Phillis Wheatley as a Slave - Research Paper Example

? Phillis Wheatley as a Slave Born in Africa, Phillis Wheatley experienced the misfortune of being enslaved in Boston; however, this fateful situation did not prevent her from becoming a very well-known poet. The awareness about the injustice of slavery urged her to write poems to expose the tyranny of this system and claim its abolition. Despite her enslavement, Wheatley strived to prove her intellectual ability through her poetry and used her skill as a weapon to fight slavery and refute the negative theories about black people. In this endeavor, she chose Western cultural and religious values and even a European voice to accomplish her noble task even though she still believed in her African identity. This strategy caused some misunderstanding and generates much criticism among her early reviewers. Phillis Wheatley engaged in a serious battle to fight the injustice black people experienced through slavery. Even though as a slave she did not have freedom, she used her poetry to present and criticize the oppressive system of slavery. Her writing becomes a medium to address this crucial issue that abuses black people and questions their humanness and intelligence. Claiming her African identity, she strives to end slavery and uses the influence of people she knew in her master’s home to bring awareness to the evil of this system that oppresses blacks. This author reflects: “Wheatley was indeed quite aware of the terrible injustices done her and other slaves, that she protested these abuses as best she could, that she took pride in her African identity, and that she cultivated relationships with anyone else--black or white--who might directly or indirectly help to end slavery” (Levernier 38). Wheatley uses any means possible to exhibit the injustice about slavery and claim black people’s right to be free and enjoy their liberty as anybody else. Having received a strong religious education, she severely denounces the contradiction in Christian slaveholders who though believing in Christian values violate these same values by owning slaves and abusing them. This statement reveals: “Even more revealing of Wheatley's abhorrence of slavery is the letter she wrote to Occom concerning the ‘natural Rights’ of slaves and the glaring hypocrisy of supposedly Christian slaveholders who profess Christian beliefs, which they blatantly contradict by keeping slaves” (Levernier 40). Wheatley believes all people are God’s creatures and they are all equal regardless of their race. She denigrates that attitude deemed hypocritical that profiles against blacks just because of their race. Even though Wheatley’s poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America" seems to indicate that she agrees with the policies of slavery, she actually conveys a totally different message. Most critics take the words literally and miss the main point she makes by focusing only on the benefit of Christianity and neglecting the criticism of slavery she engages in. The speaker states: “Some view our sable race with scornful eye, / ‘Their colour is a diabolic die” (On Being lines 5-6). Through these lines, Wheatley expresses the oppression and abuse black people suffer from, and she foregrounds the distinction made between the races. Wheatley, actually, puts forward the Christian values to contrast the evil of slavery to the good believers should embrace and embody. This article points out: “On the surface, ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ seems to imply, as most commentators have maintained, that its author wholeheartedly endorsed the racist colonial opinion that bringing Africans to America for use as slaves was morally justifiable because it brought Christianity to souls that might otherwise have perished in hell” (Levernier 41). These negative images of Africa have been mainly conveyed by slaveholders and companies conducting the slave trade to justify the necessity of enslaving black people. The need to Christianize Africans who have been portrayed as inhuman and without a culture has been widely put forward as a regrettable excuse to maintain slavery. However, Wheatley does not condone any of these theories and actually denounces the tyranny of slavery and the hypocrisy of the so called Christians. This critic argues: “Poems such as ‘To the University of Cambridge, in New England’ and ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ provide early evidence of woman not only aware of her race but also increasingly adept at manipulating the system that enslaved her because of it” (Balkun 132). Wheatley’s commitment to end slavery urged her to appeal to important personalities in order to bring awareness to the evil of the slave trade. In this perspective, her poem "To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth" is a call for help and an attempt to sensitize William Legge, the Secretary of State for the colonies to the injustice slaves undergo. In this poem, Wheatley foregrounds the pain, suffering and the tyranny of slavery and praises the virtue of freedom. She places hope in the Earl of Dartmouth and people like him to realize the wrongs of the slave trade and put an end to it. As this assertion indicates: “The concomitant themes of the evils of the African slave trade and the ironic contrast between a nation, especially a nominally Christian nation, seeking freedom for itself while holding