Analysis Of 12 Years A Slave By Steve Mcqueen

The movie 12 Years a Slave Directed by Steve McQueen was based off a memoir of Solomon Northup during 1840, who once was a free man. Northup, being a free man living in Saratoga, New York with his family, was a gifted and talent violinist. Consequently, Northup was sold into slavery through, trickery and deceit by kidnappers, who sought Northup for hire to play the violinist. The epic long journey that Northup illustrates how he had to transformed into a slave to survive slavery. The engrained of slavery was a formed of a total institution that represent the American’s society during the antebellum years. The total institution of slavery illustrates the following concepts: social disorganization, (role and master) statuses, conformity, …show more content…
Nevertheless, slavery was a major role throughout the south in the antebellum years. According too, Erving Goffman (1961),” total institution_ a place where people are isolated from the rest of society for a period of time and come under the complete control of the officials who rule the institution” (209-335). This type of institution forced men, women and children alike into bondage. Total institution repressed the slave identity, cultural, values and belief into a slave who live in chattel bondage. The paradigm of the total institution of slavery is that played devil advocate taken away the slave identity but it also took away the slave owner identity as well, because their values, moral or belief was taken away into the role they also played into slavery. Having both being bond into a system that tore apart the fabrication of the American’s core. That been said, the slave’s owner need the slave for resources without the slave help the slave’s owner would lose his status in society. So therefore, if the slave did not work on the plantation then he would be whipped furiously out of fear remains …show more content…
Suddenly Northup was thrust into slavery develop anomie according to Emily Durkheim, “ a loss of shared values and sense of purpose in society brought on by abrupt or rapid social change” (10). The name changing was the first part of grooming Platt for slavery because the new name took away his real identity. This concept was a form of social disorganization. Social disorganization is the fundamental basis of that “causes a breakdown in the traditional values and norms that serves a social control mechanism, which under normal circumstances, keep from engaging in nonconforming behavior” (10).
Now Northup, being disenfranchise of his high status in upstate New York is being placed into the lowest status of society a slave. Consequently, the slave owner is of higher status the master over the slave. His new name Platt represent his status in society which serves as constant reminder that he is not a free