Douglass fought and survived the unimaginable and still managed to use their lives and journeys to aid in others gaining freedom that had been stolen away, despite the beliefs of the United

    Read More

  • Amistad Movie Analysis

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hadden, S. (1998, January 6). Review of "Amistad" (film by Stephen Speilberg) by Sally Hadden Florida State University. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://iweb.tntech.edu/preagan/amistadr.html

    Read More

  • Selma Movie Analysis Essay

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recently, there is a spike of historical films being released lately. One of the films is an Academy Award nominee for “Best Picture,” Selma. The film, Selma, is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. The film shows the struggles of the black community face with the blockage of their voting rights and the racial inequality during the civil rights movement. Selma is about civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. heading to the rural Alabama City, Selma, to secure the voting rights for the African American community by having a march to Montgomery. It shows the struggles from what the African American community had to endured during the 1960s. Selma shows a social significance to today’s current events, specifically

    Read More

More about Amistad Movie Essay

Open Document