Mary Prince Punishments

911 Words2 Pages

When reading a slave narrative it helps readers get an idea of the personal torment that slaves went through. No one will ever exactly know to the full extent of the hardships they faced. The authors of the slave narratives were writing them in hopes that word would spread of what they were going through, and their initial aim was for people of their time to know what was going on and to try and find a way to put an end to it. In Mary Prince’s narrative The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave she gives her readers a great look into the punishments she went through and punishments other slaves went through. Mary Prince is able to provide some a great insight into just a part of her life where she was constantly beaten and tormented …show more content…

One example of her punishments that she wrote about was how she was physically exhausted from working all day and through the night and still expected to work the next day. There was a day where she was even woken up to whips at her back because she had “dropped down overcome by sleep and fatigue” and immediately put back to work again (Prince 241). This one look into what Prince was put through is something that shows a small portion of what other masters could even be capable of. Although, not all masters may not be as violent as this, this is an example that will help the readers understand that this is something beyond unacceptable. People of a different race should not be treated differently just because of their different skin color. When bought by another owner she shares the hardships she went through with this owner. She shares the working conditions she was put through and how even though her “master used to beat [her] while raging and foaming with passion”, the new master was “quite calm” in how he treated his slaves (Prince 243). …show more content…

It did not matter who the slaves were, how old they were, whether they were male or female, or even if the slave was pregnant. The importance for mentioning what she saw happen to others shows that there simply was no limitation to the torment the slaves were receiving. Prince makes note of two younger boys that were brought in and constantly beaten. There were days where they had finished their work correctly but their master still beat them regardless. Writing about this shows the audience of the time that masters could be so vicious and have no care for a being seen lower than them just because of their skin color. This is another example of something that could bring awareness to put an end to slavery or even just an end to the unneeded pain and suffering slaves were being put through. While Prince was looking on at the other slaves being beaten and tortured there was nothing that she could really do. In an excerpt by Joy James she mentions, “In alien terrain, isolated captives witness and participate in a conditioning in which their civil or human rights are reduced to the rights of slaves” (James xxiii). Prince had looked on at the many times her fellow slaves were beaten and felt there was no compassion for them as humans. They were not being treated rightfully as humans but as animals that their masters felt they could control at every whim. Writing about

Show More
Related

  • The Classic Slave Narratives: Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book The Classic Slave Narratives is a collection of narratives that includes the historical enslavement experiences in the lives of the former slaves Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, and Olaudah Equiano. They all find ways to advocate for themselves to protect them from some of the horrors of slavery, such as sexual abuse, verbal abuse, imprisonment, beatings, torturing, killings and the nonexistence of civil rights as Americans or rights as human beings. Also, their keen wit and intelligence leads them to their freedom from slavery, and their fight for freedom and justice for all oppressed people.

    Read More

  • Harriet Jacobs Incidents And A Slave Girl: An Analysis

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery is a term that can create a whirlwind of emotions for everyone. During the hardships faced by the African Americans, hundreds of accounts were documented. Harriet Jacobs, Charles Ball and Kate Drumgoold each shared their perspectives of being caught up in the world of slavery. There were reoccurring themes throughout the books as well as varying angles that each author either left out or never experienced. Taking two women’s views as well as a man’s, we can begin to delve deeper into what their everyday lives would have been like.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Mary Prince And Olaudah Equiano

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of brutal and completely unjust treatment of African-Americans. Africans were pulled from their families and forced to work for cruel masters under horrendous conditions, oceans away from their homes. While it cannot be denied that slavery everywhere was horrible, the conditions varied greatly and some slaves lived a much more tolerable life than others. Examples of these life styles are vividly depicted in the personal narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince. The diversity of slave treatment and conditions was dependent on many different factors that affected a slave’s future. Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano both faced similar challenges, but their conditions and life styles

    Read More

  • Power of Persuasion in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Douglass also gives accounts of the horrific treatment of slaves by the plantation owner. "He (Master) would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at dawn by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood."(14) He mentions the tangible blood and shrieks to emphasize the pain and torture of a human being. This slave bleeds like any other person and so it is easier for a reader ...

    Read More

  • The Mary Prince: The History Of Mary Prince

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    The History of Mary Prince is the story of the first female British slave to escape slavery. The book is told by Mary herself, and was used to help the anti-slavery movement. This book is the main source of information on Mary’s life, but there is no way to ensure that all of it is authentic. One should be aware of who truly had the control over this book, and how it may have affected whether or not all of the stories Mary had to tell got in. Without following the standard expected of her, she may not have ever been able to share her experiences like this. Mary Prince was able to convey her story of slavery to others by following the expectations set by the Antislavery Society, such as emphasizing Christianity, only including likable character

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano And Harriet Jacobs Analysis

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    After reading the slavery accounts of Olaudah Equiano 's "The Life of Olaudah Equiano" and Harriet Jacobs ' "Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl", you gain knowledge of what slaves endured during their times of slavery. To build their audience aware of what life of a slave was like, both authors gives their interpretation from two different perspectives and by two different eras of slavery.

