Obvioulsy Epps was obsessed but at the same time he hated himself for desiring her. I was just wondering if she gave herself to him or would've been more compliant, if he would spare her. I thought that was something Mistress Shaw tried to teach her.
shareYours is a bit of a sad question. Because of the unintentional (hopefully) sense of relatedness that is somewhat implied in your asking it.
No matter what the outward appearances were, Mistress Shaw herself, was ultimately OWNED by her so-called "husband". And hopelessly trapped within the exact same Godless nationwide system as Patsy. Therefore, she did not truly, in fact, possess the ability to say NO to being with her "husband". And as such, she was, by definition, a daily victim of RAPE herself (And in my mind, even worse, a victim of the additional psychological torture of being given the false illusion -- and with it, false hope -- that she was in any way, shape, or form in control of her external circumstances.). Exactly the same as Patsy! So, any seeming differences in the tortuousness of the lives of the two women were strictly cosmetic. Because, at the most foundational level, NEITHER OF THEM POSSESSED THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS: SELF DETERMINATION! The chattel slavery system was fundamentally designed to dehumanize ALL Africans! Period. Both literally and figuratively. And induce an ever increasing sense of abject hopelessness (and thus slowly destroy their very souls). It was specifically designed to be a systematized HELL, predicated on fundamental hopelessness! And as such, there was virtually no difference whether the temperature in your corner of that hell was 10,000 degrees or 9,997 degrees. It was still endless and unbroken torture (especially psychological) to make them feel helpless and hopeless. ALL of them. At ALL times.
A fellow slave with the outward appearance of "more" rights was in reality just an optical illusion.
No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.
I agree but still think if Patsy had the choice between her hell and Shaws hell, she would choose Shaws. There was a reason she left every sunday to visit Shaw.
Picking cotton the whole day, never knowing when he comes to wake them all up for his entertainment or just her for his entertainment and then being punished by the wife for just breathing.
Or wearing normal cloth, drinking tea and actually have a conversation. I know it's still slavery but it's also the lesser evil.
@amalzia19
The thing is, it didn't matter how compliant Patsy got with Epps,the truth is that he was a mean, vicious,hateful racist son-of-a-b**** who didn't see her remotely human at all----to him, she was just a piece of property he could do literally whatever the hell he wanted with whenever he wanted---that's all she was to him. He damn sure didn't love her, any more than he loved his wife,that's for certain. To him, she was just a creature he lusted after,that's all. And because of that,her life,along with the other slave women, and on top of that,his wife hating her guts and flat-out abusing her because she knew her husband was into Patsy,was pretty much a living hell,beyond words.