Solomon Northup: Movie Analysis

Introduction:
Violence is very prevalent throughout Solomon Northup story. Without this aspect, it makes the book less impactful on the audience, and it takes away from the message he wanted to get across to the readers in the North. There are many different functions and purposes for having violence present. It ranges from physical to mental to spiritual violence. It is seen throughout the book and the movie. The only difference is that when violence is portrayed in the film, it is more dramatic and draws in the audience more. Whereas in the book, it seems to have more meaning and impact. However, in the book there is not this big urge to overdo the violence in every scene.
Physical:
There are many reasons why whipping occurred in …show more content…
It is an awful comparison, but the two are very similar to one another. Both acts are violent. For whipping it is already a physical act. Rape is definitely a physical and can also be mental and/or spiritual act. In the film, we see that Epps has taken advantage of Patsey by having sex with him. In the process of this action, it became super intense when Epps started to choke and whip Patsey, if she was not satisfying his needs. The viewers also see that he starts to cry in this scene. Again speculating, but Epps might have cried because he could have been potentially disgusted with himself for committing such an awful action. This is a way that the filmmakers were able to include physical and spiritual violence in that scene from the film.
Whipping and rape are two things that a master has control over. In a way it is a power game. These actions allow for the master of the plantation to gain and keep power over their slaves. Both actions are demeaning and making the slave feel less than the master. It is dehumanizing the person they are. These actions make it so that the slaves do not have souls. This strips away the slaves of their identity and life. Whipping and being raped also makes the slaves feel helpless, because if they were to fight back they would get even more …show more content…
The interactions between Northup and Bass for one was an interesting thing to observe. Bass is a character that was working on Epps’s plantation as a white carpenter building a house. He was from Canada and was an abolitionist. However, it is interesting to see that he now was a slave on this plantation as a white male. While working on the house, Platt decided to let Bass into his circle. Mr. Bass was a man of his words, he put himself at risk and wrote letters to Northup’s friends in the North in order for him to go back and be free. Solomon Northup and Mr. Bass’s interactions are significant to the story, because Mr. Bass was the one that helped free Northup from slavery. Bass was also someone who was actually able to make a difference in Platt’s/ Northup’s life.
Another aspect that I found to be intriguing was the comparison between the film and the book. As seen throughout my notes, I used evidence from the book and the film to prove my points. It also proves that the film stayed true to Northup’s story as a whole for the most part. However, the audience of both the book and the film have noticed that the film has in a way disregarded factual details that Northup told in the book. I understand that the film cannot include every single detail due to the time restriction. Both the film and the book did an excellent job at portraying one another to the best of their

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