An Analysis of Image, Text, and Story in 12 Years a Slave

One of the powerful things about literature is that it allows the reader to create. An image through words, and the power of film similarly derives from the image the audience is given. A brutal example of this difference is in 12 Years as a Slave. A film based on a slave narrative by Solomon Northup. And directed by Steve McQueen that includes a scene where the protagonist is left to nearly strangle to death on a tree for hours. This image works in the same way a slave narrative does in the way. That it reconciles with the violence so prevalent in this world, it evokes emotion from the audience, and represents the collective experience of slavery. The image offers a glimpse into the violent and horror-ridden early years of African American history and thus a look into the formations of African American identity.

Every detail of this image works to evoke deep emotion from the film's audience, much like the purpose of a slave narrative. If we take note of the setting, it is a beautiful and sunny day despite the fact that a man is slowly strangling on one side of the frame. The sharp juxtaposition between beauty and violence is extremely jarring, and those two parts of this image are unsettling to an audience. A viewer of the film understands and knows a beautiful day; a slave (for the most part) knows violence and only that. By disturbing the beauty of nature with utter horror. McQueen gives the audience a greater chance to understand the real barbarity of slavery. That is described in the original slave narratives. Another of key characteristic of the slave narrative. Is that it induced a passionate reaction in the audience, with the purpose of that being that the reader will be convinced to join the abolitionist movement. This theme appears in this image because of the characters in the background, who have little to no reaction to the violence occurring so close to them. The fact that nobody tries to save this man or even help him in the slightest way evokes anger in the viewer, who may wish to jump into the image and save the man because nobody else will. However, the fact that the individuals in the background are so used to this kind of horror show how reconciled they are with the fact they live in a world of pure violence. This kind of reckoning with barbarity and the reaction it provokes in the reader or viewer are some of the qualities of slave narratives that makes them so disturbing to any audience.

Another important quality of the slave narrative is that each generally appealed to a different gender depending on the sex of the author, sometimes intending to shock white men with graphic descriptions of violence and other times appealing to the "delicate emotions" of female readers. In my opinion, this image calls to both genders rather than just one, despite the film itself revolving around the story of a man. The visual does the work of providing the graphic content that was meant to appeal to men, but the way it makes one feel and the range of emotion it evokes is reminiscent of the slave narratives written for women.

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The beginning of African American identity historically starts with slavery, an institution that put individuals on the outermost tiers of society by labeling them as inferior. Thus, the slave narrative is an opening of opportunity for many individuals to learn and begin to understand the history of their community. And while this image works to reflect a written slave narrative, the story an image tells, particularly when it's from a film, is powerful on an entirely different level. This is because a reader can always read the horrors of the slave narrative, put it down, and come back to it when they're ready to stomach the next unspeakable incident. An image from a movie is different because there is virtually no other place to look or way of escape. That is where the power of this particular image comes from; you're forced to stare at it, process it, and even choke on it because there is nowhere else to look. Images can be as multi-layered as books, encouraging multiple interpretations, but this image especially is so painfully blunt in nature that it offers direct perspective into the true savagery of a slave's existence.

The most important element of this image, in my opinion, is that it tells the story of every slave, representing the formation of African American identity as a whole. This is done through the protagonist's face being unrecognizable, seemingly due to the angle and distance of the camera, as well as the lighting of the scene. By obscuring the character's face, the individual hanging from the tree comes to represent every individual who experienced slavery, particularly the millions whose stories were never told. Through this picture, Solomon is every slave and thus a representative of the cruelty that characterized early African American history. Because of this, it becomes an integral part of African American cultural identity to remember that their community was once treated with savagery and utter intolerance because of the color of their skin. The revelation this image offers to the audience gives better insight into the meaning of African American identity, and why the development of it is so prevalent in American history.

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