Toni Morrison`s a Mercy : the black woman slaves` struggle to gain freedom in America in the 1600s - USD Repository
TONI MORRISON’S A MERCY: THE BLACK WOMAN SLAVES’
STRUGGLE TO GAIN FREEDOM IN AMERICA IN THE 1600S
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
MM. Rahayu Ambarastuti
Student Number: 06 4214 023
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2010
TONI MORRISON’S A MERCY: THE BLACK WOMAN SLAVES’
STRUGGLE TO GAIN FREEDOM IN AMERICA IN THE 1600S
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
MM. Rahayu Ambarastuti
Student Number: 06 4214 023
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2010
i
HAKUNA
MATATA
-NO WORRIES-
fight the oppression of
their rightsv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost I would like to thank God Almighty who has given me life and its beautiful lessons and for His blessings to make this thesis possible. My deepest gratitude goes to my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., who has encouraged me and guided me all through my journey in writing this thesis, and J.
Harris Hermansyah S. S.S., M.Hum., as my co-advisor who has given creative inputs. I would also thank all English Letters’ lecturers, especially Anna Fitriati, S.Pd., M.Hum., Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed. for the guidance and help during my study in the English Letters, and all the staff in English Letters.
Importantly, I would like to give my love and gratitude to my beloved family who have taught me the lessons of life and love well. I thank my Garry, who stands beside me and gives his love, optimism, support and patience.
Also, I would like to thank the Director, my colleague and seniors in Pusat Sejarah dan Etika Politik Universitas Sanata Dharma, Romo Baskara, Wawan, Darwin, Mba Monic, Mas Deddy, Pak Tri, for the sharing and support. I also thank Colin Cahill for the constant discussion and additional corrections. I thank my sisters and brothers, Rendy, Nikko, Mba Keke, Amot, Mba Eni, Kak Iin, Gerisca, Ayu, Mba Eling, Mba Karlina, Andika, Mba Astri, Gustin, Yosua, Acong, Eman, Dika Mahot, Rio, Media, Santi, Nissa, and all the 2006 gang and EDS for the sharing and laughter which boost my spirit whenever I need it.
Last but not least, I thank all my friends that I cannot mention one by one, and to Gonzaga and its memorable experiences.
Rahayu Ambarastuti
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3. The Meaning of Freedom for Black Woman Slaves in the 1600s ……………………………………………. 19 D. Theoretical Framework
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
B. The Description of the Life of Black Woman Slaves in America in the 1600s …………………………………….. 33 C. Black Woman Slaves’ Ability to Gain Freedom in America in the 1600 …………………………………….. 39
…………………………….. 26
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS …………………………………………….. 26
A. The Characteristics of FlorensC. Method of the Study ……………………………………………. 24
……………………………………. 23
CHAPTER III:METHODOLOGY ……………………………………. 22
A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………. 22 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………. 20
2. Review on Social Condition of the Black Woman Slaves in the 1600s ……………………………. 16
TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………… i APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………… ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……..…………………………………….. iii MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………… iv DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………… v SURAT PERNYATAAN …………………………………………… vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS …………………………………………… vii TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………… viii ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………… x ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………. xi
1. Review on Slavery ……………………………………. 13
C. Review on Historical Background in America in the 1600s ……. 13
2. Theories on Characterization ……………………………. 11
1. Theories on Character ……………………………………. 8
B. Review of Related Theories ……………………………………. 8
A. Review of Related Studies ……………………………………. 6
……………………. 6
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………. 1
A. Background of Study ……………………………………………. 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………. 3 C. Objectives of Study ……………………………………………. 4 D. Definitions of Study ……………………………………………. 5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…………………………………….. 51
ix
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………….. 53
ABSTRACT
MM. RAHAYU AMBARASTUTI. Toni Morrison’s A Mercy: The Black Woman
Slaves’ Struggle to Gain Freedom in America in the 1600s. Yogyakarta:
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2010.A Mercy is a story about black women slaves’ life with a very strong historical
background during the 1600s. Back then America had not been independent yet and the white people from various places came to that place to make colonies. They used black slaves to cultivate their land. Florens is the main character in the story. She becomes a slave as she inherits her mother’s status as a slave. She is sold to another employer with her mother’s permission. At her new working place, she becomes a good girl and a good slave. Then she is sent to search for a healer by her Mistress. During her journey, she has to face social and humanity problems, including discriminations toward her race and judgments based on the race and status. Florens’ struggle to be able to survive the chaotic situations and gain her freedom is what will be discussed in this thesis.
