TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE

Solomon Northup
Summary: Chapter 1
Solomon Northup, born a free Black man in upstate New York in 1808, recounts his life up to
the age of thirty-three. Solomon’s father, a kind, intelligent slave named Mintus Northup,
gave him and his siblings a good education, and Solomon grew up helping his father on the
farm, reading books, and playing violin. At twenty-one, Solomon marries his wife, Anne, and
they have three beloved children and a happy life. Solomon has several different jobs in
Saratoga: he’s a carpenter, a construction worker on the railroad, and a violin player, and he
sometimes works at the United States Hotel during its busy season.

Summary: Chapter 2
It is March 1841, and while looking for work, Solomon meets Brown and Hamilton, two
respectable-looking white men who are searching for a musician to accompany their
travelling circus to New York City and Washington, D.C. Solomon immediately agrees to be
their violinist and departs with them, believing the journey will be short enough that he
doesn’t need to let his wife know that he’s leaving. Because they are leaving the state,
Brown and Hamilton encourage Solomon to obtain papers stating that he’s a free man;
Solomon does so, interpreting their suggestion to mean that they are trustworthy. One night
in Washington, D.C., Solomon begins feeling ill after sharing drinks with Brown and
Hamilton. They encourage him to get some rest. While Solomon’s recollection of that night is
fuzzy, he recalls people leading him outside to see a doctor before his memory fails
completely. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a dark cell with chains locked around his
wrists and ankles.

Analysis: Chapters 1–2

Solomon Northup begins the story of his kidnapping and enslavement with a cheery and
thorough description of a normal life before it was so violently interrupted. Northup makes
sure to describe his life as a free Black man thoroughly to set up a contrast to his coming
enslavement. His everyday pursuits, his family, his successes in business, and his talent at
the violin all weigh as evidence of a happy and honest life as a free man in Saratoga, New
York. The meticulous detail in Northup’s descriptions of Saratoga reveals a diligent author
and one who makes sure to describe each setting he will encounter in vivid detail.

Chapter 2 tells of the dizzying, confusing path that will lead Solomon to twelve years of
enslavement in the American South, using foreshadowing to heighten the tension in
Solomon’s travels. His employers initially appear legitimate and even take extra precautions
for Solomon to travel with them as a free Black man. Solomon initially has no reason to
doubt their sincerity, but in retrospect as the author, Northup knows he has placed his trust in
the wrong people. Northup’s perspective as author allows him to include relevant details of
his coming kidnapping, including bits of dialogue with his apparent “friends.” Northup thus
heavily foreshadows his coming enslavement.

Summary: Chapter 3
The chapter opens with Solomon having been locked in the cell for several hours. Two men
enter the cell; Solomon later learns that they are slave dealer James Burch and his lackey,
Ebenezer Radburn. When Solomon asks why he is imprisoned, Burch tells Solomon that he
is now a slave. Solomon refutes this claim, stating that he is free and has a family in
Saratoga. Every time Burch says that Solomon is a slave, Solomon argues that he is not,
until Burch begins brutally whipping him with a paddle and a cat-o’-ninetails. He stops to ask
if Solomon will now say that he’s a slave, but Solomon refuses to yield, so Burch continues
to beat him. Eventually Burch ceases his attack but tells Solomon that if he ever again
claims to be free, or speaks of his kidnapping, Burch will kill him. Over the next few days,
Solomon discovers that he is being held in a place called William’s Slave Pen, and he meets
some of the others who have been kidnapped. Among them are a man named Clemens Ray
and a child named Randall. A few day later, a woman and her daughter are brought in. It
turns out that they are Randall’s mother, Eliza, and his half-sister, Emily, and the small family
shares a tearful reunion.

Summary: Chapter 4
Solomon and his fellow captives are led aboard a steamboat on the Potomac, with no idea of
their destination. Eliza and Clemens are utterly heartbroken at the idea of becoming slaves
in the South. Eventually the group arrives in Richmond, Virginia, where they are brought to a
slave pen owned by Mr. Goodin. There, Solomon meets a man named Robert, who had also
been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Later, the group—minus Clemens Ray—is put on a
brig called the Orleans; Solomon later finds out that Clemens escaped to Canada.

