I have been immersed in Sam's world of the later 1830's and early 1840's for the past day or two, and I find Sam to be charming, eloquent, fun, and kind. He is a dapper young man who strives to be considerate and has an ability to laugh at himself. However, I am realizing that as Sam grows older, his desire for camaraderie with his chums is having quite a negative impact. There are a couple of specific examples involving other white folks who have been insulted and mistreated by his friends. Sam stands by his friends devoutly and even helps them in their missions, even though he has no personal ill feeling towards the recipients of the abuse. He relates the stories as funny anecdotes, with no hint of a troubled spirit about it.
However, I am completely drawn in by Sam and his sanguine view of life, which I now realize is part of how the whole system of slavery was able to perpetuate for so long. Sam is likeable and decent, and I am sure that he did treat slaves with consideration and charm. Heck, if I had to choose a 'master', I am fairly certain Sam would have been a fine choice.
Again, I don't believe Sam has a ton of blame here. Sam was born into the system, and he was lucky enough to land a very privileged position. Later, when he is briefly a medical doctor, he is traumatized when he believes his ardent treatment of an ill slave had killed the man. He retreated to his room and was, for the first time in the entire book, overcome with a turmoil of emotion. He was extremely distraught and thought himself a 'murderer' and feared being arrested for manslaughter and even hung.
However, his thoughts, again, were more about himself and less about the other man's experience. I am realizing that, excepting an initial introduction in Sam's earliest years to some of his plantations' slaves, Sam seems to give less and less attention to the slaves as complex people. He generally, completely without malice, will refer to them as 'negro men' and rarely calls them by name.
Two slaves who are mentioned by name are a father and son, on nearby plantations, who are excellent fiddlers. These men provide the music for their respective plantation's social gatherings and dances. Sam happily describes how the younger one obviously enjoys the music, as he sways and seems so lively as he plays.
See how it seduces? The happy slaves...the slave men 'commuting' to work...receiving 'equal' servings of turkey and alcohol... Sam has chosen to create a world view which works for him and does not disturb his placid state of privilege. When he does confront their humanity on a one-to-one basis, as when he treats ill patients, he does completely regard them as people and treats them with humanity.
Truth be told, this same world view was likely adopted by many of the slaves themselves. It does help to get along and make the most of the world, doesn't it? Perhaps the fiddling son looked forward to his wonderful Friday nights, when he felt the center of attention and admired by even the owners. He improved his position and received privileges and frankly enjoyed the whole affair.
However, just for the sake of argument, perhaps his father would have preferred to have his Friday evenings quiet or with his own family...for I am sure he had probably worked during the day as well. Perhaps the old father dreaded the loud and obnoxious crowd and resented not having any choice in the matter. Perhaps, in his advancing age, he really did need to go to bed at a reasonable hour and didn't really like staying up into the wee hours partying every weekend.
The fiddling father was probably a more fortunate slave than most, and even his own situation was not necessarily palatable. Sam, however, did not let these concerns bother him. He did not take on or even identify injustices, in general.
Reading Sam's reminiscences helps me to understand how masses of truly decent-seeming folks were able to justify and abide slavery. I adore Sam. Sam has a kind and happy heart and bears no ill will towards mankind of any race. His failure, though, was to perpetuate the system by participating in it without question, and, undoubtedly, to defend it in the Civil War, though we haven't gotten to that point in his very consecutive account.
Are we pompously judging the slaveholders? Is it obvious that they 'should' have questioned the system? I maintain that an equally horrifying condition exists in our country today and affects an even more vulnerable, voiceless group.
I am speaking of factory farms, where animals are packed in, overfed, grown quickly with hormones which cause physical problems and pains...the conditions are frankly unspeakable for me at this point, and I will leave those descriptors for your own perusal (http://www.peta.org/ is one resource) or perhaps will delve into them at another time. No, I don't assert that animals are 'equal' to humans, but I do maintain that they feel pain and confinement just as we do. In fact, in our own confinement, we can employ our distinctive abilities of philosophy and imagination to entertain ourselves, but factory farm animals, in their more instinctive and primal way, are likely suffering to a greater degree without those reliefs.
Those factory farms are hidden from our view, much more so than the injustices of slavery were. It seems a smaller issue at first glance, but it is far more pervasive. Our entire country is involved, and at least 90% of the population participates in the system on a daily basis. More than 90% of the people I know do, at least. They, like Sam, happily buy their delicious dinner items without a care in the world about the factory farm conditions. Sam accepted his position of privilege without scrutinizing too closely who the system was harming, and so do most folks in today's world. The system is even more difficult today, as the abuses are even more hidden and pervasive.
As judgmental and negative as we might be about the injustices of slavery, we should keep in mind that at least in Sam's day there were no 'factory farms' and the farm animals had far more decent and natural lives than they do today, in general.
Yes, this is my unpopular soapbox, and I hope that I would have likewise had a similar soapbox against slavery, even from a 'privileged' position. However, I do very little about it and regret that. I may have freed my own slaves, but I wouldn't have been above enjoying visiting friends with slaves and enjoying their fine meals and entertainment.
I used to bring up this factory farm subject with friends in my more impassioned youth, but, after discovering that it generally offended them and made them feel judged, I now tend to mostly keep my mouth shut, especially around more casual acquaintances and those I feel would be offended. I'm truly not an activist in deed--only at heart. My quiet is in the interest of self-preservation and enjoying a sanguine and privileged life, like Sam.
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