Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:
Part I
Why does the Blacksmith tell Florens to go? What does he mean when he tells Florens that she must go because she is a slave – that she has become one?
“Your head is empty, and your body is wild.”
“You alone own me.”
“Own yourself, woman. . .” (166-167)
“I have shock. Are you meaning I am nothing to you? . . . No. not again. Not ever. The claws scratch and scratch until the hammer is in my hand” (167).
Part II
“Don’t be afraid. My telling can’t hurt you in spite of what I have done and I promise to lie quietly in the dark – weeping perhaps or occasionally seeing the blood once more – but I will never again unfold my limbs to rise up and bare teeth. I explain. You can think what I tell you a confession” (3).
Reading ‘the signs’ – both in the natural and supernatural worlds were an important part of survival especially for African slaves. Who carefully ‘read’ their masters for signs of ill-favor – after all, a mis-reading could result in a whipping or a sale. Runaways , for example, routinely examined the vegetation along rivers to determine which way a body of water flowed in order to direct them to the North. Other woodland signs included watching the direction of the sun’s effects on moss and other vegetation. Rescuers, like Harriett Tubman, looked to the night sky as navigation and followed the North Star to freedom. Tubman was an accurate ‘reader’ of the signs – she never lost a ‘passenger’. So, the ability to read the signs is an important function. However, has Florens misread the ‘signs’ about the Blacksmith? How so? Furthermore, the Blacksmith may have also misread the ‘signs’ – or does he recognize the ‘signs’ about Florens too late?