Analysis: Chapters 3–4

Solomon’s treatment by the slave dealer James Burch is severe and brutal, and it is the
narrative’s first foray into the horrors of slavery in the United States, the most important
theme of the book. In Chapter 3, Northup’s approach to capturing the raw inhumanity of the
scene is to describe it in brutal detail. This clear, detailed description seems to match the
brutality of the act itself. The vivid description of Burch’s torture weapons and their effects
provides a visceral experience for Northup’s audience. Northup juxtaposes this
overwhelming brutality with the little bit of solace he finds among similarly imprisoned
characters. His fellow prisoners are confused and afraid, but Northup introduces a small
measure of humanity by retelling the touching scene of a family reunion in the pen where he
is kept. Eliza’s reunion with her son Randall is an occasion of both merciful happiness and
great, tragic despair. The family is together but still cruelly enslaved and kept in a pen like
animals.

Northup shows diligence in reporting on the points of view of his fellow victims, reinforcing
his reliability as narrator and expanding the narrative beyond his own experiences. He keeps
careful track of the ultimate destinations of each kidnapped person, as if to hold onto their
humanity. Although Northup will mostly be reporting on his own experiences, he makes sure
the tumultuous and tragic narratives of others in his position are honored and tracked. This
aligns neatly with Northup’s goal to be exhaustive in his reportage, but also to let the
barbarism of enslavement speak for itself. Northup is not writing this narrative to prove the
barbarism of slavery, but to simply describe it from his firsthand experiences. But these
experiences, along with the trials and tortures of his fellows, is more than sufficient proof of
the inherent wrongness of slavery.

Summary: Chapter 5
The brig docks in Virginia, and Solomon befriends an enslaved man named Arthur. Like
Solomon, Arthur was a free man and was kidnapped on the street while returning home one
night. Solomon and Arthur hatch a plan to take over the ship and sail back to New York.
They bring Robert in on their plot, but before they can act, Robert dies of smallpox. A white
sailor, John Manning, notices how depressed Solomon seems and asks if he can do
anything to help. He brings Solomon a pen, ink, and paper, and Solomon writes a letter to
his family explaining his plight. John mails the letter for him, but when it reaches Solomon’s
friends in New York, they are unable find out where he’s been taken. When the ship arrives
in New Orleans, a slave trader named Theophilus Freeman calls out for a “Platt.” When no
one answers, Freeman tells Solomon that his name is now Platt. The kidnapped men,
women, and children are taken off the ship and once again placed into a slave pen.

Summary: Chapter 6
Potential buyers come to examine the captive men, women, and children. Eliza’s son
Randall is sold, much to her grief. A man offers to buy Solomon and Eliza, and Eliza begs
him to buy her daughter Emily as well so that they can stay together. The man offers to buy
Emily, but Freeman says that Emily is not for sale. In a heart-breaking scene, Eliza and
Emily are forcibly parted, the mother weeping as her daughter begs her not to go. Solomon
reveals that Eliza never sees her children again.

Analysis: Chapters 5–6

Chapter 5 details Solomon’s first of many attempts to secure his freedom as a recurring
motif and painfully describes its failure. Arthur’s presence strongly confirms the validity of
Solomon’s desire to escape, and the compassionate sailor represents Solomon’s first real
chance to contact his family and friends. But when Arthur is freed by companions in New
Orleans and Solomon is not, Solomon despairs. And as narrator, Northup can reveal the
outcome of his first letter immediately: no one comes to his rescue. Northup describes the
depths to which he has sunk at this point but also the fire within him that burns for freedom.
This will not be the last time Solomon attempts escape the intolerable condition in which he
finds himself.

In heart-wrenching detail, Chapter 6 reports on the auction of Solomon and his fellow
detainees, introducing a new thematic element to the story: the chaotic nature of life as a
slave. Northup again follows the trails of the others in bondage in exacting detail to let the
chaos of their lives speak for itself and to thematically support the power of his own story.
Northup’s descriptions are mostly dispassionate and detached to contrast the larger-than-life
nightmare he and the others experienced. But inside Northup’s proclamations of objectivity,
he clearly aims to infuse his narrative thematically with the simple and terrible truth of his
experiences at the whim of an inhumane system. Northup correctly assumes that his
audience may have never attended an auction of human beings, and by describing this
immoral auction and its tragic results for Eliza, he reveals the inhumane, chaotic nature of
life as a slave to his narrative.

