Thesis For Nightjohn

Abraham Lincoln once said “Those who deny freedom for others deserve it not for themselves.”NightJohn was a novel based on a slave who ran for freedom and got away and he learned how to read and write and he went into becoming a slave again just to teach slaves how to read and write.Although Gary Paulsen’s novel, Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of broken family structure, brutal punishments, and determination to learn can be corroborated with multiple sources.

A lot of families were broken apart in Nightjohn and can be confirmed with other sources. In Paulsens novel masters wanted breeders to have babies and they would take the babies so they can become slave. Such as Sarny she was taken away from her mother to become a slave. In the excerpt from the narrative of

If they did know how to read and write they would be punished and some slaves were determined to read and wanted to know how to read a lot.I Nightjohn Sarny was determined to learn and she would do anything to learn how to read she even traded tobacco. Other people went to a pit school at night because they wanted to know how to read and they were determined.In a adapted excerpt from Heather Andrea Williams it says “She also recalled that there were “pit school” near mississippi plantation.”A pit schools were caves where slaves would leave their plantation to learn how to read and write. This was risky because if the masters saw that they weren't there they would send the dogs to look for them and the dogs were vicious.In the same excerpt it states “He dropped oak into water to make ink, and used a stick as his pen.”They would use every resource they can. They were so determined they would use a stick as a pen and use that to learn and that isn't even something know as a pen.Even though slaves had harsh conditions they were determined to learn and they used every recourse they could to