Pain. Suffering. Hardships. These are what paints the picture of slavery to most people. All too often their splendid culture gives way to horrendous tragedy. Charles Joiner 's Remember Me illuminates slave life in coastal Georgia, giving readers a glimpse into the almost forgotten unique culture created by the slaves. To truly understand the slave life, one must not see them merely surviving tragedy, but thriving in the midst of it.
Before reading the book, my perception of slavery in Georgia was probably the same as everyone else 's. To me, slavery was working in the cotton fields, sun up to sun down, with little to no breaks in the laborious work. I had no knowledge of the rice plantations and the task system that often ruled the fields. My image of slavery was shattered. Most slaves on the rice plantations did not have to work sun up to sun down as I had previously thought. Should they finish their tasks to the slave driver 's liking, they were "free" have the remainder of the day for themselves. …show more content…
According to Joiner, slaves were assigned half-tasks on Saturday (Joiner 2011, 31). These days of half-tasks gave the slaves more opportunities of down time. For most of them, this spare time wasn 't leisure time, but rather "time in which the slaves could work for themselves," (Joiner 2011, 31). I likewise never entertained the thought that slaves would get holidays off. Black and whites coming together to celebrate the Fourth of July as described by Joiner is unfathomable in the original picture of slavery (Joiner 2011, 33). Who has ever heard of a master giving his slave a Christmas present (Joiner 2011, 34)? According to Joiner, these breaks and holidays played a major role in shaping slave culture (Joiner 2011, 34). Learning of my ignorance of these times helps me to see where we may have started to forget their
Before reading the book, my perception of slavery in Georgia was probably the same as everyone else 's. To me, slavery was working in the cotton fields, sun up to sun down, with little to no breaks in the laborious work. I had no knowledge of the rice plantations and the task system that often ruled the fields. My image of slavery was shattered. Most slaves on the rice plantations did not have to work sun up to sun down as I had previously thought. Should they finish their tasks to the slave driver 's liking, they were "free" have the remainder of the day for themselves. …show more content…
According to Joiner, slaves were assigned half-tasks on Saturday (Joiner 2011, 31). These days of half-tasks gave the slaves more opportunities of down time. For most of them, this spare time wasn 't leisure time, but rather "time in which the slaves could work for themselves," (Joiner 2011, 31). I likewise never entertained the thought that slaves would get holidays off. Black and whites coming together to celebrate the Fourth of July as described by Joiner is unfathomable in the original picture of slavery (Joiner 2011, 33). Who has ever heard of a master giving his slave a Christmas present (Joiner 2011, 34)? According to Joiner, these breaks and holidays played a major role in shaping slave culture (Joiner 2011, 34). Learning of my ignorance of these times helps me to see where we may have started to forget their