The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (part 2)

The second part of this novel really grabbed my attention. When I first started reading this novel I just assumed it was an autobiography. So when we learned it was in fact a novel in class I was taken aback. After realizing that this was actually a novel I approached the second part of this novel a little differently. While reading the first part of this book I was taking everything literally and assuming that it really happened. So when I began to read the second half of this novel I read it a little less heartedly.
The part of this novel that really grabbed my attention was the unequal treatment of the ex-slave. For example, when Tom Joe beats Harriet and Timmy because he didn’t like the way that they were working, I almost forget that both Harriet and Timmy were no longer slaves. Even though they were free they were still treated like they were slaves. This beating leads to a fight and repercussions. Although Joe was in the wrong in this situation some of the women workers were fired, but nothing was done to penalize Tom.
This really made me think, I mean the slaves finally received what they thought would be the greatest news of their lives, freedom, and it seemed to be nothing more then a piece of paper. If I were to go through that scenario I would have little to no faith / respect in the government. I believe it is this fact that made slaves / ex-slaves do things that they didn’t believe in and/or things that they knew were wrong, but had no other option. It seems like they were backed against a wall with no one to turn to.