Spanish Slavery - Essay Example

Spanish Slavery Introduction In this essay I will examine the circumstances in which colonial subjects lived under the oppressive frameworks of their plantation economies as slave labor and had to undergo extreme cruelty and hardships. Juan Francis Manzano was a slave who is remembered more as an exceptional historical figure than his literature because he narrated his life’s experiences through unique perspectives, unlike other writers who related with the dominating dialogues of the period. Manzano belonged to a brand on which domination was enforced upon as a writer, but these circumstances did not stop him from writing down and expressing his unique perspectives. He was amongst the marginalized authors of the 19th century plantation societies but he was able to engineer his own discourse amongst the prevailing hegemonic institutions. Despite being a slave, he wrote between the lines of domination while being concurrent with the prevailing circumstances. He did this with the objective of creating a 19th century alternative image of Spanish Caribbean societies that needed further critical perspectives and considerations. In this essay, I will compare Manzano with the figure of the Count in The Last Supper, in holding that despite the varying positions the two characters occupied in their respective settings, religion was a dominating factor in crystallizing their respective personalities in the context of what they delivered. The argument will be made very clear by analyzing their respective approaches towards religion and how they used religion in achieving their ends. Main Body The film, The Last Supper, directed by Tomas Gutierrez Alea (1976), depicts that in a rather imprudent attempt to add to the knowledge of his African slaves, the Count, who is pious as well as guilt ridden, asks twelve chosen slaves to have dinner with him on a Maundy Thursday during Easter, obviously with the intention of re-enacting the Last Supper with himself performing the role of Christ. As they are involved in eating and drinking, the Count feeds the slaves with a lot of religious oratory and tries to guide them about the tenets of Christianity. He proposes to give them an off the next day, which is Good Friday and pledges that he will free one amongst them. But he does not meet up with his commitment the next day and the slaves stage a revolt. Both, the Last Supper as well as Juan Francis Manzano’s autobiography relate to the lives of slaves in Cuban sugar plantations during the late eighteenth century and are real life stories. The film’s center piece is the bizarre circumstances under which the last supper is supervised by the Count. In keeping with a truly religious fervor, he starts by washing and kissing all the slaves’ feet as each one of them is intensely amused at the mad behavior. However, the film depicts that despite the occasional religious sentiments exhibited by the Count, who is the dominating character, he can be easily seen as an authority figure that is guilt ridden and immensely mysterious. It becomes evident from the film that the truth relative to human behaviors cannot be hidden and eventually surfaces with the actions of individuals. It appears the count is attempting to demonstrate to the slaves, his knowledge and adherence to Christian dogmas and beliefs. In this process, he clearly gives away his lack of clarity about Christianity when he tells the slaves that sorrow is the only thing that humans can happily give to God, adding that anyway, everything belongs to God. The slaves get confused and are absorbed at the thought of what he implies when he speaks about consuming Christ’s body and blood in the forms of bread and wine. Following the rebellion by the slaves, the film ironically depicts that the Count himself gets crucified as an unlikely son of God for denying justice and property to the slaves. Autobiography of a Slave is a first hand account of Juan Francisco Manzano’s life, times and struggles. Monzano has narrated his story from a first person perception. He was born a slave in 1797 in Havana, Cuba and continued to be in slavery till he was forty years of age. As a child slave, most of his time was spent with his mistress and it was during this time that he mastered the skills of a tailor and an artist. After his first mistress died when he was ten years old, his ownership was transferred to the oppressive Marquesa Ameno and it was here that he became aware of his position as a slave because he was regularly beaten and punished even for the smallest infraction. He was often sent to the overseer to be punished again and it is in this context that he wrote, I was like my mistress's lap-dog, since I had to follow her where ever she went” (Manzano, 1996, p.89). It was during this period that he learnt reading, writing and composing poetry. During the times when his mistress would invite poets and writers to her house for evening entertainment, Manzano developed the habit of memorizing every verse and cautiously transferred them in writing later. This was the poetry that later helped him to win his freedom with assistance from those that admired his work. A distinct element of religion can be found in Manzano’s perceptions about his environment and the manner in which he dealt with the situations that he faced. Manzano writes that during one of the several times that he received corporal punishments, a person whom he considered his godfather said, Look here, this one is going to be worse than Rousseau and Voltaire. Remember what I am telling you" (Manzano, 1996, p.88). He was puzzled by this kind of future prediction for him and attempted to find out who these people were. He writes he was much relieved in getting to know that they were enemies of God. This clearly reveals a strong religious sentiment in Manzano, which is in sharp contrast to the superficial strategies of the Count in The Last Supper. The fact that Manzano chose to include such specific remarks in his autobiography is clear indication of his passion for prayers that was directly correlated with the frequency and intensity of his repeated punishments. Surely, he was looking to God to make him come out of such circumstances so that he could be relieved of the daily torture. Conclusion It cannot be said that the approaches of the Count and Manzano coincided in any way because they were two distinct personalities with different objectives. One is the master and the other is the slave and the only similarity is by way of using religion to meet their respective objectives. The Count’s actions are clearly superficial because he literally makes a mockery of religion by staging an act that would not be taken in good taste by any one. And truly, he gets back in terms of what he deserved for such tenacity. He is killed by the very slaves whom he wanted to influence and have them to comply with his directions. He proves he cannot meet commitments as he did not fulfill his promise despite depicting himself as a God like figure. Manzano is a true devotee of God in having submitted himself to His mercy to get himself freed from extreme hardships. It appears Manzano is directly addressing readers when he refers to his relationships with Voltaire and Rousseau in terms of labeling them as enemies of God and such comments are appropriate from the Catholic perspective because Voltaire had openly declared that every sensible human being should consider Christianity as a sect of horror. Works Cited Alea, Tomás Gutiérrez.The Last Supper, 1976. Manzano, Juan Francisco. The Autobiography of a Slave/Autobiografia de un Esclavo, Wayne State University Press, 1996. Read More