Victor Sejour

I thought it was interesting today how some people were referring to George's violent battle with his father and master. First of all, this incident in Sejour's framed narrative was provoking, because as the reader, I was affected by how powerful the slave's emotions were. He felt for his mother's death, while he also obeyed his master hand and foot through his respectable duties, not even aware that this man was his father. I was provoked by this, because while some people thought that Georges did all these obedient and generous things through an undeniable, subconscious love for his father, I thought that Georges was only demonstrating the quintessential actions of a slave during his time. Sejour mentions in the text that Georges did these things for his master to protect and serve his master, and I got the impression that slaves felt this way about their superiors. Someone in that type of slavery would have an undeniable feeling of subservience toward his master; Georges didn't even accept his master's offer for his freedom. This suggests that he was under the false consciousness that was typical in the 1800's-- most slaves did not understand that more was out there, freedom was out there, because the system of government strove to maintain that impression that they were born to be subservient to white people. I just thought it was interesting how Sejour demonstrates this relationship between Georges and his father.