Tag Archives: hardships

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Analysis on The Star of Freedom


  After reading the poems from “The Star of Freedom book, I noticed that every poem/short story I’ve read has a theme that its shameful to be a colored slave, and that no good comes out of being colored. They feel that they aren’t deserving of  life in general which sparks a wave of emotions as I read these poems and short stories dealing with anti-slavery. They all have a very depressing, and upsetting tone to each piece that I have read, making it seem not only sad but also feeling like they are stepping foot in the day of what a slave had to go through. The poems are very detailed in terms of how they  are trapped, especially how the younger slaves weren’t able to act like normal children and play otherwise they will be punished because they aren’t deserving of that kind of freedom, nor do they know what freedom will ever feel like.

 

I personally think one of the sadness parts was the poem called “The Little Dead Slave” because even though its a very short poem, its very detailed in how the passing of this young boy makes his mother happy because she is content knowing that her own son won’t have to continue  going through the hardships and cruel reality of what it feels like to be a slave like herself.  She is content knowing he is better off in Gods hands because if he continued living as a slave, then he wouldn’t be deserving enough to get to heaven. I can only imagine how hard something like that must be for a parent at that time, but at least it gives us enough insight to feel the sadness as we read on into this book and that’s what makes me interested to know more about a certain poem/story is gives me a visual in my mind of how those tough times were like for people. It also makes me curious to know why the author remains anonymous, perhaps maybe they have a connection to something similar that they refuse to share but either way I enjoyed the book.

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The Anti-Slavery Alphabet

While reading The Anti-Slavery Alphabet, I found myself both enjoying and dreading the next words. I enjoyed how this poem flowed smoothly, the words easily rhyming with one another, yet at the same time carrying a great amount of sadness and warning in them. In the beginning of the poem, the author comments on the age of the children, stating that “you are young, ’tis true, but there’s much that you can do”. From this quote, I could tell that the intention of the author was to encourage young children to help take up the stand against slavery.

By associating each letter of the alphabet with an important word, the author not only teaches young children the alphabet, but also of the importance that each word carries to slaves. For example, the author connects the letter ‘S’ to the word ‘Sugar’. Sugar is something that the slaves have had to toil hard to make, in order for people to put in their pies and tea. However, for something as simple as sugar, slaves have had to endure much hardships and pain, something that people who eat that sugar never think of. Despite the sadness that the poem carries behind each letter, there are also whispers of hope. For example, the letter ‘U’ is associated with ‘Upper Canada’, a place that slaves can find freedom and rest. The author includes this in order to show children that there is hope for slaves, in spite of the odds being against them.

I found this poem easy to read and more importantly it was a lesson I enjoyed learning. Many children would feel the same I would think. By teaching children about the harshness that is slavery, but also providing them with small glimpses of hope, the author is encouraging change and action. Targeting this work towards children is a great way to teach them about history and to show them that with action comes results. This poem effectively both informs children to the pain and suffering that slaves have gone through and teaches them how they can make a difference in this world.