What I’m about to say is the quintessence of a cliche. An overused statement that we’ve all heard. Something that has been neglected and uncredited under its constant reiteration-everyone is different. That is something we often disregard. We cannot make the issue of slavery a small one when it has affected millions. We cannot undermine the effects of slavery and reduce slaves to a mere statistic. When interpreting the situations of individuals or various groups who have fallen victim to traumatic experiences, it is crucial that we scrutinize every unique situation. Revisiting past traumas in pieces of text is essential in order for authors to reach out to their audience and their hearts. When individuals or characters in literature are affected by the past, the author builds a case for the importance of recounting past traumas. In Toni Morrison’s…show more content… In the 1853 memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup, “Twelve Years a Slave”. a black man who was born free in New York state, describes his story of being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. In Northup’s account he illustrates both the purpose he intends his writing to have and the atrocities of slavery. Northup encapsulates the aim of many other authors of the subject of slavery with the following. “My object is, to give a candid and truthful statement of facts: to repeat the story of my life, without exaggeration, leaving it for others to determine, whether even the pages of fiction present a picture of more cruel wrong or a severer bondage”. Here the author explains that his piece is meant to be interpreted and deciphered according to the thoughts of his audience. .The recount of past traumas, as Northup explains, is crucial for others to be able to fathom the true extent of
