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12 Years a Slave essay

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The movie 12 Years a Slave , directed by Steve McQueen, opposes the idea that history cannot be learned from a film. I read part of  Solomon Northup’s Narrative: 12 Years a Slave , and the movie displayed what Solomon had to say very well. In his narrative, Northup describes the transition of being a free man to suddenly being a slave with a master to answer to instead of himself. He expresses the struggle of being treated terribly, along with telling the stories of other slaves as well. The scene that captured me the most was when Solomon is almost hanged and just left there with people walking by, not even giving him a second look. This is definitely the most powerful scene to me, and teaches history to the audience because it shows how horribly slaves were treated. It really brings the reality of slavery into perspective. In Solomon's narrative, he tells us about this time where he was almost hanged, and also tells us what Chapin, the overseer, has to say to the people trying to...

Solomon Northup's Narrative

I read the beginning of  Solomon Northup’s Narrative:  12 Years a Slave , and I learned in detail about how Solomon got kidnapped and taken away. He gave a lot of detail explaining his family's background and how he is a free black man. He talks about how he knows now that the people who took him are guilty, but he had no idea back then. Were his kidnappers just very good at lying? Did they take him just for the money? Why didn't he write a letter to his wife about where he was going?