Summary: Chapter 7
Solomon introduces his new master William Ford, a kind-hearted man who is nevertheless
blind to the immorality and horror of slavery. Solomon impresses Ford by building a raft and
thereafter becomes known for his skill in many trades. A carpenter named Tibeats comes to
Ford’s plantation to work on his house, and Solomon is told to assist him. Solomon
describes Tibeats as the opposite of Ford in every way. A cruel and ignorant man, Tibeats
doesn’t own his own plantation but makes his living by working on the plantations of others.
Summary: Chapter 8
Ford faces financial troubles and must sell Solomon to Tibeats. Tibeats and Solomon go to
work at another plantation owned by Ford, which is overseen by the reasonable Mr. Chapin.
One morning, Tibeats becomes angry with Solomon even though Solomon has done exactly
what Tibeats asked. When Tibeats tries to whip Solomon, Solomon fights back, refusing to
be punished for following orders. Chapin intervenes and tells Tibeats that there is no reason
to whip Solomon. Tibeats leaves but returns with two men who tie up Solomon and discuss
where to hang him. Chapin orders Tibeats and the men to leave, then sends a messenger to
Ford to alert him that Tibeats tried to murder Solomon. Inexplicably, Chapin does not free
Solomon from the ropes that bind him.

Analysis: Chapters 7–8

Tibeats, the spiteful and violent carpenter, is the narrative’s first major antagonist,
discounting the terrible violence done by James Burch. Solomon’s harrowing run-ins with
Tibeats in this section of the narrative are contrasted to the otherwise fair treatment he
experiences in servitude to William Ford. Solomon is protected by Ford, a more complex
character than the villain Tibeats. William Ford, as described by Northup, is a good man in
every respect, but blind to the horrors of slavery he actively benefits from, which makes this
gentle master an antagonist as well. Detailed encounters with both Ford and Tibeats
highlight the inner complexities of chattel slavery, and the shades of antagonism various
slave masters embody. Some masters may treat their slaves well, but many suffer the whip
under tyrants such as Tibeats.

Northup describes his fight with Tibeats in agonizing detail, presenting the defense for his
actions clearly and boldly, all from his own point of view. Even as he beats back Tibeats with
the whip, Solomon knows he will be severely punished for his outburst. But his feelings of
righteousness push him to aggressively resist and even beat Tibeats. As narrator, Northup
claims his actions were those of a just man in an unjust world, and he is right to claim it. He
refuses to be punished for something he did correctly in the first place, but this moral
perspective has no place in his immoral situation. Solomon’s near hanging, the punishment
he faces for standing up to Tibeats, shows Solomon the harsh truth of his enslavement. A
slave is beaten by their master for nothing, but if a slave hits their master, they face death.
Solomon’s antagonists, whether Tibeats or Ford, have an institutional power over his life or
death, and this truth is one Solomon will reckon with for twelve agonizing years.

Summary: Chapter 9
Solomon remains bound with a noose around his neck, unable to move. Chapin is nearby,
but inexplicably allows Solomon to suffer under the burning sun, Solomon’s legs and arms
swelling painfully against his bindings. A slave named Rachel gives Solomon a sip of water.
After many hours, Ford arrives and cuts Solomon free. That night, Chapin takes Solomon to
sleep on the floor in his own house in order to protect him from Tibeats. Over the next
month, Solomon is sent to work at the plantation of Ford’s brother-in-law, Peter Tanner; while
there, he’s safe from Tibeats.

Summary: Chapter 10
Solomon returns from Ford’s brother-in-law’s plantation and begins working for Tibeats
again. One morning, Tibeats becomes angry with Solomon and grabs a hatchet. The two
men fight until Solomon, fearing for his life, runs from the plantation. He swims through the
dangerous Pacoudrie Swamp in order to escape the dogs that Tibeats has sent after him.
Solomon eventually finds his way to Ford’s plantation, where he explains what happened.
Ford gives him food and allows him to stay in one of the cabins that night.

