In this ready the part that was most significant to me was when she got married and Mrs. Wood was so angry. This part mainly just raised many questions for me, for example why is she so angry when slaves get married in slavery like its a common thing? and being that she as a white woman who should feel superior to Mary, why is Mary’s inferior union upsetting her so much? Is it that she may be unhappy with her marriage, that she just doesn’t want her slave to find happiness in any form. It makes me think that Mrs. Wood has deeper feelings when it comes to Mary. Does Mary’s strength make her feel less of a woman. Or does she just feel weak and her cruel behavior towards Mary make her feel like she has some type of power. It just really made me question why does Mary’s union offend Mrs wood so much. The book also says that she wouldn’t hit Mary but she would get her husband, Mr Wood, to do  it. Is this a way for Mrs wood to show that she has more control that she can even get her husband, who is a white male which is more superior, to do what she wants.

Mary, having being hired out to work for Mr. Woods who was later planning to move to Antigua had asked him to take her to Antigua because she wanted to get away from her Master, Mr. D. After their arrival in Antigua Mr. Woods wrote a letter to Mr. D to purchase Mary and he replied “that she was not to be sold to anyone who would treat her ill.” (pp. 21-2) This statement stands out most to me because it is ironic that an abusive master would not want to sell his slave to anyone who will not treat her well.

I believe, although Mr. D was a brutal master he had a heart of human potentials. He seems to know that the harsh punishment he unloads on his slaves were not a kind and humanly thing to do, but that he had to do it anyway since that is the norm in his kind of business. Another important reason for Mr. D to write such note to Mr. Woods before selling Mary could be because Mary has been his slave for quite some time and he wanted her to get better treatment by someone else.

Mr. Woods was perceived to be a decent owner for Mary, but his wife influenced him to cause her much grief and ill-treatment. In my opinion Mrs. Woods is more evil than the Master himself. I just could not understand though, why the Woods told Mary to seek another owner, to find another place of refuge, that she is free to go where ever she pleases, and even gave her a note to support her claim on many occasions but, when it’s time set her free he refuses.

In the reading I found a couple things interesting. During that time period Mary knowing that she was a slave was so normal and to be treated the way she was treated. She loved to be with her first slave owner Mrs. Williams in which her duty was to just take care of the slave owners daughter Miss Betsy. The treatment she received when moving to Mr. I house was harsh, him beating her everyday for 5 years was horrible. Another thing that bothered me was being so young at that age and being separated from her mother and siblings is so heartbreaking. Her father returning her to Mr. I parish after she ran away made me grow a sort of hate towards her father because why would you want to see your daughter endure such pain from someone especially a white man during that time. Also Mary’s experience going to the Caribbean islands and seeing how much worse the environment was really different for her and had me thinking how terrible and satanic white people were to other human beings just because of their skin color.

One of the points which strongly grabbed my attention is when after shortly returning from the Turks Islands she requests to leave Mr. D and wishes to go to Mr. Wood. Upon going to Mr. Wood she falls ill with rheumatism, and is of no use to Mr. Wood. Whilst she is ill they get a new woman to help them with nursing the child. The woman complains to the woman with out any reason about Mary Prince, and wants her to face repercussions. In short she is making Mary look bad so that she can be on top as lead mistress. This piece is very intriguing because she also colored, but free and its shocking to know that even other colored people wont help each other out, and would rather be above them by taking her position as mistress while she is down. This adds meaning to the text because one would expect colored people to help each other, and was quite unexpected and helps to shed a bit of light towards slavery in the Caribbean.

What was interesting to me in this section Mary Prince seemed to find new strength and self-worth, I don’t know if it was because she was back in her native Bermuda or after the harsh treatment she endured in Turk Island she felt she had paid her dues, and had nothing worst to face. She started to stand up for herself and even others, one day she came home from collecting water and found her master beating his daughter, Mary jumped in and stopped the assault, as a slave that took tremendous courage and strength, she could have paid a heavy price for that action, there was another case where she defended herself from her master beating her and another time refused to bath him, then proceeded to call him out on his indecent ways, she even found a way to rid herself of her master after she decided she couldn’t serve him anymore. All these were sighs of her being an unusual slave, and one who was never satisfied with the status quo of her time.

The History of Mary Prince (Pages 1-19) .  one the things that I like about this story is that Mr. Mary starts her story by telling us how was her childhood as slave. ” The tasks given out to us children were light, and we used to play together with Miss Betsey, with as much freedom almost as if she had been our sister.” page 1, passage 3. In this passage I found that her age was of great importance because as a child, she didn’t understand how difficult would be her life as slave. However, all the happiness that she thought having it begins to fade when she is sold to another person. At this point in her life is when she realizes, which is her true position as slave. Since she sees that she does not have the right to oppose to so much injustice.

