Movie Review

In the film '12 Years a Slave', it's depicted that in pre-Civil War Southern
slave states, slaves were considered as property and subjected to brutal
hardships, used as laborers for fields and domestic activities.

The film '12 Years a Slave' is about a man named Solomon Northup,
who was born a free man in New York in 1808. In 1842, he was
deceived, captured, and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C. His friend
Saratoga introduced him to two men, white men Hamilton and Brown,
who offered him a job playing the violin in Washington, D.C. Solomon
went out of town with these two men, and when they drugged him, they
sold him into slavery. He woke up chained to a wall and told the slave
trader that he was a free man. The trader asked for his papers, and
when there was nothing to show, people claimed he was a runaway from
Georgia. They continued without saying a word to him, proceeding to
repeatedly whip and beat him. One day he was a free man with his
family, then easily became someone's slave and property.
This film portrays how, prior to the war, in the South, slaves were treated
as property, subjected to beatings, killings, sexual assault, torture, and
daily humiliation. Another punishment Solomon endured was being
hanged from a tree for days as a means of sparing him from being killed,
so he was left hanging there. Slaves were bought for domestic work,
construction, cotton picking, lumbering, and tree cutting. Solomon, in a
rare instance, was used for playing the violin. The brutality inflicted upon
these individuals was as horrific as anything he had never seen before.

In this film, a man and a woman along with children were together as
slaves in a pit. Another man instructed them to remain silent and follow
what they were told. They were taken by a riverboat with several other
slaves, some punished for speaking and others thrown into the water for
not staying quiet, resulting in their deaths. When they arrived in
Washington, D.C., Solomon and the woman, Eliza, were sold to the
plantation owner William Ford, who paid attention to Solomon's skills
since he played the violin while being sold. Eliza was separated from her
children and cried for many days. Ford could see there was more to
Solomon than met the eye, though he did nothing about it. Ford treated
Movie Review

him with politeness, yet the treatment was akin to valuable livestock.
Ford provided some protection for him.
During this time, a Tibets leader doesn't approve of how Solomon is
constructing the walls of the house. He attempts to whip Solomon
without any reason, and Solomon retaliates, almost resulting in his
death. Mister Ford saves him and realizes he'll have to sell Solomon to
another plantation owner because he's become a liability at his home,
needing to avoid further trouble. He's assigned to work for Mr. Eldret to
clear trees, a difficult task but with fair treatment. When he completes the
job, he earns a weekend pass to return to William Ford's home. He's told
he's been sold to Edwin Epps. Solomon is sold to a harsh plantation
owner, Epps, who doesn't treat his slaves like Ford did. He behaves
abusively and unfairly, not like a considerate human being with his
slaves. He's always looking for a slave to punish for work not done to his
satisfaction. Epps takes pleasure in whipping his slaves and enjoys
hearing their cries of agony.
In this plantation, there were several other slaves. A woman named
Patsey drew the attention of others, but Mistress Epps did not accept
her. Epps was the worst among them; when he was intoxicated, he
made the slaves dance for his entertainment at any time of the night.
Those who danced too slowly were whipped. Solomon had to play the
violin. He watched Patsey dance; his wife noticed the attention he gave
her, resulting in Patsey receiving harsher punishment because Mistress
Epps threw a bottle at her during a random festival she was summoned
to attend. It's not just one instance where Patsey suffers for catching Mr.
Epps' favor; she's denied meals with others and gets beaten again. Epps
always looked for reasons to beat his slaves. One night, seeing Solomon
and Patsey returning from another plantation together while he was
drunk, Epps becomes furious and fights Solomon, suspecting he is also
becoming fond of Patsey. Mistress Epps intervenes and gets
disappointed with her husband, leading to more hostility towards the
slave Patsey. Later that night, Epps rapes Patsey and beats her for
staying with Solomon. Patsey, feeling she cannot endure further abuse,
refuses. Women were used for sex, either receiving favors or cruelty in
return.
Movie Review

In this farm, during certain times of the day, they used to pick cotton, and
they all had their cotton weighed according to what they picked. If four or
five people picked cotton, it would amount to at least two hundred
pounds every day. The person who picked the least amount of cotton
was punished, taken out of the line, and beaten. Solomon was supposed
to pick cotton in the field, a job he wasn't suited for, so instead, the
overseer assigned him to other hard tasks. Sulaiman and the other
laborers were beaten for not fulfilling the cotton-picking quota, breaking
branches in the field, appearing idle in the field, and working too slowly
in the field.

There was an outbreak of caterpillars destroying the cotton crop in the

plantation and neighboring farms. The overseer would send his slaves
periodically to a magistrate who employed them in the sugar plantation
to earn money for the master. Unlike picking cotton, Solomon was
natural at cutting sugarcane. The magistrate appoints Solomon as a kind
of supervisor and assigns him the responsibility of whipping any fellow
slave considered idle in the field. The magistrate recognizes Solomon's
talent and sends him to a neighbor to play the violin in a case. Solomon
holds memories of both his life as a free man and his new life as a slave.

It was many times that Solomon got put in charge of whipping the other slaves. He

was hired out to work for the sugar cane plantation each year and oversaw up to one

hundred slaves for three years. When he worked on Epp’s plantation he was

compelled to whipping several gangs of slaves. Solomon did not lessen the whip

when Epps was around. If Epps was absent or in the distance Solomon would to try

softening the hit of the whip and spare the slaves when he could. This is also when

Solomon would try to help all the slaves and help Patsey avoid torment by Epps or

his wife, Epps does not like that Solomon is always trying to help someone which

causes more punishment and attacks for him. When Epps is drunk, he would have to

avoid almost being stabbed, chasing and dodge Epps till his wife would intervene.
Movie Review

While he worked in the field for these men, Epps hires a poor white man names

Armsby. This is when Solomon trusts another white worker named Armsby with his

past. He goes to find Armsby one night and promises to pay him if he sends his letter

to his friend in Saratoga, Armsby betrays him and tell Epps. Solomon turned the

whole story on Armsby and is lucky believed by Epps. He was able to convince his

master that Armsby is a liar. Although Epps believed Solomon’s story things were not

getting any easier for him. Epps was still very fond of Patsey and Mrs. Epps hated it

very much. Patsey was being whipped by Solomon due to Mrs. Epp's enticing Epps.

Solomon tried to whip her gently but is then pressured by Epps at gunpoint to whip

her harder. So now only were the slaves whipped, they were forced to whip the other

slaves that they were with and cared for. Solomon’s whipping was not enough, Epps

proceeds to whip her, this brings Patsey to her knees, she used a lot of more anger

and force than what Solomon was using. There was another man that wanted to by

Solomon but that did not happen because Epp’s wife heard him say that he would be

ok with that arrangement. Epps refuse and Solomon gets punished with a strong

whipping. His anger did not end here, he went on to punish and stab and elder, and

then on to Patsey who was returning from getting soap. When she returned Epps is

mad and thinks that she was having an affair with the white master, he strips her

naked, ties her to stakes and makes Solomon brutally whip her, then he finishes off

till he is too exhausted.