Portraying a Character's Attitude Toward Slavery

 

One dilemma that a writer of historical fiction faces is how to make the story historically accurate without offending readers. As mentioned last week, I faced this dilemma when writing my middle-grade historical novel Learning to Surrender with a protagonist who grew up in a culture where slavery was the established way of life.

My protagonist has never thought deeply about the issue, but here is a quote from the first chapter showing her initial feelings.  

As Charlotte waited for the artillery to stop firing, she frowned. Why did the North want to get rid of slavery? The Gibsons had always treated their slaves well, and Benjamin and Nettie didn’t have to worry about anything. They had a comfortable place to sleep and plenty of food to eat, and her parents never beat them. Yes, there were some bad masters and mistresses, but that was the fault of the owners, not the system.

That passage takes place while Charlotte, her family, and their two slaves are cowering in a small cave as cannonballs and bullets fly around them. The danger Charlotte is in and the fear it causes her create some sympathy for her in spite of her attitude toward slavery. At the least, they give the reader a reason not to give up on her yet.

The story tries to be true to the historical context in which slavery existed and was accepted by the white community in the deep South, but it also shows my protagonist grappling with the issue and learning what slavery meant to those in figurative (as well literal) chains. Here is the book blurb:

When the Union armies surround Vicksburg, 12-year-old Charlotte and her family find themselves living in a cave. As she discovers what it is like to lose control of her life, will her attitude toward slavery change?

Of course it does. Otherwise, she would have been an unsympathetic character all the way until the end.

If the readers had gotten that far.

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My research indicates that the image at the top of this post, titled “The Auction Sale,” is one of six illustrations created by Hammet Billings for the 1852 edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It is in the public domain because of its age.