    Read More

  • Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl And Frederick Douglass

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick

    Read More

  • The Narrative Of Frederick Douglass

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slave narratives were one of the first forms of African- American literature. The narratives were written with the intent to inform those who weren’t aware of the hardships of slavery about how badly slaves were being treated. The people who wrote these narratives experienced slavery first hand, and wanted to elicit the help of abolitionists to bring an end to it. Most slave narratives were not widely publicized and often got overlooked as the years went by; however, some were highly regarded and paved the way for many writers of African descent today.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

    1554 Words  | 4 Pages

    In her story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents what life was like living as a female slave during the 19th century. Born into slavery, she exhibits, to people living in the North who thought slaves were treated fairly and well, how living as a slave, especially as a female slave during that time, was a heinous and horrible experience. Perhaps even harder than it was if one had been a male slave, as female slaves had to deal with issues, such as unwanted sexual attention, sexual victimization and for some the suffering of being separated from their children. Harriet Jacobs shows that despite all of the hardship that she struggled with, having a cause to fight for, that is trying to get your children a better life

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frederick Douglass had moved into a new mistresses home who had never known of slavery. While she had initially taught him to read, fed him well, and looked upon him like an equal human being, she eventually forbade him from reading and whipped him at her husband’s request. The kind woman he had known became inhumane and degrading because that was required to maintain the unwarranted power over slaves.

    Read More

  • Mary Prince Character Analysis

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thomas Pringle wrote "The idea of Mary Prince's history was first suggested by herself. She wished it to be done, she said, that good people in England might hear from a slave what a slave had felt and suffered.” Mary Prince, was the first black woman to have her story published in Britain. Due to Mary Prince’s graphic detail, her anecdotes were sadistic to the extent that very few believed her . Mary Prince conveys that both slave owners and their slaves suffer physical and emotional effects of slavery, confirming Pringle’s write that "slavery is a curse to the oppressors scarcely less than the oppressed; it's natural tendency is to brutalize both.”

    Read More

  • Slavery’s Dehumanizing Effects on American Slaves and Slaveholders

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.

    Read More

  • Fear In Robert Coates's Between The World And Me

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author is a black man not a black woman; he lacks the ability to describe the depth of a black woman’s situation. This book is specifically addresses the issue of black disenfranchisement - an issue that is pertinent to both genders of African Americans. Coates chooses to address his views from a personal perspective. Also, Coates did include notable stories of black woman throughout the text.There are surrounding black female figures in his life that he does intimately describe. He speaks of his first girlfriend at the Mecca and how she introduces him to love. He speaks of his own wife and the wife of Prince Jones. The most prominent female figure in this book is in fact the mother of Prince Jones,who is described in a highly positive manner: “And when Dr.Jones described her motive for escaping the dearth that marked her sharecropper life of her father … she remembered herself saying, ”I’m not going to live like this,” I saw the iron in her eyes …” Coates describes Princes mother as a strong and perseverant mother. He goes on to describe her journey towards becoming a radiologist, and her excellent care taking of her son, Prince. Coates devoted a separate section of the book describing resilience of this woman. Coates is not obligated to speak of black woman; however, he does choose to include the powerful story of

    Read More

  • Mary Prince Research Paper

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    The slave narrative is a genre of literature in which an escaped or freed slave recounts both his or her suffering under slavery and the tribulations of earning freedom. Slave narratives were especially popular in the decades before the Civil War, when abolitionists win the sympathies of Northern audiences frequently promoted them. “History of Mary Prince” by Mary prince is one of the narratives that have left a huge mark on slave narratives.

    Read More

  • The Trial Of Girlhood And A Perilous Passage In The Slave Girl's Life Analysis

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, women were considered property and slave holders treated them as they pleased. We come to understand that there was no law that gave protection to female slaves. Harriet Jacob’s narrative shows the true face of how slaveholders treated young female slave. The female slaves were sexually exploited which damaged them physically and psychologically. Furthermore it details how the slave holder violated the most sacred commandment of nature by corrupting the self respect and virtue of the female slave. Harriet Jacob writes this narrative not to ask for pity or to be sympathized but rather to show the white people to be aware of how female slaves constantly faced sexual exploitation which damaged their body and soul.

    Read More

More about Mary Prince Punishments

Open Document