My personal take is that she knew her audience and what they wanted to read about. Who was buying poetry in the 1770s? Not slaves. But she also might simply not have found slavery worth writing about. It was a fact of her life, the same as her being a woman was a fact of her life, and most of her poetry focuses on higher subjects and ideals.
However, we do have this poem of hers, which addresses her own enslavement head-on.
"On Being Brought from Africa to America"
by Phyllis Wheatley
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
Discussion Questions:
1. What is Phyllis Wheatley's attitude toward her enslavement? Does it surprise you? Why might it surprise modern readers?
2. Why might she have italicized specific words in this poem?
1. It was a mercy that she was brought to be a slave, because then she learned about God and she most likely never would have if she had remained in Africa all her life. I think if I was sold as a slave to a man who wanted to help me better myself and who taught me about God, I would feel the same way. But it would probably surprise modern readers because they've learned in school how horrible slavery was and would be shocked anyone would have this opinion toward it, especially if they didn't have a handy-dandy little 'Introducing Phyllis Wheatley' post to read before :P
ReplyDeleteYes. You'll notice that she never says that being a slave is a blessing, but that being brought here despite being a slave was a huge blessing.
DeleteSlavery, throughout history, is not awesome. No one can say "oh, slavery wasn't that bad in America" because it was. Even slaves who were treated nicely were still slaves, which is incurably degrading and dehumanizing. However, could God work even a bad thing like slavery out for the good of a believer? Clearly, yes!
2. She might be putting emphasis on them so people realize how important they are, how the fact that her land was Pagan is the important bit, and that there's not just a God, there's a Saviour who's saved you from your sins. Also that Negros can be Christians too, not just white men, and that everyone is a sinner, like Cain.
ReplyDeleteYes, very good.
Delete1. She's grateful that she WAS enslaved, because her master's taught her the Christian faith. She seems to look at her slavery from a "Joseph" point view. Her captures meant her captivity for bad (bad in this case meaning probably not specifically for her good), but it turned out to work in her favor. She was taught about God's mercy, how he sent his Son for her, and so she is thankful that was enslaved for the reason that she has become a Christian.
ReplyDeleteTo add to my answer, I don't think it really surprised me, because I have read books by slaves who express the same sentiment as her, and as for it surprising modern readers, I think that people today have been so taught that slavery is an inexcusable evil (which, it is an evil, of course, but anything can be forgiven, also the Bible says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him"), so they never even have thought that slavery could have had benefits, and that perhaps all slave owners were not monsters, but disagreed with it as much as they, and were only trying to cope with the time. And so hearing from a slaves mouth that her slavery was something good in her life, and led to the best thing in her life could very well be surprising.
DeleteYes, well said. I think it shows the power of the Christian faith, to be able to say "you meant this for evil, but God has used it for good" like Joseph.
Delete2. She might have italicized "Pagan" because otherwise enslaving her would just have been enslaving her, whereas since she's from a pagan land and otherwise would have no way to become a Christian. She probably italicized "Saviour", because she calls her homeland pagan, and pagan means that you believe in a God other than the true One, and so she most likely believed in a god, just not the "Saviour". She most likely italicized "Christians" to give a sort of guilt trip to the people who, as she says, think black people's skin is a, "diabolic dye". She also italicizes "Negros" and "Cain". The first probably to add to the guilt trip by differentiating the blacks from the "Christians", or whites. And then she says "Negros, BLACK AS CAIN", black, of course just because they're black, but black as CAIN, because Cain was evil and the word black can also be used to describe something wicked. So it's kind of a pun. And then she says that even though her race is sinful, they can still become Christians and enter heaven when they die.
ReplyDeleteYes! It would be easy for the people of her day to say "Black people from Africa are pagans and that's just part of who they are -- they're wicked and incurable." (In fact, that argument was sometimes used.) She's pointing out so well that the color of the skin and the place they came from don't have anything to do with whether or not they can become Christians. White people born in England and American need the Savior just as much.
DeleteAlso, we got your package of crafts and we got the chocolate cake today! Thank you so much, both were so kind and very, VERY much appreciated!!!
ReplyDeleteYAY! It sounds like your whole family has been having a pretty yucky couple of weeks, so I'm glad those could brighten your lives just a little bit. You're welcome :-D
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