another nation, of which Wheatley was herself a member, in bondage are, of course, predominant in "To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth," one of Wheatley's most famous and most discussed poems” (Levernier 44). Wheatley draws attention to the unfairness of keeping people in bondage while preserving and even extending their own liberty. She calls on their Christian principles to understand the wickedness about slavery and abolish it. This author informs: “However, Wheatley’s goal is the conversion of her audience to an awareness of the evils being done on earth, slavery in particular, and her own authority as a Christian to speak to these matters” (Balkun 127). Wheatley used her poetry and her faith to fight slavery and advocate its abolition. Besides, in her poem “To S.M., A Young African Painter, on seeing his works,” Wheatley praises the talent of the artist who painted the portrait in her book of poetry. However, this praise goes beyond the recognition of a simple craft and celebrates the intelligence and value of Africans whose worth has been historically questioned. Through this exhibition of the artist’s talent, Wheatley fights against the negative images given to black people and works for the restoration and acknowledgment of their craft. The speaker states: “To show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent, / And thought in living characters to paint / When first thy pencil did those beauties give, / And breathing figures learn from thee to live” (Young African 1-4). The speaker foregrounds the outstanding talent of the artist and the delight he provides others, which reveals not only his humanness but also much intelligence. Moreover, the speaker reminisces the pain and suffering in the world of slavery: “But when these shades of time are chas’d away, / And darkness ends in everlasting day” (23-24). Wheatley refers through these words to the hardships of slavery and the abuse and oppression slaves undergo. Though believing in her struggle to end slavery, she also knew that God will end it and reward slaves for all the suffering they experienced. This combination of resistance and faith shows the strong determination of Wheatley and her commitment to expose and eradicate slavery. Moreover, through this poet and her own example, Wheatley proves the negative theories refuting the intelligence of black people wrong by exhibiting an extraordinary mental strength through her poems. Despite her enslavement, she has been able to show her intellectual abilities and compose poetry as any other capable human being. Even though the first critics of her poems did not recognize her writing as a mental strength but see it as a pure imitation, later scholarship has to give her credit for such accomplishment. In the earliest British reviews of her volume, Wheatley’s intellect functioned as the leading example of the way in which the capacity to write was not in itself an argument for mental equality. At the same time, the enslaved status of Wheatley’s body exemplified the emptiness of colonial American Whig rhetoric, the failure of the language of liberty and political ‘‘slavery’’ to live up to the reality of its referents. (Slauter 90) Wheatley’s ability to produce these poems while kept in slavery undeniably places her at the same level with other poets regardless of their race. Her enslavement presents many challenges that may have impacted her intellectual power; however, her ability to overcome bondage and write successful poetry demonstrates the lack of foundation of the negative theories about black people’s intelligence. Besides, Wheatley’s poetry not only conveys messages that present the horror of slavery and claim its abolition but also plays another important role that is to demonstrate the equality between all races. This equality is not only physical but also mental since people of all races can produce intellectual work. This article demonstrates: “As a poet whose skill was thought to show how members of her race could be as human as Europeans and whose writing was undistinguishable in style, diction and sentiment from that of her European contemporaries much of benefit to her grew from her success in winning regard for her work as thoroughly, not merely marginally, European” (Silvers 476). The competitiveness of her writing and its respect of European standard give her much credit and earn her the international recognition she enjoys. She becomes a famous poet even though a slave. As a slave facing the negative stereotypes black people were suffering from, Wheatley had to find ways and means to get her poetry accepted by the dominant culture. She understood that the success of her writing depends on its conformity to Western standards, and she managed to master them and even get accustomed to them. She also made a great use of classical references to show her awareness of Greek and Roman mythologies and her familiarity with their famous authors and heroes. This critic observes: “Denied entrance into the space of ‘legitimate’ Colonial culture, Wheatley could only re-cite the marks of ‘belonging’ by adopting Western forms, and using biblical and classical imagery, showing that she had accumulated a sufficient stock of cultural capital to be considered the equal of her white ‘betters’” (Kendrick 11). She basically adopts European cultural and religious values in order to get her writing accepted and gain the