Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave
William W. Brown, the author, describes the life of a slave in his narrative. Along with the narrative, there is a song that is representative of the slave woman's mourning. It really affected him to see this woman go through so much pain and suffering, and be told she cannot keep her child. In this piece, with the use of the song, Brown is able to provide the reader with a more vivid image of what he remembers seeing and hearing.
In this mourning song, a slave woman is crying for the life of her child. At that point her child's life was hers and she shed many tears of pain, so that the master would let her be with he child. Apparently the master's wife did not care for the child, because the child was loud and cried too much.
Two girls protesting child labour (by calling it c...
Scars of a whipped slave (April 2, 1863, Baton Rou...
English: Family on Smith's Plantation, Beaufort, S...This song portrays the life of many African American slaves that had to suffer in order the continue living. I don't feel they did it for those who live in the future (my generations), because at that moment in their lives, all they could think about were themselves and their immediate families and survival.
Unfortunately the slave masters did not allow for the women to have children and/ or care for them. The tears shed, the knees hurting from kneeling (asking for forgiveness), as well as other things, just to name a few, made no difference. It almost seems as though a walk could not talk. It seemed like "freedom of speech" but your words not being heard. How would you feel being in that position? I think it's pretty amazing to see how words are said in vane many times.
Women and children slaves were tortured, but even so they continued to stand proud. Brown speaks of all the things he experienced and it is shown in this piece, and his words allow you to create a mental picture of all that's occurring. The songs he uses in this piece really give you, as the reader, a feeling of having survived to slavery era. Although, is it really over? That's another paper.