Solomon Northup Shades of Grey:

Solomon Northup

Shades of Grey:

A Review of Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave

The tale of slavery in the United States has been told many times. It is a tale of unimaginable cruelty, of perverse utilitarianism, and of the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit under extreme oppression. Too often, however, the story ignores the complexity of the relationships underlying the institution of slavery, instead presenting generalities in terms of simple moral contrasts. On the surface, the relationships involved in slavery may seem to have been black and white (literally and figuratively), but beneath the contrasts lay many subtleties. Perhaps because he was not born into slavery and therefore experienced it with somewhat of an outsider's eye, Solomon Northup was able to examine these complexities in his memoir Twelve Years a Slave with a voice that conveyed the intense emotionality of his experiences while maintaining a carefully crafted impartiality. This blend of emotional impact and historical accuracy makes Northup's work a rare and valuable resource in understanding the murky underpinnings of slavery.

Because of the controversy surrounding the issue of slavery in 1853 when Northup published his memoir, and because of the prejudice that would have existed against him as an African-American writer, Northup had to take great care in establishing himself as a trustworthy narrator. His editor recognized Northup's predicament, and went out of his way to vouch for the honesty of the narrative: "That he has adhered strictly to the truth, the editor, at least, who has had an opportunity of detecting any contradiction…in his statements, is well satisfied" (Northup, p. 8). Regardless of his editor's attestations, however, Northup still had to proceed carefully in creating his narrative voice.

This care with which he crafted his voice is apparent from the beginning in his sophisticated use of rhetorical devices. After introducing himself and his background in as simple and straightforward a way as possible, Northup declared his motive for writing the memoir with striking subtlety: "[I]t has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public" (Northup, p. 9). This use of ironic understatement reveals Northup's savvy in gaining the trust of his reader. Instead of positioning himself as a former slave looking to blow the whistle or retaliate for wrongs done, Northup presented his memoir as the result of an anonymous suggestion, and downplayed, for the moment at least, the riveting and sometimes gruesome content to follow.

To solidify his trustworthiness, Northup took every opportunity to back up his assertions with evidence when it was available. For instance, when recounting his acquisition of his freeman papers in New York, he pointed the reader directly to the log book in the office where the papers were produced -- evidence that he believed would "satisfy the incredulous" (Northup, p. 15). When describing his holding pen in Washington, DC, Northup described its location with painstaking accuracy, remarking that it was necessary, "in order to present a full and truthful statement…and to portray the institution of Slavery as I have seen and known it, to speak of well-known places" (Northup, p. 22).

Northup's careful construction of an impartial voice does not mean that his narrative is devoid of emotionality and even, on occasion, harsh judgment. He was not above calling some of those responsible for his agony "the incarnate devil" (p. 20) or a "coarse, heartless brute" (p. 102). His irony could sometimes be biting, as when he described a slave trader as "the very amiable, pious-hearted Mr. Theophilus Freeman," all the while recounting Mr. Freeman's brutal treatment of the slaves in his care (p. 35). And his descriptions of the bloody treatment of himself and others at the hands of traders and masters are often chilling and heart-wrenching.

These highly charged and often damning passages are balanced, however, by the generous praise given by Northup to those white men, even former masters, who showed kindness to him and other slaves. In his account of his time at the Great Pine Woods in Louisiana, Northup praised his master's character: "[I]t is but simple justice to him when I say, in my opinion, there never was a more kind, noble, candid, Christian man than William Ford" (Northup, p. 40). That Northup could write these words about a man who held him in enslavement speaks volumes about Northup's keen understanding of human society. Much later in the narrative, he expounds upon his philosophy of slavery and its effect on man: