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Situational Irony
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis:
As a memoir, 12 Years a Slave is told from a first-person perspective. Throughout his narration, Solomon uses imagery and metaphor in important moments. But most of the time, his prose style is formal, direct, and literal. He does not include many flourishes but offers moment-by-moment chronological and literal descriptions of his time in slavery.
Solomon even occasionally interrupts the narrative flow of the book to communicate to readers that he is not exaggerating or embellishing, such as this moment in Chapter 1:
I can speak of Slavery only so far as it came under my own observation—only so far as I have known and experienced it in my own person. My object is, to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of more cruel wrong or a severer bondage.
Though Solomon is hoping to persuade readers to oppose slavery after reading about the horrors of his experience (he directly describes it as a “cruel wrong” and the most severe form of bondage), he wants to make it clear that he will not lie in order to achieve these ends.
Though Solomon is committed to presenting facts, there are also moments in the memoir where he editorializes about the injustices of slavery rather than just describing them, like in Chapter 14:
Men may write fictions portraying lowly life as it is, or as it is not—may expatiate with owlish gravity upon the bliss of ignorance—discourse flippantly from arm chairs of the pleasures of slave life; but let them toil with him in the field—sleep with him in the cabin—feed with him on husks; let them behold him scourged, hunted, trampled on, and they will come back with another story in their mouths.
Here, Solomon’s writing style switches into more of a persuasive tone. He is not merely presenting the facts of his life but interpreting them for readers, and going as far as to criticize writers who tell fictional stories of enslaved people enjoying their subordinate position. In this way, 12 Years a Slave moves, at points, between memoiristic description and political persuasion.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis:
As a memoir, 12 Years a Slave is told from a first-person perspective. Throughout his narration, Solomon uses imagery and metaphor in important moments. But most of the time, his prose style is formal, direct, and literal. He does not include many flourishes but offers moment-by-moment chronological and literal descriptions of his time in slavery.
Solomon even occasionally interrupts the narrative flow of the book to communicate to readers that he is not exaggerating or embellishing, such as this moment in Chapter 1:
I can speak of Slavery only so far as it came under my own observation—only so far as I have known and experienced it in my own person. My object is, to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of more cruel wrong or a severer bondage.
Though Solomon is hoping to persuade readers to oppose slavery after reading about the horrors of his experience (he directly describes it as a “cruel wrong” and the most severe form of bondage), he wants to make it clear that he will not lie in order to achieve these ends.
Though Solomon is committed to presenting facts, there are also moments in the memoir where he editorializes about the injustices of slavery rather than just describing them, like in Chapter 14:
Men may write fictions portraying lowly life as it is, or as it is not—may expatiate with owlish gravity upon the bliss of ignorance—discourse flippantly from arm chairs of the pleasures of slave life; but let them toil with him in the field—sleep with him in the cabin—feed with him on husks; let them behold him scourged, hunted, trampled on, and they will come back with another story in their mouths.
Here, Solomon’s writing style switches into more of a persuasive tone. He is not merely presenting the facts of his life but interpreting them for readers, and going as far as to criticize writers who tell fictional stories of enslaved people enjoying their subordinate position. In this way, 12 Years a Slave moves, at points, between memoiristic description and political persuasion.
Related Themes:
