63
c. 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 This dialogue happens when Pat
sey tries to ask for Solomon‘s help. It is uncommon because she asks him to kill her. She cannot stand living as a slave in
Mr. Epps‘ Plantation. She persuades him, but he keeps refusing it. She insists that he should do it. It seems that she does not want to hear his refusal. It leads to a
debate because both of them want to be listened. So, he utters damnation which has strong effect to the listener. He wants her to listen to his words. Thus, using
swear word can evoke people ‘s attention. The speakers usually want to get much
attention from their friends or people around them. It works because it causes an immediate emotional response from Patsey who acts as the listener. In order to
response to his words, she also utters swear word. The purpose also is to grab attention from the listener. Both of them want their opinion to be heard.
2. To Discredit
Discrediting can happen when people who use swear words express their disbelief about many things in reality which they assume not suitable with public
opinion. They usually discredit other people‘s characteristics, attitudes and also behaviors. In other words, people use swear word because they want to express
their disappointment about reality that is different from what they have expected. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
64 Here are some conversations that contain swear words because the speakers want
to discredit the others.
a. Eliza
: You will not take them from me.
Freeman : Goddamn youGet 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 The dialogue ha
ppens in Freeman‘s slave pen. A buyer wants to buy Eliza and Platt. However, Eliza does not want to be separated from her children. She
begs for sympathy from Freeman, so he will let her go with her children. However, Freeman does not care about her plea. The tension grows and Freeman
gets mad directly after hearing Eliza‘s lamentation. He does not want any fuss in his slave pen because he is afraid of losing the slave buyers. Another buyer is
interested to buy her son. Freeman warns her to be quiet. However, this situation makes her cry louder. He does not like with this situation. Eliza is supposed to
obey Freeman‘s order to let her children go with other buyers. She does not have rights to ask Freeman not to sell her children because she is just a slave. Thus, he
swears at her by saying goddamn you and goddamned witch. The purpose of swearing is to discredit Eliza. It is because he is disappointed with Eliza who is
supposed to obey his commands. The reality is different from what he is expected. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
65
b. Tibeats
: Oh, my, you are brute. You are a fucking dog. And no
better for following instruction.
Solomon :
I‘ll do as ordered , sir. Datum no. 5
Clearly, from the conversation above, it can be seen that Tibeats discredits Solomon
‘s way on making a house. At the moment Solomon is nailing on siding, Tibeats is arriving and he is immediately being dissatisfied with the work. He
expresses his dissatisfaction because he thinks that Solomon cannot do something as he wishes. He as a White American always underestimates Black
people. Thus, Tibeats‘ purpose of swearing is to discredit Solomon because he is
not able to follow his instructions as he is expected.
c. 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 Solomon is looking for Patsey because she has been leaving
Mr. Epps‘s plantation without permission. After finding her, Solomon asks Patsey to go back
to Mr. Epps‘ plantation. Mr. Epps has been waiting for her at his porch of the main house. After he sees Patsey, his lewd intention emerges. Solomon instructs
Patsey to just walk and ignore him. However, Mr. Epps does not like to be ignored. He thinks that Solomon provokes her to ignore him but he does not
admit it. What Solomon has said is not like what Mr. Epps expected. He still PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
66 believes that they have had a conversation. He swears at Solomon and discredit
him as a liar —a damned liar because of his disbelieving towards Solomon.
d. Mistress Epps
: Whats the fuss?
Solomon : Master Mr. Epps believed Patsey and me to be in
conversation when we were not. I tried to explain, but its led to all this.
Mistress Epps : What is it? You cant remain the Sabbath without her
under your eye? You are a no-account bastard. A filthy, godless heathen. My bed is too holy for you to
share.
Datum no.12 The dialogue happens between Mr. Epps and Mistress Epps. They are
arguing because of Patsey. Mistress Epps gets mad and cannot handle her jealousy knowing her husband still thinking of Patsey with his lewd intention. Moreover,
as a Christian, he is supposed to respect Sabbath day without having dirty thoughts. Thus, to express her disappointment to her husband, she discredits him
by swearing.
e. 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 This conversation happens in Mr. Epps‘s main house where the slaves are
going to have a dancing party. Mistress Epps is coming and bringing a tray full of fresh baked pastries. Patsey comes and wants to eat it. However, Mistress Epps
does not allow her to take any pastries. Patsey does not give any responses and she directly turns her face away. This situation is used by Mistress Epps to
67 ridicule her in front of Mr. Epps and the other slaves due to his hatred toward
Patsey. She accuses her by showing her insolent look to her. However, Mr. Epps her husband ignores what she has said to Patsey. It creates tension between
them. She gets disappointed by her husband ‘s responses. It is different from her
expectation. He is supposed to agree with what her wife says. Therefore, she swears at her husband to discredit him by saying damn eunuch.
f. 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
Datum no. 16 The scene happens when Mr. Epps‘ plantation is in its hard time. The cotton
field does not bloom. It is caused by cotton worms. The cotton worms have dined the cotton and nearly destroyed the crop. However, Mr. Epps claims that it is a
plague which is sent by God to ruin his life. He feels God hate him so much. It is not supposed to be happened. Mr. Epps thinks whether or not this damnation
happens because of his slaves. As a Christian, he has preached the scripture to his slaves, but his slaves are godless. It gives him God‘s scorn. He assumes that his
slaves cause this damnation. Mr. Epps is looking at his slaves at work, his enmity is growing. Emily West, an associate professor of history at the University of
Reading who specializes in the history of slavery in the U.S says that ―the masters
in the slavery period like Mr. Epps believing the Bible sanctioned slavery, and that it was their ‗Christian duty‘ to preach the scriptures to their slaves‖ as cited
68 in Stapleton, 2010, p. 143. It is not supposed to be happened if his slaves praise
God and live righteously. To show his disappointment, then he discredits his slaves by swearing at them.
g. Bass
: White and black alike.
Mr. Epps
: Whoa, whoa, whoa. You comparing me to a
nigger, Bass? Bass
: Im only asking, in the eyes of God, what is the difference?
Mr. Epps : You might as well ask what the difference is
between a white man and a baboon. I seen one of them critters in Orleans.
Datum no. 18 There is a conversation going on between Mr. Epps and Bass about slavery.
Bass does not agree with the brutal way Mr. Epps treats his slaves. He expresses his opposition to slavery and it creates Mr. Eppss enmity. Bass warns Mr. Epps to
treat his slaves like human; White people and Black people are alike. Mr. Epps does not want to be compared to those slaves. It is wrong because he is more
superior than the Blacks, so he discredits them by saying a nigger is alike a baboon
3. To Provoke
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