49 name. It carried much hatred and disgust at Black Africans and African
Americans. It can be concluded that Americans created a racial hierarchy with Whites at the top and Blacks at the bottom. Thus, in the dialogue above, the word
nigger can be said as a swear word.
j. Mr. Epps
: Where is she, damn it? Where is she? Phebs, where is
she? Where is she?
Phebe :
I don‘t know, Master.
Mr. Epps : You know, you know, you know You know
Phebe
No, I don‘t.
Mr. Epps : You miserable black dogs. You stand like the deaf and
dumb. Speak She gone. My Pats is gone Datum no. 19
It is Sabbath day. The slaves are working on their own chores. Female slaves are washing their clothes and hanging them up to dry in the backyard. Mr.
Epps is drunk. He is looking for Patsey. He asks Phebe whom he thinks she must know where she is. However, Phebe does not know where she goes. It causes Mr.
Epps get mad. Thus he scolds her and swears at her by saying black dog. The word dog belongs to Epithet which refers somebody as an animal. Mr. Epps is
drunk, so he cannot control his anger. Whatever he says is uncontrolled. Besides, he also intimidates Phebe in order to make her give information about where
Patsey is.
2. Profanity
This term is usually used by people to swear with the name of God. The intention of the speaker is actually to express an emotional reaction to certain
stimuli. Profanity occurs when someone is using religious terminology in a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
50 profane, secular, or uncaring manner, such as Jesus Christ, hell, damn, and
Goddamn. If it is uttered outside the religious context, it is more likely showing our disrespect to God. From 12 Years a Slave movie, the researcher found some
conversations containing profanity. The examples of profanity can be seen as follows.
a. Eliza
: I will not go without my children
Freeman : Goddamn sniveling wench
Datum no. 3 The slaves are arriving
in Freeman‘s slave pen. It is like a slavery market where there are some businessmen who want to buy slaves. Freeman is an
American slave trader. He is fierce and temperamental. He does not sympathy to their slaves. He only thinks how to sell the slaves with higher price. Mr. Ford is
interested in buying Eliza and Platt. Eliza really loves her children, so she begs Mr. Ford and Freeman to let her bring her children too. However, Freeman offers
the children with high price. Mr. Ford cannot afford it, so he only buys Platt a.k.a. Solomon and Eliza. Eliza does not want to go without her children. She tries to
preclude Freeman from taking her children. She yells loudly at Freeman not to take her children. It triggers his anger then he swears at her by saying Goddamn.
Goddamn refers to Jesus Christ as God. However, the word above becomes taboo because it is used outside the religious occasion like in the church. According to
Mbaya 2002, using swear words must be avoided because they contain stark and vulgar language. However, words that contain sacred functions can be tabooed if
they are uttered outside the context of sacred ceremonies p. 224. Freeman uses PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
51 the word in a profane manner without considering that the word can be so sacred.
He utters the words outside formal circumstances which are used to insult or to offend the slaves.
b. Eliza
: You will not take them from me.
Freeman : Goddamn you Get her out of here, Cape
Eliza : Please No No
Freeman Get her out of here, goddamn it Platt, get your fiddle.
Play, play, play something. I will give you something to cry about, you goddamned witch Get her out of here,
Cape Out, now
Datum no. 4 In Freeman‘s house the situation becomes more chaotic because Eliza cries
loudly. She does not want to be separated from her children. Freeman tries to stop the fuss. He commands Cape to take her out, but Eliza keeps struggling to protect
her children. She begs him not to take her children. This makes Freeman mad and annoyed with her lamentation. He cannot handle his anger then he shouts at her by
saying goddamn you, goddamn it, and goddamned. These words are considered as profanity. Obviously, they should not be uttered in an informal situation and in
profane manner. It will be a bad word if it is uttered in profane manner. Mencken says ‗by the 1860s, swearing probably sounded much as it does today, with
obscene words doing much of the work of swearing, and with religious words —
damn it, Jesus, oh God — employed frequently‖ as cited in The American
Language,1921, p. 10.
c. Tibeats
: Goddamn yah I thought yah knowed somethin
Solomon :
I did as instructed. If theres something wrong, then it‘s wrong with your
52
Tibeats : You black bastard You goddamn black bastard Strip
your clothes Strip
Solomon : I will not.
Datum no. 6 This dialogue happens when Solomon is building a hut. Tibeats is coming to
see his work as if purposefully looking for Solomon‘s fault. He blames him because he does not follow his instructions well. They argue because none of
them wants to be blamed. The tension is caused by Tibeats‘ resentment toward him. That is why he yells at him by saying Goddamn. This word contains emotive
function to the addressee. Moreover, he calls Solomon as goddamn black bastard. The word goddamn is used to emphasize his expression of anger.
d. Mr. Epps
: What you looking at? Damn. I wont have my mood
spoiled. Dance. Dance, I says Come on Pick it up, Platt. Play that fiddle, boy.
