29 pages • 58 minutes read
Gary PaulsenNightjohn
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1993A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Dehumanizing Cruelty of Slavery
A note in Nightjohn’s first few pages indicates that the events of the story happened in real life to varying degrees. Gary Paulsen researched the accounts of several slaves, particularly those who were punished for reading and writing. Knowing that people were punished for a skill that many take for granted in modern day is sobering. Sarny’s accounts of everyday life as a slave are gruesome, but needfully so, as they inform readers of the realities of the past.
Various punishments appear in the novel, all of which indicate that slave owners considered slaves “lesser.” Slave owners chose to treat slaves as more animal than human in order to make them dedicated, subdued workers. The vicious dogs that Clel Waller sets on runaways inflict severe wounds, tearing people to shreds. To make this dehumanization even more intense, Waller leaves the remains of one slave, Jim, hanging from the tree in which he died—denying him the dignity of a burial. Mammy’s punishment also furthers the theme of dehumanization. Waller forces her to pull a buggy with a horse harness, whipping her as he would a horse. Again, this punishment shows that in Waller’s eyes, the slaves are animals, a form of property.
Sarny’s descriptions of everyday life on the plantation provide more details on this dehumanization. Sarny notes that she and her fellow slaves are served meals in a trough, as if they were pigs or other farm animals. They also have to go to the bathroom while standing in the fields, denied the dignity of privacy behind a bush or tree. They sleep in one large room on corn-shuck pallets, a setting reminiscent of a barn. The cruel practices of slave owners like Waller reveal the societal attitude toward African people in the pre-Civil War South—that these people were somehow “lesser” than white people. The graphic images in the novel are jarring for a reason: They are intended to educate readers about the realities of racism, so that this period of U.S. history will never be forgotten.
Education as a Means of Freedom
By revolving the novel’s plot around Sarny’s hunger for learning and Nightjohn’s role as her teacher, Paulsen reveals the ways in which slaves were barred from education and information about the world outside their plantation. This barring was a means of keeping slaves under control. Slaves were prohibited from what are now considered basic human rights. Their lack of access to education of any kind prevented them from being able to tell others about their treatment. This was a calculated move on slave owners’ part. They knew keeping slaves from reading and writing was a means of keeping them subjugated—which perpetuated the cycle of wealth and power for white people. The laws at the time were made by white people, for white people. According to the law, slaves were not allowed to read or write, and lawful punishment was “removal of an extremity” (74).
Nightjohn’s character demonstrates the hope and power that literacy provides. He sees the big picture—that slaves must be able to tell their stories if anything is to change for them in the future. He sees education as a cause worth risking his life for; even after experiencing physical punishments, he remains undaunted. Nightjohn’s courage symbolizes that of slaves who committed similar acts, such as holding lessons in secret schools. Because of the courage of real people like Nightjohn, slaves were not silenced forever. Future generations were eventually able to tell their stories, like Sarny.
For Sarny, the process of learning letters and forming words provides hope and a sense of mental freedom. Although she must hide her skills and is still tethered to the plantation, she gains knowledge—and this gives her the power to write her own story. Sarny’s position as the narrator is significant, because it shows the voice she gained through literacy. Through Sarny’s character, Paulsen shows that education is not something to be taken for granted. It opens innumerable doors and should be valued as a means of hope, freedom, and possibility.
Race Used as a Means of Power and Subjugation
The novel highlights the sociohistorical division between African American people and white people, showing how race has been wielded by those in power to subjugate others. Paulsen highlights this divide by juxtaposing the colors black and white throughout the novel. For example, Sarny calls Waller’s house “the white house” (24). This detail emphasizes the color white as synonymous with cruelty in Sarny’s eyes. She also describes Waller as “white ugly” (61) and “white stink” (62). Her choice of words shows that she associates whiteness with disgust and filth, understandable as white people treat her with cruelty while black people protect and care for her. Paulsen challenges the predominant view of race in the pre-Civil War South by making Sarny his narrator. He highlights that for slaves, whiteness was viewed as unattractive, while blackness was viewed as attractive.
Sarny’s description of Nightjohn’s black skin upon his arrival speaks to how one’s view of race often stems from one’s identity and upbringing. While Sarny has brown skin, Nightjohn’s is deep black, a shade that is “beautiful” in her eyes (28). She compares his skin to the “marble stone by the front of the white house” (28), contrasting his dark skin with the stark white. This juxtaposition further highlights the divide between races and who wields power in Sarny’s world. While Sarny sees black skin as symbolic of beauty, safety, and love, she sees white skin as symbolic of ugliness, danger, and cruelty.
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