Читать книгу Twelve Years a Slave - Solomon Northup - Страница 12

Despite these subtle reminders of the racism that existed in America, Northup's book is not a diatribe against slavery. In the year it was published, 1853, a local newspaper observed that “Its tone is much milder than we expected to see exhibited … but, while he seems to fully realize the magnitude of his sufferings, he does not condemn all.” (2)

Surprisingly, Northup exhibited little bitterness over what had befallen him. For several years after the publication of Twelve Years a Slave, he traveled throughout the northeastern states, telling the public about his time as a slave. When he gave a lecture in Vermont in 1855, someone who had heard it said it “was wholly without vituperation, or even harshness …” (3)

In reports of his appearances, he was generally described as someone who spoke plainly and with directness. One newspaper writer noted “his unaffected simplicity, directness and gentlemanly bearing.” As was true of his book, Northup's straightforward and objective presentation was more impressive “than many fervid appeals to which we have listened.” (4) His approach in his book and his lectures was to stick to the facts, allowing others to reach their own conclusions about slavery.

Audiences were impressed with his storytelling talents. “Northup tells his story in plain and candid language, and intermingles it with flashes of genuine wit. It is a sure treat to hear him give some hazardous adventure, with so much sans [sic] froid, that the audience is completely enraptured and the ‘house brought down.’” (5) Those who listened to his lectures seemed to share the opinion of his neighbors who had provided affidavits in his favor: that he was trustworthy and intelligent.

During the period that Northup was lecturing – the mid-1850s – records show that he sometimes suffered financial difficulties. And the evidence is that he did not reside with his family full time. Given what he had gone through in the South, we can guess that it would have been difficult for him to simply slip back into family life. By about 1861, according to letters from the son of an anti-slavery pastor, Northup was working with the clergyman to help runaway slaves reach safety in Canada – the so-called “Underground Railroad.” The letters indicate that Northup was still alive at the time of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 – because at the time he reportedly visited the pastor in Vermont.