Another important that I found really interesting is when she says “.–Dear Miss Fanny! She was a sweet, kind young lady, and so fond of me that she wished me to learn all that she knew herself; and her method of teaching me was as follows:–Directly she had said her lessons to her grandmamma, she used to come running to me, and make me repeat them one by one after her; and in a few months I was able not only to say my letters but to spell many small words.” page 2. which is really important about this is although she was hold as salve, she had the chance to start something really important in her lifer which was her education. something that the slaves didn’t have access at time. which for her should be an important step towards her freedom.

As I read The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave (pages 1-19) my mind drifted from anxious of knowing whats next, to disgusted to find out more. The History of Mary Prince is told in first person from the west Indian slave Mary herself. She goes over her long length of being owned by the white man sharing with us her many discomforts. To be honest everything in this text made me uncomfortable. I felt so sadden and overwhelmed that slavery ever existed as I have always, however reading this text just made it much more vivid. According to the text found on page 4, Mary states, “The stones and the timber were the best things in it, they were not so hard as the hearts of the owners”. This is a heartbreaking statement from Mary after she was approaching the home of her new slave owners. Mary approached this home not knowing on whether or not she’ll see her mother again in her future. I know for me I couldn’t go a day without seeing my mother, but my pain is nothing compared to the lost of humanity Mary and every ‘slave’ has ever felt. Mary has been stripped of her pride, stripped of her title, and stripped of her identity. The fact that Mary did indeed come from a women as did everyone in the world, to go through her pain alone without her mother being able to help breaks me the most. A

Reading pages 1-19 in ” The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave”, was very disturbing. Of course I am very familiar with the word slavery because of reading and learning about it in history textbooks. But everyone knows that history textbooks just write about things they want you to know and the real deal. So reading it from someone thats been through slavery is of course more gloomy than coming from a baised history text book.

“I was made quite a pet of by Miss Betsey, and loved her very much. She used to lead me about by the hand, and call me her little n****r. This was the happiest period of my life; for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave, and too thoughtless and full of spirits to look forward to the days of toil and sorrow.” This significant moment stood up to me because it surprised me that Mary loved Miss Betsey calling her that name and how she considered herself as her pet. This part really shocked me cause I always learned that slaves of course felt disrespected when they would be called that name. But from Mary’s point of view is different from that.

As I was reading The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave pages 1-19 I was very intrigued and anxious to know what was going to happen next. I was very disgusted and completely uncomfortable with what she (Mary) had to go through. The book is told in first person from the slave Mary herself. In the first few pages she tells us how she went through a long period of being owned & sold. Mary also shared many of her emotional experiences and discomforts. Reading this text just made me even more awful with slavery than how I already felt. I feel terrible that she had to go through those things, the text made it more visual. When Mary had been sold again and sent to Turk’s Island she had not seen her mother. She went to that island not knowing if she would ever see her mother again. When she was sold as a little girl her mother cried over her and her sisters that she wouldn’t see again. So, I know many people cannot live a few hours without their mom so I couldn’t imagine how Mary – a ‘slave’ felt. She was in deep emotional pain. When she finally saw her mother again her mother did not remember her. Could you imagine how that must feel as much as she cherished seeing her mother again. She had to go through her pain alone and lost her pride because her mother couldn’t be there to help her or protect her, she said it herself. A mother’s love is unconditional for her children.

Although I have read and was told a lot of stories about slavery, the stories told by Mary Prince is more heart wrenching in comparison. The stories I came across are usually about men in slavery and the hardship they endured from the time of their voyage to their Master’s property.

The tell tale of Mary Prince’s experience as a slave made me very sad and angered like I had never felt from reading stories about slavery; perhaps because she was a woman that has undergone so much ill-treatment, or perhaps because the facts about how women were treated were hidden, while, the stories about men were told.

Mary along with her mother were fortunate to be bought by Capt. Darrel who took her home to his loving wife for his grand daughter. Both slaves were treated well by Mrs. Williams and Betsey— the grand daughter.

Mary’s experience went from much love and happiness to turmoil, torchure, grief, and ill- treatment. My sadness and anger started to grow as I was reading the last paragraph on page 5 when Mrs. Pruden had to send Mary back to her master, Mr. Williams to be sold, and to be completely separated from her family and happiness, including that of his old grandchild to raise money to get married to another woman.

On page 6 the last paragraph began with the most powerful, compelling, and hurtful statement ”The black morning at length came; it came too soon for my poor mother and us.” It is unimaginable for a mother that loves her children have to be the one to dress them to be sold in her own presence for the highest dollar, like animals; knowing she may never see them again. This situation is like watching your own child getting killed in-front of your own eyes and you cannot help but suffer the grief.

The sufferings of Mary got worse as she moved from master to master to the point she almost died; she moved from love to suffering. Mary was a tough woman, despite all she has gone through, she gained strength towards the end of her journey and her return to her homeland; to start fighting back. I believe she was courageous, strong and brave. I also think God was with her through it all. Maybe it was an act of God to cease flood on the land of her persecutors.