This thesis mainly discusses how a person’s abilities can motivate that person to achieve freedom. Therefore, the first problem to be discussed in this thesis is the characteristics of Florens as the main character in the novel. Second is the description of the social condition of the black women slaves’ lives in the 1600s. The third is to find the abilities found in Florens’ characteristics with the description of black woman slaves’ lives and their ability to achieve freedom in the 1600s.
Library research method has been done to analyse the story. I also used the sociocultural-historical approach as the point of view to analyze the story. How the black woman slaves’ use their ability to struggle for freedom is the topic discussed in this thesis.
Florens is naïve, obedient, smart, courageous and also trustworthy. Black woman slaves had a difficult life because they were the marginalized people and they were considered as a tool or property, rather than human being, and thus the discrimination toward their race was strong. They learnt from their experiences and they developed their own characteristics. By using their own abilities to struggle, black women slaves struggled for equality and better treatments toward their race. They use their own capabilities and cleverness to solve their problems in order to be independent and be as they were. They always fought with what they had and they knew that it was important to be able to defend themselves and to read the situations and thus being able to be critical to their situations. The importance of their being and humanity to be acknowledged was the essence for the meaning of freedom itself.
x
ABSTRAK
MM. RAHAYU AMBARASTUTI. Toni Morrison’s A Mercy: The Black Woman
Slaves’ Struggle to Gain Freedom in America in the 1600s. Yogyakarta: Jurusan
Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2010.A Mercy adalah sebuah kisah pengalaman hidup seorang budak perempuan berkulit hitam dengan latar belakang sejarah di tahun 1600an yang sangat kental.
Pada saat itu Amerika belum meraih kemerdekaannya dan orang-orang kulit putih dari berbagai negara datang untuk membentuk koloni di sana. Mereka menggunakan budak kulit hitam untuk mengolah ladang mereka. Florens adalah tokoh utama dalam cerita tersebut. Dia adalah seorang perempuan kulit hitam yang menjadi budak karena mengikuti status ibunya yang juga seorang budak. Kemudian dia dijual ke pemilik lain atas dasar permintaan ibunya. Di tempat kerjanya yang baru, Florens tumbuh besar dan menjadi budak yang baik. Kemudian dia diutus oleh istri tuannya untuk mencari seorang penyembuh. Dalam perjalanannya itu Florens harus menghadapi berbagai rintangan dan masalah sosial, termasuk diskriminasi, rasa jijik atas rasnya, dan tuduhan-tuduhan yang berdasar pada status dan ras. Perjuangan Florens agar bisa menyelesaikan tugasnya dan mencari kebebasannya dibahas dalam tesis ini.
Dalam tulisan ini banyak membahas tentang bagaimana karakter seseorang mampu memotivasi orang tersebut untuk meraih kemerdekaan. Maka, yang pertama dibahas adalah mengetahui karakteristik Florens sebagai karakter utama dalam novel
A Mercy. Kedua, untuk mengerti keadaan kehidupan sosial para budak perempuan
kulit hitam di tahun 1600an. Ketiga, menemukan kemampuan dalam karakter Florens dan dalam menghadapi keadaan sosial budak perempuan kulit hitam sebagai cara untuk meraih kebebasan di tahun 1600an.
Studi pustaka telah dilakukan untuk menganalisis cerita ini. Saya juga menggunakan pendekatan sejarah, budaya dan sosiologis sebagai fokus analisis cerita ini. Bagaimana budak perempuan kulit hitam menggunakan kemampuan dari dalam dirinya untuk berjuang mencapai kebebasan adalah topik yang dibahas dalam skripsi ini.