Analysis: Chapters 9–10

Chapter 9 finds Solomon suspended and uncertain, highlighting the unpredictable nature of
life as a slave, a theme here painfully developed by the actions of the witnesses. He is
utterly at the whim of the master’s scorn or mercy, and as if afraid to touch him, both slaves
and overseer leave the scene of the crime untouched. This hesitancy and inability to help
shows the near impossibility of mercy in the landscape of the plantation. Anyone who aids or
abets the misbehavior of slaves is treated with the same harshness as the perpetrator, or
perhaps even more. In short, the lives of these enslaved people are held in the hands of
their masters, and a whim or temper or state of drunkenness can easily bring a master like
Tibeats to the point of murder. But in stark contrast, William Ford’s conditional mercy saves
Solomon’s life. Powerless in their enslavement, Solomon and the others live on the knife’s
edge of their masters’ unpredictable bouts of hate or their brief mercy.

When Solomon nearly kills Tibeats and runs from the plantation, highly detailed descriptions
of dogs on his heels, palmettoes, water moccasins, and alligators, reflect Solomon’s fears in
natural symbols. Even in his wild, unplanned escape attempt, Solomon knows that full
escape through the swamp is near impossible. The threats of the swamp are immediate
symbols of the dangers that lie beyond. Solomon does not know the geography of the Red
River, where he has been forcibly taken. Northup painstakingly makes a circuitous route
back to Ford’s plantation, a location which takes on a momentary representation of safety.
Ford’s plantation is indeed the only place he may be safe from Tibeats in near proximity. The
wild lands and their dangers symbolize the danger of escape, which could easily land
Solomon in the hands of Tibeats or someone like him.

Summary: Chapter 11
Ford allows Solomon to stay on his plantation to recover for a few days. When Ford brings
Solomon back to Chapin’s plantation, Tibeats joins them. Ford advises Tibeats to sell
Solomon as it is clear they cannot get along. The next day, Tibeats leaves, and a man
named Mr. Eldret arrives, saying that Tibeats hired Solomon out to work for him. Solomon
and Mr. Eldret head to Eldret’s plantation. After four weeks, Eldret allows Solomon to visit his
friends at Chapin’s plantation. On his way back to Eldret’s, Tibeats encounters Solomon and
tells him he has sold him to an Edward Epps.

Summary: Chapter 12
Solomon describes Edward Epps as repulsive, coarse, inhumane, and often drunk. Solomon
also describes the process of picking cotton, explaining that each slave must pick at least
200 pounds of cotton every day. If a slave picks under 200 pounds in a day, he or she is
whipped. If a slave picks over 200 pounds, however, then he or she must pick that much
every day from then on or face punishment. Solomon reveals that life on this new plantation
includes long hours and very harsh living conditions, especially compared with life at Ford’s
plantation.

Analysis: Chapters 11–12

Chapter 11 reinforces the comparisons and contrasts between Ford and Tibeats as
antagonists in Northup’s narrative. By forcing Solomon’s sale, Ford saves Solomon’s life, but
his righteous act once again falls short of truly respecting Solomon’s humanity. Despite the
easy contrast with Tibeats, who is violent and unpredictable, Ford, the merciful master, is just
as complicit in Solomon’s captivity and treatment as the cruel carpenter. The very act of
selling Solomon as a form of rescue calls out Ford’s supposedly moral character. Like any
other slave owner, Ford is comfortable selling human beings and determining their fates by
dollar amount. Even mercy in this cruel world is another form of oppression, and even the
merciful antagonize Solomon by keeping him enslaved.

In Chapter 12, Northup carefully describes the setting of Epps’s cotton plantation, where his
short experience in the cotton fields provided northern audiences with a true view of the
overwhelming hopelessness of enslavement in the American south. When daily minimums
fall short, the slaves are whipped, and the cotton must be picked whether the slaves are
unwell or still injured from previous beatings. Hopelessness pervades the lives of these
enslaved people. Further, Northup entreats his audience to see how few masters are gentle
and kind to their slaves by describing his new master in greater detail than he did Ford or
even Tibeats. Epps’s cruelty knows no match in Northup’s twelve years of enslavement, and
the setting of Epps’s plantation will be the site of Solomon’s continued torture.

