A
Free Slave
In James McBride’s The
Good Lord Bird, McBride explains a story about a boy who was kidnapped at
the age of ten. The boy, Onion, spends most of his life as a girl. Throughout
Onion’s journey, he ends up in a whore house where he meets Pie, a slave whore.
Outside the whore house, there is a slave pen where Onion meets Sibonia. Both
slaves have different life styles- Pie lives in the “big house” with her own
room, a luxurious bed, good food and doesn't do any manual labor while Sibonia
lives in the pen and has to do manual labor. Therefore, the way they live makes
Sibonia freer.
Freedom is a privilege that not everyone has. Freedom is
having the ability to express yourself through the practice of religion, race
and sexual orientation without judgment. If one has the ability to express him
or herself in a way that makes him or her happy, then one is free. You don’t
have to be able to say the first thing that comes to your mind to be considered
free. Freedom isn’t validated on what you can and cannot say.
However,
in previous generations having freedom wasn’t always a choice, especially for
African Americans. During this time, Africans were being sold and enslaved. They
didn’t have the opportunity to learn how to read and write, which made it hard
for them to express themselves. Slave
owners didn’t want the slaves to be literate because through literacy they
would gain knowledge that would help them be free.
Sibonia is owned by a white woman, Miss Abby. Sibonia acts crazy because she wants others to perceive her as crazy. She sits on a wooden box, clacking and babbling. “Don’t mind her. She is feebleminded,” (161). Sibonia acts in this way so people don’t question her or what she does, which comes to her advantage because she is planning an insurrection against white families. People wouldn’t pay much attention to her because of how she acts. Her plan to rebel shows her freedom because she is able to stand up for what she believes in.
Sibonia is owned by a white woman, Miss Abby. Sibonia acts crazy because she wants others to perceive her as crazy. She sits on a wooden box, clacking and babbling. “Don’t mind her. She is feebleminded,” (161). Sibonia acts in this way so people don’t question her or what she does, which comes to her advantage because she is planning an insurrection against white families. People wouldn’t pay much attention to her because of how she acts. Her plan to rebel shows her freedom because she is able to stand up for what she believes in.
Even
though Sibonia lives in the pen she is surrounded by other slaves who share the
same feeling as her about slavery. “When you hear tell of the bible meeting for
the colored out here in the yard, come on,” (166). This meeting is to discuss the
insurrection they are planning. Having people follow what Sibonia believes in
shows her leadership. Having leadership shows that she is not afraid to express
her beliefs, making her free.
Sibonia
dies with freedom. After getting caught, Sibonia along with the other eight
slaves that were involved, were hung. Before they had a chance to hang her,
Sibonia took her own life. “Sibonia suddenly sprung away from him, jumped high
as she could, and fell heavily through the galley hole,” (183). Sibonia dies
under her own conditions. After
Sibonia’s action her sister states, “Let us die like her,” (183). Sibonia dies
for what she believes in. This shows her freedom because she isn’t afraid to take
action to prove what she believes is right.
Pie
living in the “big house” doesn’t necessarily mean she is free. “Plus she was
in competition with the tavern across the street that didn’t have a colored
slave like Pie to bring in money, for Pie was her main attraction,” (158). Since
Pie was Miss Abby’s main attraction, she was always busy tending the long line
of males that come to have sex with her. This made no time for Pie to do things
she wanted to which took away her freedom.
All
in all, even though both Sibonia and Pie are owned by someone, Sibonia is freer.
Sibonia is a slave who stood up for what she believed in. She sacrificed her
life for her beliefs. Dying for what she believed in proves that she died free.
In
today’s society, people assume having freedom means they are able to do
whatever they want whenever they please. However, in this case, Sibonia who is a slave
still manages to have freedom. Sibonia was able to express herself in an insurrection
that opened the eyes of many people. Anyone can have freedom if they have the
ability to express themselves in one way or another whether it is through
religion, race, arts or sexuality. If
you have the ability to do so then you are free.
Works Cited
McBride,
James. The Good Lord Bird. New York:
NY: Penguin Group, 2013. Print.
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