Florens merupakan perempuan yang polos, penurut, cerdas, pemberani sekaligus bisa dipercaya. Para budak perempuan kulit hitam di tahun 1600an mengalami masa yang sulit karena mereka kaum marjinal dan mereka lebih dianggap alat atau benda, ketimbang manusia, sehingga diskriminasi terhadap kaum mereka sangat kuat. Dengan menggunakan kemampuan mereka masing-masing, para budak perempuan kulit hitam berjuang untuk persamaan hak dan perlakuan yang lebih baik. Mereka memanfaatkan kecerdasan mereka dan kemampuan mereka untuk menghadapi masalah untuk bisa menjadi diri mereka sendiri dan hidup mandiri. Pentingnya pengakuan humanitas mereka menjadi hal yang prinsip dalam arti kebebasan itu sendiri. xi
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature does not create itself. Every literary work has an author that
writes the story and gives birth to the work of art. An author creates a story from her own perspectives and gets many influences from the environment around her, such as the social background, the economic background, and childhood experience. An author may sit alone, in front of her typewriter and just watched a riot in front of a parliament building, might digest every incident and ideas into more elaborated details to be put on a story. Those ideas are often influenced by society and history. Therefore, literature is often concerned with the lesson conveyed in a story.
Literature can enrich us with knowledge, as it is written in Henry E. Jacobs and Edgar V. Roberts’ Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, “Literature enables us to develop a perspective on the events that occur around us and the world at large…(1989: 2)”. Besides entertaining the reader, literature can widen our views of the world. It can stimulate both our emotions and ability to feel, and to have empathy towards the things going on around us. There are many ways to read and understand a literary work. One of the ways is to look at the literary work from the historical context.
There is a saying that a great nation is a nation that does not forget its history. History helps people understand their identity, including their culture, and
2 makes people honor and preserve their heritage, so that they always become united. Many historical events are recounted through literature and it can make history feel closer to people even though not everyone experiences it.
American history plays a major role in American literary works, and it has produced great writings. Great American writers explore history and utilize historical information to create a context for their narrative. Their writings reflect a history of the people, culture, social problems, and political situation during a specific time. It also reflects the struggle of a nation to become a whole country and gain its freedom.
“Literature represents ‘life’; and ‘life’ is in large measure, a social reality…” as it is written in Wellek and Warren in their Theory of Literature (1956: 94). In this book, they explain that each poet is also a member of society, and the events happen around her society can define her knowledge of the world.
Thus, to best understand a novel, one must try to see the writer’s point of view, understand the historical context, social condition and social critique that lay within the book.
A Mercy, a novel by Toni Morrison, raises the historical events in
America around 1682-1690 in America during the European colonization of the New World. The novel gives the picture of slavery, the domination of the upper class toward the working class and the white race toward other races, economic problems, and the survival of the immigrants in the New World. Those pictures are often found in other Morrison’s novels. However, this new novel provides a different setting and it tells from the beginning of a great nation.
3 The book tells the story of Florens, a black girl whose mother allows her to be sold. She is taken to a farm to live with other people from the same economic class. Although they come from different racial backgrounds, they are all the victim of the ruling class. Their background and life experiences influence Florens to build her identity.
This thesis will address how Florens struggles for her freedom through the processes she has gone through. It was Florens’ willingness to do the best for the people she considers her family, her desire to get compassion and being loved or affirmed, and also her reactions toward society’s race based judgments on her skin colour that makes me want to see deeper. I also believe that there are similarities between the novel and the fact in history that black women who were slaves went through such experiences and finally were able to find freedom for themselves. That is shown from how one child struggles and learns to develop herself in amidst of a nation in chaos.
People can perceive their own identity based on the experiences in their life. Beyond their own characteristics, environments, culture, political and religious view influence one’s ability to survive. Florens’ character is unique and independent. That is why I am keen on analyzing Florens’ struggle to get her liberation in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is Florens depicted in the story?
2. How is the life of black women slaves in America in the 1600s described in the novel?
3. How does Florens’ characteristics and the descriptions of black women slaves in the 1600s in America show black women slave’s struggle to gain freedom?
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C. Objectives of the Study
Characters have the important role in conveying the message that the author wants to deliver. They are the actors that the author chose to bring the details of the story to the reader. Through characters, the reader will be able to understand the conflict, and, just like human, the characters can make the reader “feel” the story. In this study, the major character is the main point of the discussion. Her character is believed to have the similarities and is able to reflect black woman slaves in America during the 1600s. Her process to achieve freedom on her own is the main subject that I want to discuss in this undergraduate thesis.
Therefore, firstly, I will reveal how Florens is characterized by the author. In this part, I try to find her characteristics and the way she acts toward the society and reality. Then, I will try to interpret her personal quality based on the theory of characters and characterization.
Secondly, I will describe the social condition or the historical background, specifically regarding black woman slaves in America at that time.
