| Episodes |
Sally's Physical and Emotional Oppression
Raquel Santos
[1] Barbara Chase-Riboud initially reveals Sally Hemings as a slave, both physically and emotionally. She is so enslaved by Jefferson's love that she even gives up her physical freedom to remain his mistress. Her loved ones, James and Elizabeth, watch as she throws away her opportunity to be a free woman. In one particular scene, James attempts to force his sister to take advantage of opportunity that few slaves have (118-22). It is obvious that James is impatient with her when he continually questions his sister about confronting Jefferson on her freedom; it is the first time they speak of her "concubinage." Sally's "love" for Jefferson seems ambiguous when she refers to him as "master." This raises the question of whether she loves him romantically or whether she feels obliged to him as her master.
[2] Ralph Reckley points out Sally's weakness towards Jefferson and how this affects other relationships in the novel: "Riboud forces us to take note of the complex and sometimes ambiguous emotions that surge through the female slaves as they try to understand their environment, to control their destiny" (35). It is quite obvious that Sally's fate is decided when she thinks "Nothing would ever be the same" right before Jefferson first says "Je t'aime" (103). Sally becomes aware of her fate when she says "he would never be caught like me in the throes of a love which now held me against my will" (122). This is the point at which love and freedom intertwine.
[3] Jefferson treats Sally as his "creature" that he has "formed and shaped" with education (119). This molding of Sally Hemings into "his own image of womanly perfection" and his calling out the name of his deceased wife during their first sexual encounter suggests that Jefferson wants to recreate Martha using the only slave he has that can pass for a white woman and has some of Martha's blood in her. He loves her because he has put so much effort in his fabrication.
[4] In the beginning of their relationship Sally's love for Jefferson appears to be more of an affection towards her master than a romantic attraction. Sally silently asks "When would he free her" but is too afraid to ask Jefferson this question out loud (119). And even when she realizes "that he liked owning her," she seems to accept this and resume her affair (120). She gives up everything for Jefferson and even lies to her brother. When James asks his sister "He knows that we are aware that under French law, he cannot hold us against our will?" Sally says "Yes," blatantly lying to her brother in order to stay true to her master. She is in a conflict of interests. Sally wants to satisfy her brother by declaring her freedom with him, but she refuses to disappoint her master. She struggles to attain a desire and understanding of freedom for her brother, but "her first sexual encounter ‘erases' James's dream of freedom; and Jefferson's letters captivate and bind her to her master" (Rushdy 126). The letters Sally receives from Jefferson begin to define her. She has no sense of freedom. She even admits "My letters were the only thing that existed outside him or myself"(186).
[5] James is a crucial character in the novel because he makes Riboud's audience realize to what extent Jefferson oppresses Sally. Even with the knowledge that her own brother will not be completely free unless she too claims her freedom, she continues her affair. Sally's mother, Elizabeth Hemings, knows that her daughter "will never realize freedom, ‘because she knew her daughter had surrendered to her love for Jefferson'" (178). Sally has broken the tradition of the women in her family to fight for their children's freedom, even though she could have had it easier than them (Rushdy 125).
[6] After her brother's first reference to her affair, Sally comes to an understanding that this love she has for her master will override everything else, including her family, if she does not run (122). Sally recognizes that she has held her brother back. The section ends in Sally's promise to stay true to her brother: "When the time came, I would run" (122). Throughout the novel, Sally has a number of epiphanies, but she comes to the most important realization at the end of this section, her freedom is worth much more than this affair with Jefferson.
[7] This vow to remain loyal to her brother by grasping her freedom does not last. This becomes obvious later when Sally and her mother argue about freedom. Sally has ignored her mother's advice. She attempts to warn her daughter to never love her master, and "if you're chosen get that freedom for your children," but Sally's luxurious view of slavery blocks the realities that Elizabeth Hemings tries to bring to Sally's awareness (31). Her mother becomes infuriated when Sally rejects her mother's attempts, saying that freedom is not that important. She realizes that Sally will never know slavery or freedom because of this tragic affair with her master. She says "pride has given you a worse burden than any field hand out there, because theirs can be lifted, yours never will" (243). This pride has oppressed Sally.
[8] When Sally, later, realizes she is just a slave like all of Jefferson's other slaves, "she begins to hate" (Reckley 36). She vowed to seek revenge on Jefferson by making him feel guilty. She would use his love for her against him by dedicating herself to "slavehood" then "destroy her lover, the enemy, spiritually and psychologically by making him a slave to their love" (Reckley 36). Finally, Sally realizes that she must rebel against her master because he has ruined her life. Although it is only after her brother's death that she acts upon this, Sally decided to "free his sons" (Rushdy 128). When Martha finally frees Sally, she is silent because she is no longer a slave: "I thought of my mother and her mother. It would have been slavish to have said anything. And I was not her slave" (328). It takes her to build up hatred towards Jefferson in order for her to understand the importance of freedom.