Summary: Chapter 13
Solomon becomes very sick soon after beginning work at Epps’s plantation. Before Solomon
has recovered, Epps orders him out to the cotton field, but after Solomon proves unskilled at
picking cotton, he’s sent to work at the ginhouse instead. Solomon says that Epps is a brutal
man who torments his slaves daily, sometimes forcing them to dance for hours at night and
whipping them if they dare to stop for rest. Solomon describes an enslaved person’s life as
one invariably filled with fear, exhaustion, and suffering. He also goes into detail about a
fellow slave named Patsey. Solomon describes Patsey as beautiful, strong, spirited, and
lightning-quick at picking cotton. Patsey is the victim of terrible abuse from Epps and his
jealous wife; the former rapes and whips her, and the latter takes delight in seeing her suffer.
Solomon reveals that Patsey has more than once asked him to take mercy on her and kill
her.

Summary: Chapter 14
The cotton crop on Epps’s plantation has been destroyed by caterpillars, and Solomon and
others are sent to work on sugar plantations. Solomon is hired out to a man named Judge
Turner, who assigns him the role of “driver” in his sugar house, a role that entails Solomon
whipping any slaves who appear idle (if he doesn’t, he’ll be whipped instead). Solomon says
that it is the custom in Louisiana that slaves receive compensation for any work they do on
Sundays, and that they generally spend the money on basic items like utensils, kettles,
knives, ribbons, and tobacco. By playing his violin, Solomon is able to earn seventeen
dollars, and he gets satisfaction from counting his money and imagining what he might buy
with it.

While Solomon is absent from Epps’s plantation, he learns that Epps has been whipping
Patsey with horrible frequency and brutality, partially to satisfy his jealous wife. Solomon is
unable to help Patsey, and she suffers terribly. At the end of the chapter, Solomon says that
it isn’t a slaveholder’s fault that he’s cruel as much as it is the fault of the society in which
slavery flourishes; he describes the institution of slavery as cruel, barbaric, and inhumane.

Analysis: Chapters 13–14

Northup’s introduction of Patsey, a fellow slave he describes vividly, in Chapter 13 brings
Epps’s role as the narrative’s new antagonist further into focus. This time, Epps lusts after
Patsey, which sends his jealous wife into rages. Between the two of them, their abuse and
torment overwhelm Patsey. When Epps again and again refuses to sell her, Patsey tries to
bribe Solomon into killing her in the swamp. She asks Solomon to take her life and end her
suffering at the hands of Epps and his wife, but Solomon refuses. Yet Northup the author
contemplates the impossibility of her situation and wonders if death would be a better
outcome for Patsey than continued abuse at the hands of Epps. Solomon witnesses more
brutality from Epps every day, and diligently chronicles the heartbreaking degradation of
Patsey’s otherwise bright spirit.

In Chapter 14, Northup’s long and detailed descriptions of his fish and game traps seem
almost avoidant, but he cannot escape haunting episodes of Epps’s violence toward Patsey
for long and revisits the cruelty of chattel slavery as a major theme in the narrative. Notably
at end of this section, Northup muses on the nature of enslavement and cruelty and wonders
at the ability of the masters to treat fellow human beings so brutally. This is, in effect,
Northup’s first conceptual confrontation with slavery outside the narrative of his earlier life.
As author, Northup speaks directly to his audience. He reveals his own ideas on the
perpetuation of slavery and inhumanity in almost startling directness. Northup has been
slowly developing the theme of slavery’s brutality and here speaks of the continuity of that
brutality. He posits that slavery, practiced over time, perpetuates the cruelty of the slave
masters. A society which allows for such extreme cruelty, the cruelty dealt to Patsey for
example, can only breed more and more cruel personalities in the master’s house.

Summary: Chapter 15
Solomon describes the intensive work required on a sugar plantation and explains that
slaves are given a break only once a year, at Christmas time. He says that they look forward
to this celebration all year, and they come together from different plantations to eat, dance,
and play music. Solomon reveals that his violin has been a great source of comfort to him
during his many years of slavery, allowing him to earn money, make friends, and find
moments of peace and respite.

Summary: Chapter 16
Solomon explains that he wishes to get a letter to his acquaintances in Saratoga, in the
hopes that they will deliver papers that prove he is a free man. Solomon is able to steal a
sheet of paper and make his own ink, but he has no way of delivering the letter to the post
office. Without revealing the letter’s contents, Solomon asks Armsby, the overseer on the
plantation next door, if he would mail a letter for him. Armsby agrees, but the next day, Epps
confronts Solomon, saying that Armsby told him that Solomon wanted to mail a letter.
Solomon denies this, and satisfied with Solomon’s response, Epps leaves. Solomon throws
his letter into the fire. He says that rescue is his only source of hope, but his hope is
constantly crushed.

