Mary Prince

 Mary Prince 

    The History of Mary Prince follows a startling first-hand account of what life as a slave in the Caribbean was like. It was released to mainstream audiences and Europe but does not provide a Eurocentric swing on slavery or the black community the way Oroonoko does. Mary Prince is very descriptive in giving a look at the struggles of slaves and gives the general public a real look at what it is like to be a slave. In reading Mary Prince the shocking part is the atrocities that the slave owners are able to commit and the physical and psychological abuse that slaves have to endure. Mary Prince hops from slave over to slave over and doesn't see any relief from the abuse which points to the idea of systematic abuse and human rights violations over the majority of slave owners. It would appear this narrative derives that lenient slave owners were the exception at this time. Mary Prince is desperately trying to bring these atrocities to the unknowing public to hopefully achieve a result. "Oh the horrors of slavery-- how the thought of it pains my heart"page vii, brings to light the how dark of an institution slavery is. 

    Mary prince is traded between many individuals and felt that the best part of her life was her childhood when she was too young to comprehend that there was a a life beyond slavery. After the innocence of childhood is lost the atrocities become obvious. Seeing families separated "it was a sad parting, one went one way, one another, and our poor mammy went home with nothing" quickly forced people to understand the darkness that surrounded them. The general public didn't understand that slave families were almost always forced apart. They stayed together long enough to form serious attachment just to be ripped apart for economic benefit. There is a certain gravity family separation that forces readers to stop and think for a second if they haven't yet up to that point and really comprehend what such a thing is like. Mary Prince writes about family separation like it is commonplace, like such a terrible thing has become a daily occurrence. 

"We don't mind hard work, if we had proper treatment, and proper wages like English servants" xvii, at the end of the story Mary Prince goes on to compare slavery to the lowest level of free-servitude in England and explains even the lowest free work is still leagues better than slavery. This brings attention to how much slavery is than anything regular English citizens would have experienced and how slaves envy even the lowest of work as free men. I think this points heavily to the idea that similar to slavery is still not slavery and people should be thankful that that is such. In my mind when Mary Prince says "we don't mind hard work" it reminds me of what immigrants illegal or naturalized say in the US. People down on their luck just looking for opportunities even in the lowest form and regardless of cost. We see that aspect of slavery still today in a somewhat startling manner. Maybe this advocates for giving people a chance to work hard and prove themselves. Especially in the US where we claim to be the land of opportunity. The slaves just needed a chance. a chance at freedom, at chance to work hard as free men to prove that there was no need for slavery.

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