Running Head: Culture Anthropology In 12 Years A Slave

Running Head Culture Anthropology In 12 Years A Slave 1culture Anthr

Running Head Culture Anthropology In 12 Years A Slave 1culture Anthr

1 CULTURE ANTHROPOLOGY IN 12 YEARS A SLAVE 4 Culture Anthropology in 12 Years a Slave Sharondla Copes Southern New Hampshire University February 5,2017 Cultural Anthropology-Slavery Introduction Cultural anthropology is the concept in anthropology that focuses on the study of variations in culture among human beings and it is different to social anthropology that views cultural differences as a subject of the anthropological constant (Rapport, 2014). Slave culture in the colonial period in America was both a combination of tribalism; African culture, Christian worship, and resistance. Typically, slavery was a culture of surviving and defending oneself from the American slavery system. Apart from slavery being associated with plantation, it was all about the brutality that included rape, beatings and many others.

Therefore, this essay will explain scenes that exhibited culture anthropology in the film 12 Years a Slave and demonstrate the influence of culture anthropology on Eliza’s first owner behavior in the movie. The conditions that the slaves in a slavery society depended on the size of the farm or plantations in which they worked the amount of work they were supposed to do and the whim of their master. According to Wagley (1960), a slave who worked in the fields with the owner and their families expected to get better treatment than the plantation slaves under an overseer who had an interest in maximizing the harvests and had no interest in the well-being of slaves. The happenings can be seen in the scene of the film where the master is giving instructions to the slaves on how things are done on the farm like carpentry.

The master introduces himself and the fellow master as well as teaching the slaves how to they should be clapping their hands when he sings. The fate of any slave was determined by the owner of the slave, the use of corporal punishment and the giving of privileges were the decisions of the proprietor. Stuckey (2013) indicates that punishment meant whipping, being given extra work and a reduced food ratio. In the film, Solomon (Platt) is being beaten by the master as he remains adamant to admit that he is a slave. Besides, Platt is almost strangled by Tibeat after they fought, but he is rescued by Chappin.

The pattern of sexual and physical abuse is also common as Patsey is frequently raped by the master and abused physically by the master’s wife. Culture can be defined as the patterns of behaviors and beliefs of a particular social, age, or ethnic group that is shared or learned. It can be the widespread collective human beliefs that have a structured stage of civilization that is peculiar to a nation (Rapport, 2014). In this context, the character of Eliza’s boss with whom they had an affair will be discussed. Eliza was a mistress to a wealthy white man who fathered her daughter.

She was promised freedom upon the death of her owner. It has been the norm that the master or owner of a female slave abuses them sexually through rape. The culture was being passed on from generation to generation. Despite Eliza being promised liberty after her owner is dead, it never came to pass as she and her children were sold into slavery after the proprietor’s death. She was left to mourn rather than the freedom. The sad part was the separation from her children after being sold to Burch and finally her death. The pattern is influenced by the firm belief that a slave is nothing in front of the master than a tool to be used and when the master is done, they sell it to another owner that may need it services (Stuckey, 2013). Eliza symbolizes the plight of female slaves in the pre-Civil War and the negative role of women in contemporary society.

References

• Rapport, N. (2014). Social and cultural anthropology: The key concepts. Routledge.
• Stuckey, S. (2013). Slave culture: Nationalist theory and the foundations of Black America. Oxford University Press.
• Wagley, C. (1960). Plantation America: a culture sphere. In Caribbean studies: a symposium (pp. 3-13). Seattle: University of Washington Press.