Twelve Years a Slave · Chapter
Chapter XIII explained
Solomon describes the slaves on Edwin Epps' plantation, focusing on Patsey's suffering from Epps' lust and his wife's jealousy, and provides genealogical details of the other slaves including Abram, Wiley, Phebe, Bob, Henry, and Edward.
What happens
Solomon describes the slaves on Edwin Epps' plantation, focusing on Patsey's suffering from Epps' lust and his wife's jealousy, and provides genealogical details of the other slaves including Abram, Wiley, Phebe, Bob, Henry, and Edward.
Themes in this chapter
Brutality and Dehumanization
Patsey's back bears scars of a thousand stripes; Epps and Burns whip slaves mercilessly, treating them as brutes.
Family Separation
Slaves were sold away from their families in South Carolina and driven to Louisiana, as with Abram, Wiley, and Phebe.
Resilience and Hope
Despite suffering, Patsey remains a joyous creature and a skilled worker; the slaves recall memories of better days.
Characters to notice
- Patsey
Described as a splendid field hand, queen of cotton picking, but suffers from Epps' lust and mistress's jealousy, bearing scars of a thousand stripes.
- Master Epps
Portrayed as hard, cruel, and unjust, valuing profit over human life, and licentious toward Patsey.
- Mistress Epps
Jealous and cruel, delights in Patsey's suffering, even tempting Solomon to kill her.
- Uncle Abram
Aged patriarch, fond of telling stories about General Jackson, forgetful and declining in strength.
- Wiley
Silent and hardworking, wishes to return to South Carolina.
- Aunt Phebe
Sly and garrulous when not watched, formerly an excellent field hand now in the kitchen.
- Bob
One of Phebe's children, age twenty, unremarkable.
- Henry
One of Phebe's children, age twenty-three, unremarkable.
Key passages
“Patsey walked under a cloud. If she uttered a word in opposition to her master’s will, the lash was resorted to at once, to bring her to subjection; if she was not watchful when about her cabin, or when walking in the yard, a billet of wood, or a broken bottle perhaps, hurled from her mistress’ hand, would smite her unexpectedly in the face.”
Patsey lived in constant fear, punished by Epps with the whip for any defiance and assaulted by her mistress with thrown objects if she was not vigilant.
Highlights Patsey's double jeopardy from both master and mistress.
“He could have stood unmoved and seen the tongues of his poor slaves torn out by the roots—he could have seen them burned to ashes over a slow fire, or gnawed to death by dogs, if it only brought him profit.”
Epps would have watched his slaves suffer any torture without emotion as long as it increased his profit.
Emphasizes Epps' extreme cruelty and greed.
“She had been literally excoriated. Her back bore the scars of a thousand stripes; not because she was backward in her work, nor because she was of an unmindful and rebellious spirit, but because it had fallen to her lot to be the slave of a licentious master and a jealous mistress.”
Patsey's back was covered with scars from countless whippings, inflicted not due to her work or attitude but because she was owned by a lustful master and a jealous mistress.
Explains the root of Patsey's suffering.