Personality is influenced by the environment around us; therefore, in this part, I will detail the social and cultural and historical background during the settlement of the colonies in America.
Thus, after gathering all the information needed, I am going to reveal the abilities of black woman slaves to gain freedom in the history of America during the settlement of the colonies in the 1600s in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy by comparing the data found in the book and the facts from the history.
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D. Definition of Term
This thesis takes meaning of freedom for Negro slaves as the main discussion. Therefore, I need to clarify about the definition of freedom in this context. However, first, I need to emphasize that this thesis is based on historical perspective, and thus the definition given will be from the historical point of view.
The meaning of freedom in this context is to be one’s own and that their humanness is not for sale (Hine and Thompson, 1999). The ability to own themselves and protect their dignity is the meaning of freedom for the black women slaves in the 1600s. Through their lives, black women slaves were oppressed by the superior race and abused physically and mentally. They always seemed to be owned by others, but they could not own themselves. Therefore, the ability to make decision for their own, to be able to show that they could survive was the principle and the main idea of freedom for the black women slaves in the 1600s.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Michael Miller says that “Toni Morrison's new book, "A Mercy," tackles
the very origins of America's blood-soaked racial history It is written based on other common Morrison’s themes; about racism and the problems that occur within it.
However, according to Miller, A Mercy has a more broad idea than race problems, that is the idea of personal freedom as he stated, “...and it expends more energy exploring the related issues of power, poverty and the struggle for personal freedom.”
Daniel Garret has a different idea on the book. As he reviewed about the early American History and Slavery, Garret stated that, It is a book about civility and savagery, intelligence and stupidity, love and hatred: life and death. It also concerns a theme that may be as timeless: what children do not understand about parents, especially their acts, as well as feelings, within the treacherous churnings of history (thoughtful concern can look like indifference) According to Garret, Morrison is writing something that gives interpretation about the roots of the past. The interpretation, which reveals through the language Morrison used, representing the early American life and essential historical events during the exploitation of the Native Americans and also the black people.
7 An article in The Economist magazine reviewed A Mercy as a novel which has the underpinning premise that “the ultimate right of humans is to be free (November 2008: 95)”. It is concluded based on the quotation taken from the novel and how the book raised a theme upon slavery.
The reviews mainly discussed the themes that is brought up by Morrison and that the black people who were to survive in New World really depend on others and that the solidarity in a community is important to help them keep each other alive.
Khem Guragain, who is a lecturer in Ratna Rayja Laxmi Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal wrote a journal based on her study entitled, “African American Literary Tradition and Toni Morrison’s Aesthetic Perspectives”. On her paper, she analyzed that Toni Morrison is a leading voice in African American literature and that Morrison’s writings is to criticize the mainstream thought of academics and critics.
Guragain stated that, “The major themes of Toni Morrison's writing is to redefine the notion of white American canonical texts and their idea of African American writing as being non-canonical or inferior .
Morrison wanted to show that actually the present American culture was built upon the black’s people suffering and the slavery of black people.
Therefore, many of her writings are considered to be emotional and emphasizing on how the white race dominates the non-white races. She is very
8 detail on describing the black people experiences and black’s traditional habits and culture that may have been forgotten these days.
Obviously, many reviewers see Morrison as a talented writer and a loyal defender of her race. Her writings are influenced by the historical events and she voiced the unspoken voices upon the cases of racialism, slavery, inferiority, women, and many other humanitarian aspects. However, what I want to analyze further in my undergraduate thesis is how the main character in Morrison’s new novel, A Mercy has the ability to gain freedom as she accepts her status or being as a slave. As Michael Miller said in his review that A Mercy expands Morrison’s idea in writing to the meaning of personal freedom, is what I want to get a deep and thorough finding. Since Morrison’s writings are indeed based on historical events and society’s condition during the slavery era, the meaning of freedom and acceptance as a slave on A Mercy will be the focus of my undergraduate thesis. This study will also use the socio-historical approach that will give a thorough discussion and analysis about the history of American slavery, especially the meaning of freedom based on the main character’s perspective.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories on Character
As the objective of this undergraduate thesis is to analyze how the character has the ability to gain her freedom, therefore, a theory on character is needed. According to Abrams, in his book A Glossary of Literature Terms, character is the person who appears in dramatic or narrative work that has both
9 moral and dispositional qualities. “Those kinds of qualities can be seen through his action and speech constitutes his motivation (1980: 20)”.
