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Clotel
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Clotel: Week 1: July 17-23: Preface and Narrative of the Life and Escape of WWB.
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I agree that his childhood was harrowing and that so-called Christians could treat human beings this way was appalling, especially when they split families apart.
His description of the two mothers whose little ones were torn away from then was heart-breaking.
I enjoyed the way he gained his "teachers"-with sugar candy and other ingenious methods.
It's a good thing he was able to go to Englandd when he did, otherwise, who knows?
The narrative was intense. I don’t know that I have words to respond—maybe better to just sit with it for awhile and continue to absorb. I was struck by his choice to continue putting himself in danger even when free in order to help others cross the border (as I assume continuously crossing back into the U.S. would be less safe than crossing once and subsequently just staying in Canada, which he could have done).
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Same. This is very important history to know and to process, but I don't have words to respond to it either.
https://digitalpublications.brown.edu...
This opening section is a short (auto)biography of William Wells Brown, who spent the first 20 years of his life as a slave. He escaped to the North from where he first taught himself to read and write, then learned to support himself, then became a campaigner for the abolition of slavery, and then took that campaign on a tour of the UK and Europe before finally returning after some years to the United States.
This was a harrowing read, and a stark reminder of just how brutal life was under slavery. Were there particular passages that stood out for you? After he and his mother are captured during their attempted escape, we read
The religious characteristics of the American slaveholder soon manifested itself, as before the family retired to rest they were all called together to attend prayers; and the very man who, but a few hours before, had arrested poor panting, fugitive slaves, now read a chapter from the Bible and offered a prayer to God; as if that benignant and omnipotent One consecrated the infernal act he had just committed.
It also spoke to the remarkable talent and drive of our author, particularly around his pursuit of education and his never ending fight for freedom for all.
Please share your thoughts on this introduction of the author and to this novel.