Family Life During Slavery - the Known World by Edward Jones

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Family life during slavery: The known world by Edward Jones

The structure of a slave family is usually quite hard to determine and there are always two distinct interpretations on what the effects of slavery had on both the Black slaves and the White slave owners. The first interpretation is that slavery destroyed the family structure and eroded the values held by families while the second interpretation is that the slavery era brought families together and solidified the bonds that existed between members. In the era of slavery, the family was viewed as a solid refuge from the horrors that were experienced by the slaves (p.p. 29) and it acted as a platform for respect and dignity for those who owned the slaves. Any family who owned slaves were treated as masters and their orders and commands were well followed to the latter. Even children born in to families that owned slaves were accorded respect by the slaves because they too were a representation of power and authority. The slave owners did not care much about the families of the slaves; their only interest was to see that the numbers of slaves increased through the act of reproduction. For these numbers to increase “the slave labor force required only the simple biological dyad ‘mother and child’. The social dyads ‘husband and wife’ and ‘father and child’ were not essential. Neither was the completed nuclear family” (p.79).

In the novel ‘The known world’, Augustus who is Henry’s father has put in so much effort in his work through the years so as to be able to free his family from slavery bonds. Such circumstances would make a family more united and to have more solidarity and in one instance in the book, the Townsend family gets united. This is because, on the day of Henry’s emancipation, though not planned his family plans for Rita who was Henry’s guardian when his parent’s were not present, to escape. Henry keeps quiet about this whole episode without revealing it to anybody even though “it would amaze all involved” (p.44). In this instance, the Townsend family works as a unit and Henry actually works together with his parents and disregards what the law says.

The concept of slavery and the belief that Rita should be freed helps to unite this family in times of dire need. This comes to show that slavery actually helped bring families together because members of the family always felt united by a common bond which is slavery. Similarly, the concept of slavery also brought white families together. For example, William Robbins takes the role of being Henry’s guardian in the absence of his parents. William grows so fond of Henry that he wishes to make him a part of his illegitimate children. Henry looks at William as a role model and a mentor that he seeks to be like him.

Living with William has made Henry view slavery as an economic institution which is highly justified. This is the same concept with white families who owned slaves, William’s illegitimate children included. Having seen their parents owning slaves for a long time, they start perceiving it as a positive endeavor and they start looking up to their parents. Eventually, they would also turn out to be slave owners themselves. For example, having lived with William, Henry sees no evil in owning slaves and this causes him to also buy his own slaves and ends up owning more than 30 slaves. White families are also united by this concept.