An Amazing Book :: Essays Papers

An Amazing Book Been In The Storm So Long, written by Leon F. Litwack exposes the cruel, harsh, and most disgusting attitudes of humans towards one another. This story is about the lives of black slaves, slave owners, and the people fighting for freedom during the Civil War and even after Emancipation. This story reveals the interactions between blacks and whites and dramatizes their inner dependency on one another. It also divulges the tension and friction between the two groups. After reading this short summery of Been In The Storm So Long, I hope one can acknowledge the intentions of this book and perhaps give one the desire to pick up this book and let the story take one to a place Americans tend to keep hidden. As the story begins, it talks about the changes in attitudes of the slaveholders. One slave by the name of Robert Murray recalls how his â€Å"white folks† started to change. Murray was a young slave that had been treated fairly well and was even taught how to read, even though it was against the law. Some of the children were even welcomed in what was called the â€Å"Big House† because the children found warmth there. With Abraham Lincoln’s election as President, things changed for the slaves. The children were not welcomed in the â€Å"Big House† anymore. Robert Murray, along with the other slaves, felt uneasy because he was being watched constantly. The slaveholders started to wonder how the slaves continue their chores as if nothing was going on. Mary Chesnut, a South Carolina slaveholder, wonders, â€Å"Are they stolidy stupid or wiser than we are, silent and strong, biding their time†(4). When the white males of all the plantations go off to war, they think it will be an easy and short fight. One North Carolinian says, â€Å"whup the North† (5) as if he would be back in time for dinner. Needless to say, many of the white males do not return and for those who are restored; it was in mangled bodies. Because many fathers, brothers, and sons do not return, the women left at the plantations became cruel and cold hearted. Mattie Curtis’s mistress whipped the slaves to the point of unbearable pain when she received news on the death of her son. Master Charley hit a slave girl named Missy with a â€Å"hot poker† stick and then says, â€Å"Free de niggers, will dey?