Summary: Chapter 17
Atter Wiley—another slave on Epps’s plantation—attempts to escape, Solomon confesses
that he has not gone a day in captivity without thinking about escaping. However, he knows
that an escape attempt is likely to get him caught or killed. Solomon dreams of other ways of
getting his freedom back, such as the Mexican army invading their land.

Analysis: Chapters 15–17

Northup details the few days’ relief of Christmastime on the plantation at the start of this
section to build on the fleeting nature of joy as a motif. Solomon, while enjoying the rest and
camaraderie, still holds the celebration in perspective. This is the one day a year in which he
can rest and find joy, contrasted to the rest of the year, every single day of unending labor.
Here, for the first time since before his capture, Solomon plays his violin in joyful solidarity
with his fellows. Setting up the coming scene, the marvelous ability of the slaves to find joy in
their despair is lovingly described by a grateful Northup. It is this community, beaten and
broken down, that kept him alive through his terrible twelve years’ enslavement. But in tragic
style that underscores the inherent tragedy of slavery, the joy cannot last as the dreadful
sequence of events in Chapter 16 proves beyond any doubt.

Solomon’s attempted letter to Saratoga returns hopelessness and despair to the narrative as
a thematic undercurrent in Solomon’s enslavement. In his letter, he pleads for release from
illegal servitude. But his attempt is yet another failure, and Armsby’s betrayal throws
Solomon into deep despair. This betrayal contrasts with the joyfulness of the Christmas
scenes described just before. All of Solomon’s careful work, acquiring paper, boiling tree sap
for ink, and fashioning his own pen from a feather, shows the impossibly steep climb any
slave must undertake to gain freedom. Freedom is always on his mind, Solomon witnesses
another slave’s escape attempt and dreams of it himself, but his narration details his own
thinking retrospectively and highlights the despair and hopelessness he was going through
at the time.

Summary: Chapter 18
Solomon describes the cruelty he and other slaves endured from Epps and Mrs. Epps.
When Epps believes that Patsey is having an affair with a nearby plantation owner, he
orders Solomon to whip her. Solomon does so to prevent Epps from whipping her even more
severely, but eventually tells Epps that he won’t continue. Then, Epps takes the whip and
flays the skin from Patsey’s back. When Epps grows tired of whipping her, Solomon carries
Patsey to a hut where she lies in agony for days. She eventually recovers, but Solomon
believes that her spirit has been broken forever. He observes that Epps’s eldest son has
grown up watching his father’s brutal treatment of his slaves, and at only ten or twelve years
of age he is indifferent to their suffering. He takes pleasure in riding around the plantation
and whipping them, and views Black people as no different than animals. Solomon reflects
that it is no wonder that people like Epps grow up to be so cruel when they are raised to treat
others in such a way.

Summary: Chapter 19
Epps contracts a carpenter to build a house on his property. Solomon befriends one of the
carpenter’s workers, Bass, a white man originally from Canada whom Solomon will later
describe as intelligent, honorable, and good-hearted. Bass is known for his unconventional
opinions. One day, Solomon overhears Bass arguing with Epps that the institution of slavery
is morally wrong and should be abolished. Seeing an opportunity, Solomon approaches
Bass and explains that he is a free man who was kidnapped. Solomon and Bass meet at
night and write a letter to Solomon’s acquaintances in Saratoga, which Bass promises to
mail. They estimate they’ll receive an answer within six weeks. After four weeks, Bass
finishes his work and must leave, but he promises to visit the day before Christmas.

Analysis: Chapters 18–19

The inevitable defeat of Patsey’s spirit is the precipice of hopelessness as a theme in the
narrative. Northup takes special care to paint Patsey’s spirit in vivid colors. Here is a woman
who would have thrived, and perhaps even have led her people, if not so cruelly held captive
as a slave and subjected to endless tortures. Here Northup provides rare insight into his
personal views on the institution of slavery, for the most part kept from the journalistic
narrative. Northup strategically disarms potential critics by letting brutality speak for itself.
Patsey’s treatment allows Northup to achieve two ends at once. One is to point out the
destroyed potential in every Black slave, and the second is to show the cycle of cruelty in its
glaring examples. Epps’s son’s cruelty proves this point. In argumentative style, Northup
labels Epps as a product of his inhumane society who actively passes that cruel nature on to
his son in turn. Patsey’s position is hopeless, and she despairs.

