Twelve Years a Slave · Chapter
Epigraph explained
The epigraph, a poem by Cowper, critiques the human tendency to revere ancient customs, even when they perpetuate the evil of servitude.
What happens
The epigraph, a poem by Cowper, critiques the human tendency to revere ancient customs, even when they perpetuate the evil of servitude. It questions the rationality of allowing one man, composed of the same flawed elements as any other, to be an absolute despot and claim to be the only free man in a land of slaves.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy of American Freedom
The epigraph directly challenges the contradiction of a 'freeman' ruling as a despot over slaves, highlighting the hypocrisy of claiming freedom in a slaveholding society.
Injustice of Slavery
The poem frames servitude as 'the worst of ills' and questions the moral legitimacy of a system that allows one man to be an absolute despot over others.
Key passages
“Such dupes are men to custom, and so prone To reverence what is ancient, and can plead A course of long observance for its use, That even servitude, the worst of ills, Because delivered down from sire to son, Is kept and guarded as a sacred thing.”
People are fools for tradition, revering what is old simply because it has been practiced for a long time, so much so that even slavery—the greatest evil—is preserved and treated as sacred just because it has been passed down through generations.
This opening critique sets the stage for questioning the blind acceptance of slavery as a customary institution.
“But is it fit, or can it bear the shock Of rational discussion, that a man Compounded and made up, like other men, Of elements tumultuous, in whom lust And folly in as ample measure meet, As in the bosom of the slave he rules, Should be a despot absolute, and boast Himself the only freeman of his land?”
But is it reasonable, or can it withstand logical scrutiny, that a man—made of the same chaotic passions, lust, and foolishness as the slave he rules—should be an absolute tyrant and claim to be the only free person in his country?
This rhetorical question exposes the irrationality and hypocrisy of a system where a flawed man holds absolute power over others while calling himself free.