Thus, by analyzing the character’s actions and characteristics, we will be able to find what kind of person she is, trace her moral values, her perspective of this world and other things that relates on her personality.
Another theory of character is from Henry E. Jacobs and Edgar V. Roberts, in his book entitled Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. He stated that “Character in literature generally, and in fiction specifically, is an extended verbal representation of human being, the inner self that determines thought, speech and behavior (Jacobs and Roberts, 1989: 143)”. Based on this definition, character is the representative of the actual person, who has values, perspectives and attitude towards the reality.
Jacobs and Roberts also explain that to understand a character, we must find the character’s trait or traits. This trait is something that describes the character’s habit and behavior toward other people or things that we can analyze from the book. “If we learn about a person’s traits, we can develop an understanding of that person (Jacobs and Roberts, 1989: 144)”. Thus, as character is the representative of the actual person who has values, perspectives and attitudes, character in the novel could be learned and understood by the readers. From that kind of analysis, we can found the quality of the character.
An English novelist and a critical thinker, E.M. Forster gave a more elaborate explanation about character in his book, Aspects of the Novel. He explains that the characters or the actors in the novel are the people and each of
10 the character has his or her own voice that represents a real human being. The relation between the people in the novel with the other aspect of the novel can make fiction more real than history, because fiction through its actors can go beyond of the proof or actions in the story and takes its reader to have the experience the character’s life while a history does not (2005: 70). With this explanation, we will be able to understand that character is an important element in the novel to create a story.
Forster also classifies the characters into two kinds: flat and round character. The flat character is the character which is described as it is from a single idea by the writer himself. “In their purest form, they are constructed round a single idea or quality; when there is more than one factor in them, we get the beginning of the curve towards the round (Forster, 2005: 73)”. Flat characters will be easily recognized and remembered by the readers, since they will have no development to be watched carefully and they already have their own characteristics that will be easily remembered by the readers.
On the other hand, round character is the character that can be identified and usually described through the events and implications that occur in the story.
On the contrast from the flat character, the round character is not easily recognized and has tendency to give surprises in the story. Other than that, it is also the round character that can perform a tragic character. “It is only round people who are fit to perform tragically at any length of time and can move us to any feelings except humor and appropriateness (Forster, 2005: 77)”. Thus, the
11 character has the intrinsic functions in itself other than the physical or psychological characteristics given by the author.
2. Theories on Characterization
M.H. Abrams stated that there are two methods to present the characters on the novel and called as characterizing. Those methods are showing and telling the characters. The showing method is a way to characterize the character based on the way the character does actions. The second method is the telling method; it is the way to characterize a character by describing the character’s behavior, and evaluating the character’s personal qualities (1981: 24).
Other than Abrams, I used the theory of characterization from Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan’s book entitled Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. His explanation is similar to Jacobs and Roberts’ theory on character, that a character could be understood by knowing and identifying the character’s traits, as stated, “Character as one construct within abstracted story that can be described in terms of a network of character traits (Rimmon-Kenan, 1983: 59)”. Thus, an author gives the explanation of her actors’ characteristics or personality is through their traits found in the novel.
Rimmon-Kenan classifies the basic types of indicator to identify the characterization; direct definition and indirect presentation. The direct definition gives the reader a definite description about the character, by giving the character a proper adjective name, and gives the traits of the character by a clear description. The indirect presentation is the opposite, leaving the readers to judge
12 and conclude the implicit traits of the character. For the indirect presentation, there are many ways to find the character’s traits which are through the character’s: action, speech, external appearance, and environment (Rimmon- Kenan, 1983).
The idea that character and her traits held an important role in a story also shared by Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz in their book, Literature: Reading
and Writing the Human Experience. On their book, they give explanation on
every aspect that built a story, such as theme, plot, point of view and characterization. Characters are very crucial element in a story to present the ideas or theme that the author want to share with her readers. They say the one thing that differentiate characters in short stories and in novels is the “characterization, or the process by which the characters are rendered to make them seem real to the reader (Abcarian and Klotz, 1978: 6)”.
Through this process, characters in novels more likely to develop than characters in short stories. However, Abcarian and Klotz say that this characterization cannot be separated from other elements in a story, since from those elements the reader will be able to reveal the characteristics of a character.