Northup introduces Bass Avery in Chapter 19 as if to break the barbaric cycle of cruelty and
reintroduce the motif of escape. Avery idly argues the immorality of slavery with Epps, a
character who embodies the worst of the institution. The openness of their dialogue,
especially in Solomon’s range of hearing, gives Solomon a creeping sense of hope. Until
now, Solomon has not encountered any kind of anti-slavery sentiment expressed by any
white person on the Red River. This hope, however, must work against the failures of the last
twelve years. Solomon has put his faith in others before and faced betrayal and punishment.
Yet hope gradually outweighs Solomon’s acquired wariness the more he gets to know Bass
Avery. And this time, Solomon’s hope will end in liberty. But the care he must take in
approaching Avery is a product of his previous failures and the dreadful retribution of the
masters.

Summary: Chapter 20
Bass returns and tells Solomon that he has not yet heard back from anyone in Saratoga. He
tells Solomon that he plans to travel to Saratoga in the spring and will try to contact
Solomon’s acquaintances then. Solomon feels hopeful that Bass will live up to this promise.
About a week after Christmas, Solomon and the others are working when they see two men
stepping out of a carriage down to the field.

Summary: Chapter 21
Solomon explains what happened when his letter arrived in Saratoga. When one of his
acquaintances received it, he told Solomon’s wife and children, who were thrilled to learn
that Solomon was still alive. They immediately sought legal advice from Henry Northup, a
lawyer who had freed Solomon’s father and who had been Solomon’s lifelong friend. Northup
contacted the governor of New York on the basis that Solomon’s captivity was illegal, and
the governor appointed Northup to restore Solomon’s freedom. Although Northup knew
Solomon was in New Orleans, he was unable to locate him; no one he asked had heard the
name Solomon Northup, as Solomon was known to everyone there as Platt. Upon hearing
about Bass, an abolitionist with unpopular opinions, Northup deduced that Bass had assisted
Solomon with his letter and contacted Bass to find out Solomon’s location. Later, the sheriff
and Northup arrive at Epps’s plantation and confirm Solomon’s identity, and Solomon leaves
with them.

Summary: Chapter 22
The final chapter opens with Northup and Solomon traveling to New York. Northup files a
lawsuit against James Burch for Solomon’s kidnapping, but the lawsuit fails when Burch tells
the ludicrous lie that Solomon identified himself as slave and told Burch that he wanted to go
south. Solomon, being Black, is not allowed to testify on his own behalf. Northup and
Solomon then continue back to Saratoga, where Solomon joyfully reunites with his wife and
children.

Analysis: Chapters 20–22

In the narrative’s final chapters, Solomon’s release from bondage is told from several points
of view, a narrative device not yet used in Northup’s book. First, Solomon himself waits for
word from Bass in agonizing anticipation, always tempered by a healthy fear that his plan will
be discovered. Switching point of view in Chapter 21 allows Northup to chronicle the actions
of his friends and family after one of Solomon’s letters finally gets through. Here Northup’s
detached, journalistic style softens, since he is in obvious admiration and gratitude of his
ultimate rescuers and true friends. Also meticulous in his descriptions, Northup takes this
opportunity to highlight the heroic actions undertaken by others to set him free.

Solomon’s last description of Epps’s plantation features Patsey, the broken woman, watching
him leave and crying out in sorrow, emblematic of the hopelessness of enslavement. This
contrasts with his last encounter with Epps, the bitter and still hateful slaveowner, who
ceaselessly curses Solomon and denies his clearly truthful claims. This contrast between
Epps and Patsey is a strong stylistic choice by Northup, a mostly dispassionate and
journalistic author. By contrasting these reactions to his liberation from the plantation,
Northup bluntly reminds his audience, in the year 1853, that though he was rescued from
enslavement, countless others, Patsey included, are still being beaten and mistreated all
throughout the country by men like Epps.

