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Chains
The whip that is used to control and punish the slaves symbolizes the dehumanization of black slaves by white slave owners. Throughout the narrative, slaves are frequently treated as beasts of burden, like workhorses—first, dressed up at a slave auction with potential buyers examining their limbs and looking in their mouths, then, forced to toil in the fields, spurred by the sharp, cracking whip. The whip is the ultimate symbol of the slaves’ dehumanization, as its use on slaves implies that slaves are like livestock that can be bought, trained, and controlled by the threat—or use—of brutal physical violence.
Whip Quotes in 12 Years a Slave
The 12 Years a Slave quotes below all refer to the symbol of Whip. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 13
Quotes
Bent with excessive toil—actually suffering for a little refreshing rest, and feeling rather as if we could cast ourselves upon the earth and weep, many a night in the house of Edwin Epps have his unhappy slaves been made to dance and laugh.
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Chapter 14
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The existence of Slavery in its most cruel form among them has a tendency to brutalize the humane and finer feelings of their nature. Daily witnesses of human suffering—listening to the agonizing screeches of the human slave—beholding him writhing beneath the merciless lash—bitten and torn by dogs—dying without attention, and buried without shroud or coffin—it cannot otherwise be expected, than that they should become brutified and reckless of human life.
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Chapter 18
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It was the Sabbath of the Lord. The fields smiled in the warm sunlight—the birds chirped merrily amidst the foliage of the trees—peace and happiness seemed to reign everywhere, save in the bosoms of Epps and his panting victim and the silent witnesses around him. The tempestuous emotions that were raging there were little in harmony with the calm and quiet beauty of the day. I could look on Epps only with unutterable loathing and abhorrence, and thought within myself—“Thou devil, sooner or later, somewhere in the course of eternal justice, thou shalt answer for this sin!”
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Whip Symbol Timeline in 12 Years a Slave
The timeline below shows where the symbol Whip appears in 12 Years a Slave. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
Burch orders Radburn to retrieve the paddle and whip, and Burch proceeds to beat and whip Solomon severely, increasing the severity and power of...
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Chapter 8
...necessary. Tibeats lashes out at Solomon with a “flood of curses” and reaches for the whip. Feeling that he had dutifully done the work that Tibeats asked of him, Solomon angrily...
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...Solomon tackles him to the ground. With his foot on Tibeats’ neck, Solomon begins to whip his master, despite Tibeats’ screams for mercy. Solomon pauses, and notices Chapin’s wife and a...
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Chapter 12
...he is “in his cups,” he is noisy, abrasive, and loves to make games of whipping his slaves. When he is sober, he is stoic and clever and whips his slaves...
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Chapter 13
...cotton for the first time. Solomon ends up being unfit to pick cotton. He is whipped for his meager harvest and is sent instead to chop wood. Other slaves who fail...
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...slaves’ quarters in search of more amusement. Sometimes he hides in the dark yard to whip unsuspecting slaves when they pass his hiding place. Other times, he decides “there must be...
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Chapter 15
...parties. This opportunity saved him from many tiresome days in the field toiling under Epps’ whip. He writes that his fiddle was his closest friend, “triumphing loudly when I was joyful,...
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Chapter 16
...who ensures the slaves are working efficiently. Overseers are armed with pistols, a knife, a whip, and dogs. Solomon says that “the requisite qualifications in an overseer are utter heartlessness, brutality,...
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...Solomon knows that Epps is always watching and will know if Solomon doesn’t use the whip as he is supposed to. To satisfy Epps’ violence while protecting his fellow slaves, Solomon...
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Chapter 18
...down by tying her wrists and feet to each stake with rope. Procuring a thick whip, Epps commands Solomon to whip Patsey, and Solomon is forced to oblige. Meanwhile, Mistress Epps...
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Chapter 20
...and claims that the slaves are doing their work wrong. He leaves to get a whip, and Solomon notices two men approaching in a carriage. Solomon interjects in the narrative, telling...
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Chapter 21
...carriage arrives at Epps’ plantation right as Epps goes inside the house to find a whip. Henry B. Northup and the sheriff walk to the cotton fields, where the sheriff asks...
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