Datum no. 10 Mr. Epps asks his slaves to dance. However, it becomes chaos since
Mistress Epps cannot stand seeing his husband looking at Patsey lustfully. So, she hits and mocks Patsey brutally. The dance and the music stop suddenly. Mistress
Epps and Mr. Epps argue. She stands irate and unable to think what to do. Eventually, she leaves him. The dancing party is ruined. Mr. Epps utters damn to
represent his feelings. It belongs to profanity. Damn here is inappropriate to be said because saying God‘s name as an expression of surprise or annoyance is
considered by many people to be blasphemy, mostly because one of the Ten Comman
dments says not to use God‘s name in vain Holy Bible, Exodus. 20.7. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
53
e. Mr. Epps
: What did you just now tell her? What did you say to Pats?
Solomon : No words were spoken. None of consequence
Mr. Epps : Youre a liar. You damn liar. I saw you talking with her.
Tell me.
Solomon : I cannot speak of what did not occur.
Datum no. 11 Mr. Epps accuses Solomon of lying. Due to the fact that Patsey ignores him,
Mr. Epps believes he has said something to Patsey. He thinks Solomon provokes Patsey, so she does not give him any responses. Solomon does not admit it. This
action causes Mr. Epps cannot control his bad temper. Thus, he expresses his emotion by swearing at Solomon. The word damn belongs to profanity and it is
not supposed to be said in profane manner. The word damn here has function to intensify and to emphasize the word liar. Thus, it will give strong effect for the
listener to insult and to swear at him or her.
f. Mr. Epps
: Whats he been telling you?
Mistress Epps : Of your misbegotten ways.
Mr. Epps
: And he would know what of anything? I aint even
spoken with him today.. You lying nigger, Platt. Have I? Have I?
There. There‘s all the truth he got. Damn nigger.
Datum no. 13 From the dialogue above, Mr. Epps wants to know what actually Solomon
has said to Mistress Epps. He believes Solomon must lie. Thus, he accuses him of saying untrue fact. He cannot hold his temper, so he says swear words. He utters
damn nigger which are related to ethnicity and religious terminology. The word nigger here denigrates Solomon as a Black person. Uttering damn nigger is
54 considered as swear words because it contains emotive function. The word damn
here is as an adjective. It explains Solomon as a damn nigger.
g. Mistress Epps
: You are manless. A damn eunuch if there ever was. If
you wont stand for me, I pray youd at least be a credit to your own kind... and beat every foul thought from them.
Beat it from them
Datum no. 14 The scene is in Mr. Epps‘ great house. All slaves are gathering in Mr. Epps‘
main room. They will have a dancing party. Mistress Epps comes bringing out a tray of freshly baked pastries. She let the slaves eat except Patsey. In front of her
husband, she tries to vilify Patsey. However, Mr. Epps does not care about it. It triggers her anger and jealousy. She mocks her husband and says damn. The word
belongs to profanity because damn is actually a word that is used in religious contexts like in the church. The word damn in the church is usually used when the
priest explains about condemnation upon someone who is not following Jesus Christ‘s way of life. This word is not supposed to be uttered outside the religious
context. Therefore, he or she who is damned by God will suffer eternal punishment in hell. Mistress Epps‘ intention of saying that word is actually to express her
emotional reaction.
h. Solomon
: There are others. Beg them.
Patsey : Im begging you
Solomon : Why? Why would you consign me to damnation with
such an ungodly request?
Patsey : There is God here God is merciful, and He forgive
merciful acts. Hell. Do it. Do what I aint got the strength to do myself
Datum no. 15 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
55 From the conversation above, there are two swear words that belong to
profanity, i.e. damnation and hell. It is because these words contain religious matter and sacred to be said. Patsey asks Solomon to kill her because she cannot
bear living in her sufferings anymore. However, Solomon refuses her request because he cannot do that. He shows his annoyance by saying damnation. Patsey
tries to force him to do it, but he keeps refusing. She is upset after hearing it.
Datum no. 16 Mr. Epps‘ cotton field suffers from plague. It is destructed by cotton
worms. Mr. Epps believes it must be damn biblical. The word damn here is not a swear word because it does not have literal meaning. He blames his slaves for this
damnation. Mr. Epps looks among his slaves at work, his enmity growing. He swears damn at his slaves and whips them. The word damn in the church is usually
used when the priest explains about condemnation upon someone who does not follow Jesus Christ‘s way of life.
j. Epps
:
I‘ll be damned. Were he not free and white, Platt. Were he not free and white.
Datum no. 17 From the dialogue above, Epps gets annoyed because of Armsby. At first he
wants to interrogate Solomon because Armsby has told him that Solomon can
i. Mr. Epps
: It is a plague. Treach
:
It‘s cotton worm.
Mr. Epps : Its a plague. Its damn biblical. Two seasons God done
sent a plague to smite me. What I done that God hates me so? Its that godless lot. They brought this on me I
bring them Gods word, they brung me Gods scorn. Damn Damn you Damn all yall
56 write. A slave who can read and write should be punished or even killed.
However, Solomon has smart solution to avoid his punishment. He tells him that Armsby is a liar. He just creates untrue story, so Epps will elect him as an
overseer in his plantation. He still does not believe that he lies to him. Epps utters I‟ll be damned which contains profanity. It is an expression of surprise and shock.
3. Vulgarity
