What Is Solomon's Slave Identity Of Being Platt?

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Shortly after being captured, Solomon Northrup experienced harsh indoctrination. In this indoctrination, the slavers attempted to beat his new identity into him. Even with this pressure from the slavers, other slaves urged Solomon to just give in. On the southern water passage, the slave named Clemens told Solomon, “If you want to survive, tell no one you can read and write, or who you are. Unless you want to die.” To this, Solomon responded, “I don’t want to survive. I want to live.” As the movie developed, did Solomon Northrup live up to his statement? This paper argues that Solomon kept living throughout his journey because he never fully accepted his slave identity of being Platt. The argument revolves around Solomon’s agency throughout his journey. In this argument, Solomon’s identity slowly fades as his new identity, Platt, fills in. …show more content…

Many times, Solomon would not keep his head down as Clemens suggested. Perhaps Solomon believed the further the slavers took him from the North, the less likely he would be able to redeem his freedom. This would explain why Solomon resisted so much in this phase of his captivity. Even though the slavers beat him, Solomon still denied to be anything other than a free man. For example, after getting off the boat, Solomon refused to stand up when the slaver calls him by “Platt.” Thus, in the travelling phase, Solomon reluctantly held onto his old identity. In doing so, Solomon still lived by rejecting the slavers attempt to kill off his old

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