These final chapters hold both frustration and redemption for Solomon, deepening the
emotional side of his character by the contrasting outcomes of his rescue. The swift actions
taken by his friends somewhat restores faith in the goodness of people after a long narrative
of rampant corruption and cruelty. But the court handling Solomon’s suit against James
Burch shows blatant bias toward slaveholders. Solomon is reunited with his wife and
children at last, a joyous occasion, but despite the actions of New York’s governor, the
Virginia court acquits James Burch of any wrongdoing. Northup, as author, again allows the
iniquities of his direct experience to speak for themselves rather than extrapolating on those
experiences to make a political point. Instead, Northup allows the cruelty and injustice he
has witnessed firsthand for twelve years to leave his audience with journalistic accuracy to
reckon with. But in the end, Northup lets some solace to creep into his dispassionate style,
sweetly describing his long overdue homecoming. Coupled with his frustration at the
outcome of Burch’s trial, Solomon’s liberation is tainted by the injustices that persist in his
world.

Full Book Summary

Solomon Northup is a thirty-three-year-old Black man living in Saratoga, New York, in 1841.
He is happily married and has three children who he adores. He works as a carpenter and is
also a skilled violinist who often plays for his friends. Solomon’s father was born into slavery
but was freed by the lawyer Henry Northup, who remains a close friend of Solomon’s family.
One day, two white men invite Solomon to temporarily perform as a violinist in their traveling
circus, and Solomon enthusiastically agrees. Believing that he will only be gone for a few
days, Solomon doesn’t tell his wife that he’s leaving. One night while in Washington, D.C.,
Solomon becomes sick and loses consciousness. When Solomon wakes up, he finds
himself shackled in a dark cell.

Solomon discovers that he has been kidnapped by a slave trader named James Burch, who
beats Solomon every time he insists that he’s a free man. The slave dealer sends Solomon
and other kidnapped men, women, and children to New Orleans by ship. Once there,
Solomon is told that his name is now “Platt.” A plantation owner named William Ford soon
buys Solomon. Solomon describes Ford as a kind-hearted man who only condones slavery
because he was raised with the belief that it is not immoral. Unfortunately, Ford runs into
financial trouble and is forced to sell Solomon to a cruel carpenter named Tibeats. Tibeats
has a short temper and tries to kill Solomon several times, but his efforts are thwarted by
Ford and by Solomon himself.

Tibeats eventually sells Solomon to the brutal Edward Epps. Often drunk, Epps alternates
between whipping his slaves and using them for entertainment. Epps regularly rapes a
spirited, beautiful slave named Patsey, and as a result, Mrs. Epps despises her and takes
pleasure in seeing her suffer. Both Epps and his wife treat Patsey with horrific brutality.
Solomon constantly thinks about how to regain his freedom. He knows that he will be killed
or captured if he tries to escape, so he feels that his best option would be to send a letter to
his friends in Saratoga to obtain proof that he is a free man. However, all of his attempts to
send a letter fail, and he often feels hopeless. His only solace is playing his violin, which
allows him to earn money and enables him to occasionally leave the plantation to play at
nearby houses.

After toiling and enduring terrible abuse on Epps’s plantation for ten years, Solomon meets
Bass, a white carpenter working on Epps’s property. Bass is an abolitionist known for his
unconventional opinions, and he and Solomon become friendly. One day, Solomon hears
Bass arguing with Epps about slavery. Bass claims that slavery is morally wrong and says
that there is no inherent difference between Black and white people. Epps thinks this is
ridiculous, but Solomon feels hopeful that Bass can help him. Solomon explains his history
to Bass and asks for Bass’ help in mailing a letter to Saratoga. Bass agrees but warns that
after twelve years, everyone Solomon knows there might be dead. Bass mails the letter in
August, but by Christmas there is still no response. Bass tells Solomon he plans to travel to
Saratoga in the spring and will try to get in touch with Solomon’s acquaintances.

Meanwhile, the letter has been received in Saratoga and makes its way to Solomon’s wife.
She contacts Henry Northup, who agrees to help restore Solomon’s freedom. Northup gets
permission from the governor and travels to New Orleans. However, because everyone
there knows Solomon as Platt, no one can help Henry Northup find Solomon. After some
searching, Northup understands that Bass sent the letter and contacts him to learn of
Solomon’s location.
On January 3, Solomon and the other slaves are working in the field when they see two men
coming down from a carriage. Solomon is elated when he recognizes Northup. Northup tells
Epps that Solomon is a free man, and Northup and Solomon leave the plantation. Solomon
returns home to Saratoga, where he joyfully reunites with his wife and children.