My Family’s Slave
theatlantic.com
My Family’s Slave
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Re: My Family’s Slave
#2such a sad story.
Re: My Family’s Slave
#3Couldn't hold my tears at the end.
Re: My Family’s Slave
#4This is the second time a text has brought tears to my eyes. The first was "Where the red fern grows". Read this, it's well written and worth the time.
Re: My Family’s Slave
#5A well written story. I'd be interested in hearing from any Filipino commentators how common this practice still is/is perceived to be in the Philippines today. It's ranked 33/167 by Global Slavery Index[0] as compared to the US at #52.
Re: My Family’s Slave
#6Wow that was a remarkable piece of writing
Re: My Family’s Slave
#7I found so much of this fascinating. Not just the circumstances of Lola being brought over here, but the children's recognition of what was happening. Learning family horrors (and trying to rectify them) such as this can be one of the hardest things to deal with when growing up.
Re: My Family’s Slave
#8Apparently the author, Alex Tizón died days after finishing the story and never knew it was chosen for the June cover.
He was 57.
Re: My Family’s Slave
#9One thing that I find somewhat surprising will all stories involving slavery is how masters are consistently portrayed as assholes in a way that goes further than what would be a "normal" master/slave relationship.
Even if you think as a slave not as a human being but as, say, a working dog, or even a nice tool, it is not proper treatment. Most dog owners genuinely love their dogs and don't punish them more than what is strictly necessary. Most people naturally respect and grow attached to their "partners", whether there are humans, animals or even inanimate objects.
So why do slaves, who are are capable of empathy, speech, and everything that make us human get treated worse than a mechanic's favorite wrench?
Re: My Family’s Slave
#10One thing that I find somewhat surprising will all stories involving slavery is how masters are consistently portrayed as assholes in a way that goes further than what would be a "normal" master/slave relationship. Even if you think as a slave not as a human being but as, say, a working dog, or even a nice tool, it is not proper treatment. Most dog owners genuinely love their dogs and don't punish them more than what…
It's very simple - for keeping them under control and keep them from thinking of themselves as human/equal or even having any independent thought at all. Neither your dog nor your wrench have to be taught their place in the world. You want your slave to internalize their existence as a slave. It's also to prevent yourself from seeing your slave as anything other than a slave.
It also has to do with what's the socially acceptable and normal way of behaving in a given society.
What exactly makes you think the average master/slave relationship is "not normal" for a master/slave relationship? I would think the average story would be, by definition, normal.