Nightjohn (1996)

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Nightjohn Movie Poster

Directed by Charles Burnett Nightjohn is American drama movie who released on Juni 1, 1996 in United State. Based on a book Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen this movie tells about a young African-American slave girl and the price she and others paid for her learning to read and write. It starring

Plot

Based on the novel by Gary Paulsen, “Night John” is the triumphant story of twelve-year-old Sarny, a slave in antebellum South.At the ranch of Clel Waller (Beau Bridges), she faces a bleak fate of serving at table and spitting tobacco on roses to prevent infestation. One day, Night John (Carl Lumbly) arrives. A former runaway slave who bears obvious scars on his back, he encourages and protects Sarny and, in return for a spot of tobacco, covertly tells her to read and write, a crime deserving of death. Together, the two free slaves by fashioning passes toward the North… .until an arranged break is found, and Sarny's literacy turns into her most lethal resource.[1]

Black Racism

There's a scene when Nightjohn take the Delie's punishment, and he says he's the one who steals the bible because he can read it. He's trying to run away, but he's caught, and his hand is tied to a chopping block. With an ax, Waller delivers the severing blow, exacting the brutal penalty for Nightjohn's literacy.[2] Because during the country’s long history with slavery, literacy among slaves was outlawed in some regions.[3]

Nightjohn and Sarny

"Nightjohn has its violent scenes - a whipping, the chopping off of a finger - but Bridges' portrait of a slave owner is far more frightening than the more familiar scenes that regularly turn up in films about slavery." The movie portrays slavery life in the mid-19th century South - and helps to explain why we still have such difficulty dealing with the aftermath of that time.[4]

Black Empowerment

The movie depicts who the power of literacy can save someone's life in the 19th-century American Slavery. A freed-man Nightjohn (Carl Lumbly) abandons his liberty in the North to return to slave status in Dixie in order to teach the young slaves how to read--an undertaking that carries a harsh punishment. There is a scene when Nightjohn and Sarny already have used their writing ability to forge plantation visitor passes for two slaves Mr. Waller wanted kept apart[5]

He says "Words are freedom, old man. 'Cause that's all that slavery's made of: words. Laws, deeds, passes: all they are is words. White folks got all the words, and they mean to keep them. You get some words for yourself and you be free". It means that if someone is literate, then the person would understand the law. White owner would not have the freedom of owning a save if they are able to read and understand it.[6]

Reference

  1. Synopsis. Dove. Retrieved Janury 20, 2021
  2. Nightjohn. Christiancinema. Retrieved January 20, 2021
  3. LYNNE HEFFLEY. ‘Nightjohn’ a Tale About Hunger to Learn. Latimes. Juni 1, 1996. Retrieved January 20, 2021
  4. John Voorhees. You'll Remember Powerful `Nightjohn' For A Long Time. Archiveseattletimes. May 30, 1996. Retrieved January 20, 2021
  5. Nightjohn. Tvguide. Retrieved January 20, 2021
  6. Jonathan Rosenbaum. Chains Of Ignorance. Chicagoreader. July 11, 1996. Retrieved January 20, 2021