The Dead Book

I thought Saidiya Hartman's "The Dead Book" displayed a powerful message. The overall recollection of the tragedy shocked and disturbed me, but one specific passage that the class hadn't discussed and actually intrigued me was the excerpt about William Wilberforce's strategy in accusing the captain found guilty. In the beginning of the story, when the author works to tie in the past events on the vessel with the trial, the text recalls, "He chose not to speak of Venus, the other dead girl. The pet name licensed debauchery and made it sound agreeable. Nor did he mention the nineteen men who died. Too many slaves would have had the opposite effect and diminished the significance of the tragedy" (148). I stopped after reading this and thought about it for a minute, and it really struck me as a blunt, very true statement. It was almost something that people think subconsciously, but don't actually say it out loud. When one person dies from brutality and torture, etc., it's something really big, because it becomes personal-- to witnesses of the event as well as people who hear of it afterward. I think it's because of the details. The details that witnesses describe makes it more personal. But when a mass destruction occurs, either from a natural disaster or war, a thousands deaths are not personal. They mean something to people, but they know not of the details of the tortures, murders... so it's just a number that represents something bad. I thought this passage was significant because the author points out the effects of situations like the murder on the ship, and Wilberforce goes about making the trial based on the girl, not the many other deaths. I have a feeing that when we talk more about slavery, the literature will be either personal or impersonal, having different effects.