Bill Homer, Age 87

I chose to write about Bill Homer, a former slave writing about his life in a plantation. The narrative stands out straight away for me. It says "I is 87 years old cause I is born on June 17th in 1850. and that's 'cording to de statement my missy give me." It seems shocking that a person does not even know the day they were born and has to rely on the word of his 'owner' to know his age. It shows a lack of care and almost alienates Bill. It portrays him as a lesser person, almost saying that his age and DOB is not relevant, he is just a slave.

Another part that stands out is where he says they had a lot of food. "we has lots of food, too - cornmeal and vegetables and milk and lassas of meat". It goes against the general idea that slaves had very little food and were struggling to survive. however it does say they got the left over meat. Meat no whit folk wanted, which does show that they survive on the bare minimum unless the plantation owner had too big of a stake.

Bill also talks about how he was given as a wedding present. " Missy Mary gits married to Bill Johnson  and at dat weddin' massa Homer gives me and 49 other niggers to her for de weddin' persent". This shows the feeling of ownership over the slaves that the planters had, that they could just give them away like cattle or pigs. As a present for marriage.

He lastly talks about his stay with Missy Mary. How it was better than his last place. " De treatment from new messa am good , 'casue of Missy Mary". This goes against the stereo type that all plantations are brutal. However they are still slaves working for no money and they are only being treated well because it makes them work better. They still don't have their own identity or an individual life away from slave labor. It is important to realize that planters only cared for their slaves so they worked faster, not because they valued them as people or equal.

Bill story does goes against some of the typical elements of slavery. he says he was treated well, fed and lived more comfortably than some other slaves who each have their own story. But at the same time he is still beneath the white man and treated much differently. Living in houses with mud floors and wooden walls. really bad conditions that makes them seem more like animals than humans. This shows that slaves were cared for very little and were just workers without their own identity.