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There is no law that against family separation of the slaves. This is clear as Goodell 1853: 114 says “in the slaveholding States, except in Louisiana, no law
exists to prevent the violent separation of parents from their children, or even from each other.” So, it is no doubt that the master can force to separate the family and
even using violent action towards his slave.
4.1.2 The Fulfillment of Basic Needs
According to Schneider 2007: 80, “how well or badly the slaves lived varied with the wealth or poverty of their owner, his generosity or miserliness, and
his understanding of his own economic interests.” Living as slaves has so many sufferings: they provided with a lack of facilities, and needs.
a. Shelter
As the slaves, they are provided with shelters to live, to keep them before they are brought to another place, or to be auctioned. There are two shelters which
are mentioned in this novel: slave pen and cabin.
Slave pen is not a place like an ordinary home or a nice place to live or stay. It is storage of slaves before they are sold to their masters. It is quite clear in the
quotation below: The slave jails served a triple function—as places to confine and
punish slaves who had angered their masters, as temporary stopping places for masters traveling with their slaves, and as
holding pens for slaves waiting to be sold. Slaves held there for sale were better fed than the others, so as to fatten them in order to
raise their purchase prices.
Schneider, 2007: 56
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Solomon describes the place where he is confined as a place with poor light. Even he can observe the room after the door is opened. It can be seen in this
quotation: The light admitted through the open door enabled me to observe the
room in which I was confined. It was about twelve feet square – the walls of solid masonry. The floor was of heavy plank. There was
one small window, crossed with great iron bars, with an outside shutter, securely fastened.
Northup, 2014:19 The quotation above shows how isolated Solomon is from outside world. He
does not know anything about outside of their room but the darkness. In addition, the room in which he is confined consists of a wooden bench and neither bed, nor
blanket, nor anything whatever .While underneath the roof, there is a crazy loft all around, where slaves, if so dispose, may sleep at night, or in inclement weather seek
shelter from the storm. These conditions show how awfully the slaves are treated. It was like a farmer’s barnyard in most respects, save it was so
constructed that the outside world could never see human cattle that were herded here.
Northup, 2014:19 The awful condition of place where the slaves live in is not only found in the
slave pen. It is also found in the cabin where the slaves live with the master after they are purchased. It is portrayed in the quotation below:
The cabin is constructed of logs, without floor or window. The latter is altogether unnecessary, the crevices between the logs admitting
sufficient light. In stormy weather the rain drives through them, rendering it comfortless and extremely disagreeable. The rude door
hangs on great wooden hinges. In one end is constructed an awkward fireplace.
Northup, 2014:118
