Obviously, Burch beat Northup on his bare behind which certainly must have welted the skin. With this description, it is easy to see the brutal severity of such treatment which was often used not only as a form of punishment but also as a form of intimidation and as a warning not to attempt to escape. For Northup, this experience truly changed his outlook on living as a slave, for he admits that during the writing of his narrative, "Even now (my) flesh crawls upon my bones as I recall the scene. I was all on fire. My sufferings I can compare to nothing else than the burning agonies of hell!" (45).
As told in Chapter Seven, sometime later, after being sold into slavery by Burch and his band of slave traders, Northup found himself in New Orleans, where he encountered his new master, William Ford, who lived in the "Great Pine Woods" in the Louisiana parish of Avoyelles on the banks of the Red River (89). According to Northup, Mr. Ford, viewed by his fellow white citizens as "a worthy minister of God" despite owning slaves, was "kind, noble (and) candid" but ironically "never doubted the moral right of one man holding another in subjection" (i.e., bondage) and was overall "a model master" (90). In fact, Northup found Mr. Ford so congenial and level-headed that he considered telling him of his true identity which Northup thought
"would have resulted in my benefit" (90), an indication that Ford might have set Northup free as he once was before being kidnapped. However, Northup "resolved to lock the secret closely in my heart" (91), due to realizing that by revealing his true identity, it might consign him "to the remoter depths of slavery" (90).
Lastly, in Chapter Twenty-Two, Northup describes how he became once again a freeman, unbounded by the shackles of slavery and free from the tyranny and violence of his white slave masters. On January 17th, 1853, in the city of...
15). When describing his holding pen in Washington, DC, Northup described its location with painstaking accuracy, remarking that it was necessary, "in order to present a full and truthful statement…and to portray the institution of Slavery as I have seen and known it, to speak of well-known places" (Northup, p. 22). Northup's careful construction of an impartial voice does not mean that his narrative is devoid of emotionality and even,
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