respect of her peers. She, therefore, did not deny her African heritage but felt the need to embrace European values in an attempt to show her competence and claim equality for her race. As this article shows: “Wheatley's status as a mourner/chiffonier, meanwhile, was not only a matter of metaphor--her cultural disenfranchisement as a slave required her to salvage the bits and pieces of both her African memories and her informal Colonial education to perform cultural identities” (Kendrick 8). Her references to Africa constitute a way for her to claim her identity while the Western culture gives her the opportunity to prove her equality and gain the emancipation of slaves. The commitment to her struggle against slavery explains the European voice she adopts in her writing, which causes a misunderstanding and even some misjudgment. Many critics fail to understand Wheatley’s adoption of a European voice instead of embracing her African values; however, it was a strategic choice meant to show her belonging and her equality. This author notes: “In this vein, it is Wheatley’s failure to speak as an African which is said to prove the absence of her ‘repressed’ African voice, and so Houston Baker, Jr. reads her as complaining about the African writer’s perpetual exclusion” (Silvers 478). The absence of the African voice also reflects her lack of freedom and the cultural alienation she has been through. However, the European voice, she adopts is very successful and allows her to be seen as an author, not just a slave. Even though this international recognition has not been easy, she achieved it and made not only her message known but at the same time proved her intellectual ability. This article points out: “Thus, through style and voice, Wheatley empowers herself with a moral authority that condemns the unjust authority of her oppressors, and she manages to do so with their unwitting but full compliance” (Levernier 44). Ironically, Wheatley borrows the Western voice, style and values to denounce the abuse, oppression and injustice of Westerners. However, the strategy works perfectly to get the message and even acknowledge her talent as a poet. Moreover, since Wheatley used her poetry as a form of struggle to expose the horrors of slavery and claim its abolition, she needed her message to be clearly understood. Therefore, she pays attention to her audience and chooses the forms they are more likely to comprehend. Her decision to identify with them and adopt their values will get her message easily through and render her fight more efficient. This statement informs: “To engage in a critique of slavery, Wheatley needed to find a strategy that made allies of her readers rather than critics. To this end she used the genres and forms familiar to them—the sermon, the verse epistle, and the Bible—to establish a common ground from which to launch her attack” (Balkun 128). She carefully prepares her readers to accept her plea and appeals to their understanding without any conflict. She diligently prepares the ground and sets up to bring awareness about the tyranny about slavery. Even though her Christian principles made her believe that God will not tolerate this injustice forever and will put an end to it soon, she decided to participate in the struggle and strived hard to reveal the nature of the evil to the whole world. This critic states: “Though God could take care of the problems of slavery and racism in ‘his way and time,’ it would appear that Wheatley had taken it upon herself to hasten the resolution of the matter through the means available to her. Additionally, though she placed her hope in the eventual granting of God's deliverance, the secular and discursive nature of the problem led to a classicized "solution" on her part” (Kendrick 12). Therefore, both Wheatley’s voice and style represent strategic forms meant to improve the efficiency of her struggle to fight slavery and claim the equality and freedom of black people. Phillis Wheatley’s poems reflect her commitment to end slavery and restore the image of black people. Her commitment to fight the injustice about slavery came from her awareness of the abuse and oppression in the slave trade and her belief that all people are created equal, regardless of their race. This understanding motivated her to show her mental skills and, therefore, prove her equality to Europeans and that of her whole race. The style, voice and values displayed in her poetry strictly follow the European standard, which makes her poetry accepted in the mainstream. This intellectual performance of a slave refutes the negative theories questioning the humanness and lack of intelligence of black people. Works Cited Balkun, Mary M. “Phillis Wheatley’s Construction of Otherness and the Rhetoric of Performed Ideology.” African American Review 36.1 (2002): 121-35. Print. Kendrick, Robert. “Re-membering America: Phillis Wheatley's Intertextual Epic.” African American Review 30.1 (2011): 1-12. Print. Levernier, James A. “Style as Protest in the Poetry of Phillis Wheatley.” Style 27.2 (1993): 35- 48. Print. Silvers, Anita. “Pure Historicism and the Heritage of Hero(in)es: Who Grows in Phillis Wheatley’s Garden?” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 51.3 (1993): 475-82. Print. Slauter, Eric. “Neoclassical Culture in a Society with Slaves: Race and Rights in the Age of Wheatley.” Early American Studies (2004): 81-122. Print. Read More