According to M. J. Murphy on his book entitled Understanding Unseens:
An Introduction to English Poetry & English Novel for Overseas Students, there
are nine ways for an author to describe the characters in the novel; personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comments, thoughts, mannerisms. The method can be used by the reader to appreciate a little bit more to the art of the work of an
13 author. By analyzing how the character described by other people, observing the description about the past life, the reader may also understand the personalities given by the author.
“An author does not make use exclusively of any one of these methods but generally blends them skillfully together (Murphy, 1972:173)”. Therefore, there can be more than one method used by the author and it is intended to make the reader think that it is the author creation of real people.
Thus, a character’s characteristics can be studied from the features shared by the character or actions that are found in the story directly or indirectly, in coordination with other elements in the story.
C. Review on Historical Background of America in the 1600s
1. Review on Slavery Slavery in America has been the one that probably much more discussed.
It had a long journey and different status or systems in places in America. Based on the book A Comparative Approach to American History, “American slavery was a product of the African slave trade, which was itself an integral part of both European commercial expansion and New World colonization (Woodward, 1968: 132)”. This trade becomes more ‘popular’ because of the increasing competition to build an empire in the New World between merchants, sailors (seaman), and planters from various nationalities.
The Essentials of American History discussed how much the New World
was desired by these people. “The interest of colonization was because of
14 America has a lot of virgin lands that can be cultivated by the English or other European immigrants (Current, 1976: 15)”. However, these people also carry diseases such as small pox or measles that affect the local people or also known as the Indians. By their condition, slavery seems to be the best option to help these colonies to build an empire, because the African slaves are strong. Woodward explanation that “...there could hardly have been successful colonization of the New World without the Negro slaves (Woodward, 1968: 133)” emphasizes the importance and the dependence of the colonies toward the Negro slaves.
Racial antipathy that grew in America was because of the strong emotion of fear and all they are trying to achieve was a quick wealth through a reckless increase in slaves. At that time, the investment in slave labor was the key to expand the production and spectacular profit, even the possession of slaves could become a symbol of affluence, prestige, and power. To cultivate the land, the source of labor was the Negro slaves that were considered to be more appropriate.
Though slaves were treated differently in different places in America, for example the laws in Virginia to treat slaves was considered to be inappropriate outside Virginia; the main point is that slaves never had a legal claim to their families and that they are all the instruments of their owner. Black slaves were also different with the white slaves.
As for their status, America developed different status in many different states (Woodward, 1968). At that time the law was made by the governor who ruled in that area. Therefore, different states will have different law; this law included the rule of the wages for the slaves, their social condition and their
15 rights. However, one common wage given for the slaves was called the ‘hand share’, which is the share of the crops given by their master, but there was no standard on how much is the share.
The white slaves, and usually they were women, carry different status. These women came from their country because there were not enough job fields in their origin and there were demand to cultivate the new land. Many of them became slaves though they have different fate than the Negro slaves, as stated “Identifiable by their color, black slaves could not run away and merge themselves with the mass of free humanity as white servants could (Current, 1976: 16)”.
Racial discrimination toward the black is also explained by John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr. in their book, From Slavery to Freedom, “The distinction between black and white servants was becoming well established (1988: 54)”. They discussed a case when there were three servants escaped and then managed to be recaptured, the white servant must serve the master for one year, while the black servants must serve for the master for the rest of their life.
Discrimination can happen because of the fear of white people if the black slaves are able to develop. Therefore, the white people tend to keep black people illiterate as much as possible.
On the other, they declared that it was “dangerous” to teach blacks how to read and write. It unfitted them for the role of slave…Being able to read opens up the world. People who know something other than slavery are unlikely to remain convinced that it is their only option. Slaveholders knew this and most did everything they could to keep enslaved people illiterate (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 73-74).
16 The white people are afraid if there is a chance for black people to realize that they have a better fate than being a slave. Since they want to have a cheap labor and gain as much profit as possible, they try their hardest to make the black people the marginalized people in the society.
Therefore, there’s a form of superiority of the white race towards the black people, though both races were in the same class and share the same difficult experiences.
2. Review on Social Condition of the Black Women Slaves in the 1600s
As the setting of the time is during the colonial era, thus many things are influenced by the British Empire. One of them is the social pattern and condition.
It is important to discuss since I want to analyze how the character is influenced by the social life during the colonialism.
