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.

This passage on Mary Prince was dreadful to read. The awful treatment of slaves as if they weren’t humans depicts a scenario almost impossible to comprehend. Mary’s latter owners were without question terrible individuals who treated their slaves with nothing but hatred. She was sold as livestock – “surrounded by strange men, who examined and handled her in the same manner a butcher would handle a calf”, and not treated any better after being bought. Her owners Captain I and Mr. D didn’t hide the fact that Mary and the others were simply a piece of property to them, nothing more than a means to an end, with the goal of increasing their personal wealth. The part that was surprising to me was her first owner, Miss Betsey. It may seem that Miss Betsey had affection and compassion towards Mary but still saw her as nothing more than an object like the other owners. She continuously referred to Mary as “mine” or “my slave”, which made me feel like none of the owners, not even Betsey, saw Mary as a human being equivalent to them. She may have treasured the object more than the other owners – but to her Mary was still and object.

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 protect her breaks me the most. A mothers passion, and love for their children could move mountains I believe. The white man has stolen the choice to be a mother to every ‘slave’ who was ever a mother, like Mary’s mom and that is one of the many reasons on how their hearts are hardier than stone.

While reading The History of Mary Prince, I visualize how most of the African slaves were treated very harsh and cruel by the slave masters and mistresses. For example, Captain Williams was a vicious and ruthless slave owner who had no qualms for the slaves. On the other hand, Mrs. Williams showed compassion and honor for these slaves. This is very significant for me because both had different relationships with the slaves. In addition, I am shock that Mrs. Williams died of an unknown disease. Also, Mary Prince was with sadness because Mrs. Williams was very pleasant and modest lady. After her death, Mary Prince meet a new slave owner, Master Benjy and a new mistress, Mrs. I. Furthermore, she meet Hetty, a Black French slave. Unlike Mrs. Williams, Mrs. I was brutal and sadistic mistress. For instance, she whipped Hetty who refused to perform her task. I feel appall at Mrs. I mistreatment on the slaves. This shows how masters and mistresses have different treatments on the slaves.

The level of detail at which Mary Prince describes some of the acts that she experienced and was a witness of, are almost excruciating to read.  It is obvious that slavery is something that is well known throughout human history, but to read about it from a first hand source truly augments these harrowing times to a level beyond my comprehension.  There were actually quite a few instances that stood out to me whilst reading the first pages of Prince’s story.  These were extensively centered on the diverse types of work she was put to do, exactly what she endured, and her efforts of resistance towards such inhuman treatment.  Specifically, on page 10 she references to making salt, where men, women (including herself), and even children all were involved in producing such end product.  This stood out to me because it conveys a much deeper meaning then what the text explicitly states.  One would imply that women and young children would be naturally unfitting for these types of arduous labor, but this was obviously not the case.  Women, specifically Mary, were forced to perform the same hard labor as men, and bear the same cruel labor practices such as whippings as well.  The absence of gender division here is nonsensically how slave labor was actually “gendered.”  This leads directly to Prince’s mentioning of shame when bathing her master’s naked body on page 13.  This stood out to me because it lucidly indicates that females were obliged to perform illicit sexual activities to white owners, and if they didn’t obey the repercussions were even more dire then in the field  This division of fieldwork and housework seems to correlate with the level of exploitation slaves experienced, and the way they resisted such dehumanization as well.

The History of Mary Prince is one of the most intense novels I’ve ever read so far. I’m only 19 pages into the book and it has definitely made me feel overwhelmed. The part that really made me cringe was when Mary Prince describes Hetty’s sufferings. Hetty, one of the other slave’s Mary knew, had a tragic death. She was pregnant when their master, Mr. I, beat her with “cow-skin” because she did not tie the cow properly, which made it run away. Even when he was tired, he waited and then continued. Unfortunately, she then went into “labour” due to all the punishment, resulting in the fetus being lifeless. Her body never recovered from that day and continued to get worse by the other tortures she endured. The book states that she died as “‘water burst out of her body.” As I read this, I had to stop reading for a moment because I could not stop imagining it. Mary’s fellow “slaves” claimed that “death was a good thing for poor Hetty.” I believe that in certain situations, death is better than living. When death occurs for people like Hetty, alongside all the other people that died from these forms of punishment, they are finally at peace. And honestly, I’m sure all they wanted was peace. 

A significant moment that really stood up to me was located in page 3 paragraphs 1 and 2 . It briefly explains how African Americans were slaves during that time period and how they were purchased by white people to do their every bidden. This significant moment reminded me of a  book that I read in middle school. The book was called Night John by Gary Paulsen. He was an African American slave who was purchased by a white man. Back in day African Americans were forbidden to learn and to be educated. They only had one task and it was to work in the plantation fields for hours. Night John was very diverse then the other slaves who worked in the fields. He was an educated slave who knew his alphabet. One day he met a female African American slave named Sarny who was willing to do anything to be educated. So Night John said ” If I teach you the alphabet and all the things I know you in return must give me some tabacco”. Sarny agreed to give him some tabacco in return to be educated. So day by day she would learn a new letter of the alphabet. If any African American were to get caught learning anything they would be either hanged, get their fingers cut off, and even sold to another white buyer. Sarny got caught learning and she was about to get whipped by the slave owner. The slave owner was brutal and a bigot but Night John decided to take her place instead he got his fingers cut off. This significant moment has similar situations in which a slave would have to be kept uneducated and would be sold to another buyer. The fact that African Americans were segregated and alienated from society sickens me. Just because they come from a diverse part of the world and their skin color is different. That doesn’t mean they should be mistreated like any other human being.

While reading, a significant moment that stood out to me was the part in the book where Mary and her sisters was being taken to be sold. This part stood out most to me because as a reader who paints a picture as i read, I was able to place myself in the scene. I was able to feel the great emotion that was being described. But i was also able to see the great amount of love that was among the slaves. Although they were not blood related they had love for one another like a family. The way it was described how all the slaves came to say their good byes and they all came with tears. Even in the part of the book where she had just been beaten again and again by Captain I and there was an earthquake, the other slaves welcomed her to where they were and had pity for her. It shows that it didn’t matter if they weren’t related or were once strangers they are still like a family. Also the part about her being sold, before they left, the woman that came with her infant also stood out to me, when the mother said that this will be her someday. It showed the continuous cycle during slavery. That at some point every mother has to willingly or forcefully give up their children.