Twelve Years a Slave · Chapter
XX explained
Bass returns on Christmas Eve, secretly meeting Solomon in his cabin to inform him that no letter has arrived.
What happens
Bass returns on Christmas Eve, secretly meeting Solomon in his cabin to inform him that no letter has arrived. He resolves to travel north himself in the spring to seek help. Solomon spends the Christmas holidays playing fiddle at various plantations, including the Norwood estate of the kind young Mistress McCoy. After the holidays, he oversleeps and receives a whipping from Epps. On January 3, 1853, Solomon is in the field, despondent and hoping for Bass's success.
Themes in this chapter
Resilience and Hope
Despite the despair of his situation, Solomon clings to Bass's promise of help, finding hope in the possibility of eventual freedom.
Hypocrisy of American Freedom
The contrast between the joyful Christmas celebrations of the enslaved and the brutal reality of their bondage highlights the hypocrisy of a nation that proclaims liberty while practicing slavery.
Brutality and Dehumanization
Epps whips Solomon for oversleeping, demonstrating the constant physical punishment and dehumanization inherent in slavery.
Characters to notice
- Bass
Arrives on Christmas Eve, meets Solomon secretly, and announces his plan to travel north to Saratoga to seek help for Solomon.
- Solomon Northup
Describes his Christmas holidays playing fiddle, his secret meeting with Bass, his oversleeping and subsequent whipping, and his despondency on January 3, 1853.
- Master Epps
Hosts Bass, boasts about Solomon's value, and whips Solomon for oversleeping.
- Mary
Young Mistress McCoy, the beautiful and kind owner of the Norwood plantation, who hosts a grand Christmas feast and dance for her slaves.
- Uncle Abram
Shares the cabin with Solomon and Bob; Solomon sends him to build a fire to create an opportunity to meet Bass.
- Bob
Shares the cabin with Solomon and Uncle Abram; Solomon wakes him to tend to the mules.
Key passages
“No letter yet, Platt,' said he. The announcement fell upon my heart like lead.”
Bass told Solomon there was still no letter, and the news crushed Solomon's spirits.
Solomon's hope for a letter from the north is dashed, deepening his despair.
“I have made up my mind to that. I fear the Marksville postmaster will mistrust something, I have inquired so often at his office. Too uncertain—too dangerous.”
Bass decided that writing letters was too risky because the postmaster might become suspicious.
Bass explains why he will no longer rely on letters to seek help for Solomon.
“I'm tired of slavery as well as you. If I can succeed in getting you away from here, it will be a good act that I shall like to think of all my life.”
Bass confessed that he was weary of slavery and wanted to help Solomon escape, believing it would be a meaningful deed.
Bass expresses his personal motivation to assist Solomon, driven by a sense of moral purpose.
“I thought I had never looked upon a human being half so beautiful.”
Solomon reflected that he had never seen anyone as beautiful as Mistress McCoy.
Solomon's admiration for the kind and beautiful young mistress of the Norwood plantation.
“Bidding me strip and lie down, he gave me ten or fifteen lashes, at the conclusion of which he inquired if I thought, after that, I could get up sometime in the morning.”
Epps ordered Solomon to strip and lie down, then whipped him ten or fifteen times, afterward asking if he would now wake up on time.
Epps punishes Solomon for oversleeping with a brutal whipping.
