A Visual Analysis of “12 Years a Slave”

12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen, revolves around the life of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was deceived, captured, and sold into slavery. He works under several slave masters before finally being freed after 12 years of slavery. This movie's imagery attempts to accurately depict Solomon's situations and experiences throughout the movie. In this film, the visuals are key in fully understanding the movie's meanings and symbolism.

One of the most memorable scenes was towards the end of the movie where Solomon is finally freed. While he is obviously happy to be free from slavery, he still feels guilty for leaving everyone behind, especially Patsey. This can be seen when Solomon reaches out to her one last time in the scene. Solomon seemed like he was the only one to care for her and help her, but now he was leaving and she would have to continue to endure her slave master's, Epps', abuse. He is also reaching back and looking at the other slaves, who had to endure the same treatment as him, so he, of all people, would know how they felt as he was leaving. In this scene, the slaves can be observed under the shadows of the tree. This could symbolize that Solomon was leaving them helpless under the darkness and evil of slavery, and he seems guilt-ridden to do so. The camera focuses on the slaves instead of Solomon ins this scene. This could be to remind the audience how many slaves were still under the control of slavery, even though few a freed.

The first slave master Solomon was Mr. Ford. Mr. Ford eventually began to care for Solomon because of his intelligence and hard work. At the time, it was strange for a white man to care for a slave. In the scene above, Mr. Ford gives him a violin. This shows that he acknowledges Solomon's past life as a free man and a professional violinist. The violin also could symbolize Mr. Ford's respect for Solomon. The lighting and colors in this scene are very bright and vibrant, and both men are wearing similar, light brown clothes. This emphasizes the beauty and purity of the scene, as Mr. Ford almost thinks of Solomon as his equal. The beauty of the scenery shows how good his life was compared to what would soon happen to Solomon.

Order custom essay A Visual Analysis of “12 Years a Slave” with free plagiarism report

450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery

Get Essay Help

Another important scene is the whipping of Patsey. Although she explains that all she did was leave to get soap, Epps still becomes incredibly angry at her. His anger can be observed throughout the whole scene, making him seem almost insane or deranged. He makes Solomon whip her, but he seems not satisfied by how hard he is whipping her, as he looks angry and continues to yell at Solomon in the background. When he begins whipping Patsey, he seems even more angry and furious towards Patsey. His face expresses these emotions towards her. Throughout the movie, Epps seems to develop feelings for Patsey, even though he thinks that blacks are disgusting and compares them to chimpanzees. In this scene, the anger that is observed may not only be towards Patsey, but maybe it is directed towards himself, because he doesn't like how much he cared and was attracted to Patsey.

To summarize, the imagery in the film 12 Years A Slave expresses several different aspects of the movie. It shows the character's true feelings, the symbolism in a scene, and more. Many scenes of the film are filled with beauty and light, while other scenes are almost hard to watch for some audience members. This spectrum of imagery serves to give hope to the audience while showing the harsh reality of what many African Americans had to go through at the time. Understanding the imagery in this film is essential to experiencing the movie at its fullest.

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Run a free check or have your essay done for you

Check my essay Hire Writer