On their book, American History: A Survey, Richard N. Current and friends explained about the social systems during the colonization. The British Empire inherited a basic system of social institutions; that is the class structure, the community, and the family. The most visible inheritance is the class distinction in the society; there are the working class society and the upper class society. The working class society is the community that works as farmers. Even black slaves eventually enter this categorization for their rapid growth in that time. The upper class society is the community that comes from the Puritan community. (Current, 1965: 17).
17 The Puritans live remain close to their neighbors, they build social organizations and their central activity will be on the church services. The Puritan community is also considered as the upper class since they attend school and study the Latin grammar, which make them more educated from the working class community.
Current and his friends wrote, “Central of the Puritan community was the family. And central to each family was the father, who exercised nearly dictatorial power over family members (Current, 1965: 74)”. This influenced the strong patriarchal system in that time and made the younger members strike out to find a place for their own.
Similar to the Puritan family, family became the central of the black slaves community. It was because they want to have a better future and better fate for their race and community. This condition is explained in A Shining Thread of
Hope written by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson,
Enslaved Americans were also deeply committed to the idea of family, at any cost. At the core of this response was the need to care for children. At the same time, however, enslaved women and men used families of all shapes and sizes to fill the need for companionship, support, intimacy, and sense of belonging (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 86). It shows that the African American people at that time were bound very close to each other, as their population grew and because they have none to defend them and their race other than their own family. A stronger bound were held by the African American women slaves, who were characterized as “self-reliant and self- sufficient because, lacking black male protection, they had to develop their own means of resistance and survival (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 72)”. Women must
18 do field works the same as men, but they also had to bear children, or facing the risk of being sexually abused, which made their burden doubled.
In the early colonies, most black women were agricultural workers on farms or domestic servants in cities, often working alongside white indentured servants (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 13). These women also have many traditional skills, such as healing skills that can be used to help their fellow slaves. Other than working on farms, black women also had role as midwives, and their position was completely under the control of their employer.
However, because of the rapid growth and mixed marriages, the government at that time was confused to create the law regarding the status of the children.
Thus, the status of the children followed the conditional status of their mother (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 15). That is why black women had so difficult position and their motherhood was like a curse. Black women must work hard, facing sexual abuse everyday, and without men standing next to them, because men were also afraid to marry black women slaves for their children status.
Women’s position was very difficult and complicated. Often, when they were freed, they would still have a “constant fear” to being kidnapped and re-enslaved (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 21). Their difficult situation made the bond between black women slaves was strong and they support each other.
As for the children, especially girls, they had short years to enjoy their childhood. Children must learn to work as well, and “girls usually began working at an earlier age than their brother, and they shifted from the jobs accorded children to their adult jobs earlier as well (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 69)”.
19 Slaveholders would use children to do small chores at first, and they believed that the best slaves were the ones that were raised (Hine and Thompson, 1999: 70).
3. The Meaning of Freedom for Black Woman Slaves in the 1600s
As this thesis is discussing freedom for slaves, therefore I need to give an explanation about how, why and what freedom really meant for the slaves. Since this thesis also use historical approach, a historical perspective to explain the theories on freedom is needed and thus the theories on freedom is not philosophical, but it is accordingly to the testimonies, biographies, or historical writings about meaning of freedom to American slaves.
I define freedom is to be one’s own and that their humanness is not for sale (Hine and Thompson, 1999). Both black men and women struggled for their freedom and their race’s fate in the land of white people. However, one thing that was being emphasized by black women was their “ownership”; that women must be able to own themselves and their humanness belongs only to them.
A free man for a Negro slave is not only to gain independence or being able to do whatever you wanted or even to choose what you wanted to choose; it’s about not being stigmatized and acknowledged that she is also human. The problem is, for Negro slaves, they are treated like animals and people would let them stranded without anything.
In his book, A History in Their Own Words: The Black American, Milton Meltzer gave a picture about slavery and experiences of the Black people in America. The book consists of stories based on the Black people directly. Some of
20 it is in a form of journals, letters, or newspapers. From the story written, the reader will get the experience and historical point of view to what make America a nation.
One of the stories was taken from a journal written by a black bookseller about a kidnapping of a free black man. When some laws were made to prohibit slavery, some slaves were freed but they still have hard times. A free black man was taken by police for something he did not commit and in the end he was sold, once again, as slaves (Meltzer, 1987: 45).