In going through the scene-by-scene breakdown, I am struck again, after having seen the movie when it came out, how this narrative plays out as a Hero's Journey: Separation: Setting up Solomon's Old World (wife, children, life in New York), then wrenched away and sold into slavery. Initiation: His 12 years of enslavement, going from bad to worse in terms of his slave owners. Return: Eventually he comes home to his family, a free man once again. Joseph Campbell said the point of the Hero's Journey is transformation. It's interesting to think Solomon in this light. Does he change? He certainly survives and in the process discovers heretofore untapped ability to do precisely that. But does that constitute transformation? It's a question I'll be pondering this week and look forward to your thoughts.

Solomon does go through a transformation. His reasoning and thought processes at the beginning are those of a free man. Surely, there’s been a misunderstanding. Surely, once people find out who he is, he will be free. Surely, if he is good, he will be treated fairly. At first he is like Robert. He wants to fight for his freedom. Slowly, he turns into born-a-slave Clemens Ray. He just wants to survive. Considering the subject matter, Solomon’s transformation—not merely going from a free man to a slave—but mentally turning into one, drives the point of the story. It’s not just what Solomon goes through physically that emotionally affects the viewer and “tells” the story of slavery, but the transformation of a free, physically and mentally strong man, turning into someone who thinks and acts differently than such a man. Solomon goes back to his family in the end, but he, unlike the others like Patsey, had plenty of incentives; the privilege of knowing how different life can be, a family to go to and of course, once proven, freedom. Solomon always had a chance. Patsey only had hope of becoming a different kind of slave in the face of a well-treated mistress if luck would have it. She just lucked out. In the end, Solomon is a free man just like in the beginning. He is old, a stranger to his children and wife, and a grandfather (physical changes), but he must also be a different man. As a free man maybe he valued money a little too much—that’s what got him into trouble in the script, the promise of more money. Maybe he was too naïve regarding slavery. Maybe he was too trustful (trusting those circus entertainers, trusting Armsby and Master Ford). After all he has gone through, is he the same man? Probably not.

Great analysis and I think you're spot on. I've only seen the movie once and as I went through your observations, what you were saying rang quite true from the images and scenes which sprang back to my mind. I'm also reminded of the ending reunion with the family, how Solomon's last words in the movie are: "Forgive me." And his wife says: "There is nothing to forgive." It's an interesting exchange. Forgive me for my lack of insight into the character of the men who deceived me into slavery? Forgive me for the 12 years we have lost on my account? Forgive me for not being a husband and a father for all this time? Perhaps all that... and maybe even more. From an emotional standpoint, I think it fits, a sad moment befitting the tragic circumstances of Solomon's life the last 12 years. Anything more joyous likely would have felt off. Thanks, ONEWOMANMEDIA, for your observations. I look forward to unpacking Solomon's psychological and emotional journey during the rest of this week.