Mary Prince - The History of Mary Prince

A lot about the account of Prince's life struck me as interesting; primarily, the interactions that she described and bonds that she had formed with both fellow slaves and her white masters alike. The life of Prince (and most slaves, I imagine) was formed in terms of bonds broken, attachments made, that were eventually torn. Furthermore, the bonds forged among slaves reflected the views that white people held of them, as is evident when Prince's mother refers to her children as piccaninnies, a derogatory term applied to black children, and obviously reflective of white influence. There is a clear distinction between the distress felt by Prince and that felt by Miss Betsey upon learning of their eventual separation. Miss Betsey reacts to the separation with indignation at losing her slaves, "You are my slaves," whereas, Prince earnestly laments the separation from Miss Betsey... but even this attachment was built upon the foundations of subjugation, as Miss Betsey had referred to Prince and the other slave playmates as "her little negroes." Miss Betsey is sad to lose her "belongings," whereas, the slaves are distraught at losing their mothers, daughters, brothers/sisters, etc. Meanwhile, Betsey doesn't do so much as acknowledge the brutality of a family being separated in such a way. 

Prince is forced to form bonds with the infants that she nurses, only to have those broken, as well.

The feeling that there was a charade being propagated by white people reverberated throughout the account, beginning around the time that Prince and her sisters were being separated from their mother, and she is weeping in the middle of the street, as the white people express indifferent pity. The letter that Mr. D wrote to Prince's new master requesting that she not be treated ill was perplexing to Prince, but reflects further this facade that the slave-owning community was attempting to pretend was the reality, considering the magnitude of Mr. D's cruelty towards her. I found it interesting that the slave-owners also attempted to quell any sense of spirit being attained by their slaves. Access to God and religion were at the least discouraged, and punishment for disobeying could be severe.