The rot in society besides other issues of delinquency still abounds not because people are not aware of the ills of the conduct, but because of the endurance of the habit for ages to an extent that it seems ordinary and acceptable. Such is the case of slavery in America, especially in the South where there was a proliferation of slave-based businesses. This began at around the 16th C and lasted almost towards the 20th C. African slaves were forcefully traded in as slaves in America in the name of rescuing them from a barbaric culture in Africa. Most of them were separated from their families and brutally handled. The Americans bought them and treated them as property under inhumane conditions. The recent award-winning movie, 12 years a Slave, by director Steve McQueen explicitly highlights this issue and endeavours to call for social justice.
The movie was adapted from the memoirs of Solomon Northup, 12 years a Slave, which was based on his true-life harrowing story as a free black man sold into slavery in 1841. This was a story of a kidnap and torture of a New York born free African American citizen (Scott, 2013). The movie highlights the brutality that the Africans were subjected to and their ardent call for emancipation. Enduring the pain of yearning for freedom and social justice is greatly emphasized throughout the 12 years that the victim succumbed to slavery.
At that moment, slave laws were instituted and there was nothing wrong with being a slaveholder as a free white American citizen. In fact, those who endeavoured to escape slavery were punished. Such slave laws were borrowed from the Roman Empire, which had previously colonized America. The existence of such slave laws clearly reveals that something can be legal yet morally wrong. Therefore, this paper seeks to highlight the need for social justice in an ever-corrupt society.
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The denial of social justice came knocking to Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) just when he was at his desperation point of loneliness, having his wife travelled for work for a while. Just before he thought of how best to distract himself, an opportunity presented itself. Two young entrepreneurial men were offering him a chance to play his violin for an out of town circus in Washington DC. At the moment, Solomon was living in Saratoga with his family where he made a living as a violinist. Unbeknownst to him, the offer was a hoax and he was kidnapped and sold into slavery.
The film explores the bitter realization of Solomon’s predicament as he undergoes through the physical and psychological trauma of being enslaved. Born as a free citizen, never had he thought that this would befall him. He battles to clarify his identity to the slaveholders so as to attain his freedom but his pleas yield no fruit. He then succumbs to the reality of his situation and tries to maintain his sanity, as he desires his freedom and that of other enslaved Africans in the various plantations.
Solomon endures the unnecessary violence and the minor sadist gratification from his psychopathic masters. He is hopeful that one of his considerable masters would save him but this ends up futile. Still he attempts to seek his freedom by sending one of the white slaves, whom he believed was a friend, to beseech his country to prove to his master that he was indeed a born free man. Yet this attempt fails again.
His own redeeming feature then becomes his musical skill in playing the fiddler. Nonetheless, this tires him and he loses the hope for living, as the beatings and the mental trauma prove unbearable. Somehow, he quits trying to prove his identity and accepts the dehumanization that is slavery. The memories of his family begin to fade away along with his burning quest for freedom.
Other African slaves such as Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) face the same torture. Torn away from her beloved family, she is stuck between her cruel and demented master (Michael Fassbender) and his torturing jealous wife (Sarah Paulson).In a particular scene, Patsey begs Solomon to kill her so that she would escape the trauma of enslavement. The film goes on to reveal the pain of depravation of human dignity to a point of being dehumanized and cherishing death (Ethan, 2013).
The film ends with Solomon being reunited with his family after a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) came to his rescue. However, he finds his children already grown up, married and with children. Solomon feels a sense guilt and betrayal in failing to be by his family’s side. The film is a true revelation of the African American story in the plight of the African Diaspora experience of Western domination (Vernon, 2014).
Eventually, the film highlights the indicators of social justice as the freedom of life, human dignity and decency of living, a goal for the future and the pursuit of happiness (O’Neill, 2011). In this regard, it is prudent to realize that all humans are equal no matter their origin and they all deserve equal rights as everyone else.
