MovieChat Forums > 12 Years a Slave (2013) Discussion > master ford....Spoilers

master ford....Spoilers

posted 10 years ago by maskimx
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I find myself torn on the master ford character. On one hand, he is a kind person, who goes from trying to buy Eliza's children so they won't be seperated, to treating Solomon with some respect and humanity. On the other hand, Ford is an active component in the slave trade, who in the end DID allow the seperation of Eliza and her children and who refuses to hear Solomon out when he tells Ford that he is a free man. Does anyone else think he was a man torn between beliefs or was just a "kind" slave owner who maybe saw his slaves as something a little more than chattel?

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Regina_Giddens 10 years ago

He's an example of a person who is, really, fundamentally a good person but overlooks the inhumanity around him because it is the custom to which he is used to, he lives comfortably in that society with those customs and he doesn't have the moral fortitude to take a stand even if the circumstances make him slightly uncomfortable. It's the society he's grown up in and he is simply 'used to it.' He probably feels like he has to participate in the slave trade, because otherwise, how will he live?

Most people are like that. They overlook and ignore truths they are uncomfortable with because doing anything active causes inconvenience to themselves, and by doing that they allow the injustice to thrive and continue.

Your future is all used up

[–] bethebestforthejob 10 years ago

Well, let me ask this: if it was any other woman, other than a slave, who had her children taken away; would he expect her to get over it?

Don't explain with malice what you can explain with stupidity

[–] SapphEyeR 10 years ago

Ford was basically kind in nature. Unlike most of his ilk, Ford acknowledged that Solomon was an intelligent and talented man, and expressed his admiration. Many whites would be strongly jealous of or in denial about signs of superior qualities in a black person (some still are).

But Ford was not someone who held strong convictions about changing the system of slavery. Maybe he was too mild-mannered, maybe he just went with the flow because it was easy.

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[–] SapphEyeR 10 years ago

Most people are like that. They overlook and ignore truths they are uncomfortable with because doing anything active causes inconvenience to themselves, and by doing that they allow the injustice to thrive and continue.

You know, that somewhat applies to Solomon himself. He was a free man in a country where others who looked like him were slaves. His protests over being conscripted into slavery were originally based on his free status being violated, not on slavery itself being an abomination. I don't think he knew how terrible slavery was and how bad racism could get until he experienced it first hand.

However he can be excused. Free blacks were literally a tiny minority hanging by a thread and there wasn't much they could do alone against slavery.

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[–] tph890 10 years ago

SapphEyeR--

You know, that somewhat applies to Solomon himself. He was a free man in a country where others who looked like him were slaves. His protests over being conscripted into slavery were originally based on his free status being violated, not on slavery itself being an abomination. I don't think he knew how terrible slavery was and how bad racism could get until he experienced it first hand.

Brilliant insight.

To the OP; even though Master Ford seemed kind, he never saw Solomon as a human being, and this is his downfall. "You are an exceptional n*****." That was all. He was still prejudiced. And giving Solomon the violin as a present "to bring you joy throughout the years" was a cruel joke.

"Buy the ticket, take the ride." --Raoul Duke, the great shark hunter

[–] SapphEyeR 10 years ago

even though Master Ford seemed kind, he never saw Solomon as a human being, and this is his downfall. "You are an exceptional n*****." That was all. He was still prejudiced

Master Ford never saw Solomon as someone who should have equal status with a white person, by virtue of his race, but he did recognize the quality of his work around the plantation as being on par with an educated white engineer. I have to give Ford credit for that. Most white people wouldn't have fully recognized it or would have been disturbed by it or jealous. Like Tibeats who tried to put him down and punish him for it: "Make them boards flush!".

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[–] sbee615-243-257698 9 years ago

"Most people are like that. They overlook and ignore truths they are uncomfortable with because doing anything active causes inconvenience to themselves, and by doing that they allow the injustice to thrive and continue."

While I agree with many of your statements, I must say that I do think there is a difference between people who "overlook and ignore truths they are uncomfortable with" and someone (like Ford) who is still quite actively participating in the evil within his society. Though, how big is the difference? That is the question.

[–] maskimx 10 years ago

Wonderful insights everyone. Thank you!

[–] AntwoinD 10 years ago

I viewed him as a kind, decent man, but a man of his times. I don't expect 21st concepts of equality concerning race and humanity to be present in 19th century men in mass. There were kind, loving people throughout history in every culture and nation, but they also had the ideals and beliefs of their times and people. It doesn't make them inherently bad and evil.

[–] Born_Tomorrow 10 years ago

In a way, he was just a product of his environment. He may have been a kind man but in his way of life, blacks weren't viewed as human beings with the right to freedom. They were viewed as no more than mules or any other farm animal, only with a bit more intelligence than a monkey. Also, once he realized that Solomon had once been a free man who was kidnapped into slavery, it was too late. He had already paid money for Solomon and to free him would have meant taking a huge financial loss.

All typos and misspellings courtesy of a public educational system.

[–] AngelCake56FJS 10 years ago

Through my 21st century eyes I don't view him as kind. He still views Blacks as less than human, he still separated Eliza from her children, did away with her because of her depression, and refused to help or listen to Solomon. He wanted to keep him alive to prevent a financial loss. Ford, I'm sure believed Solomon but again didn't want to suffer a financial loss.

[–] Shaw_shank 9 years ago

Well, Solomon himself considered Ford to be a good man. I think that says it all.

[–] angelofvic 9 years ago

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He was a kind and good man, but he couldn't accept the fact that "Platt" was a free man because if he had he would be bankrupted -- he was in debt and "Platt" was his most valuable slave.

Thomas Jefferson (not to mention George Washington) was also a good and kind man but he also did not free his slaves because he was economically dependent on owning them.
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[–] Takeda_Osaka 9 years ago

Before he died, George Washington freed all his slaves.

[–] angelofvic 9 years ago

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No, he stipulated in his will that they would be freed upon his wife's death. He owned his slaves for the entirety of his life, and his wife owned them after he died and then they were owned by her inheritors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_and_slavery
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