The Runaway Slave

thrall has been in existence for thousands of years, for as ample as humanitys collective hi invention. It is common knowledge that approximately of our monumental wrenchs of art like the Great Pyramids of Egypt were erected by slaves. Slavery usually begins when in that respect is a need to produce roughthing at a larger scale. In the case of Cuba, that item was sugar. In the 18th century, as Cubas economy became more and more dependent on its sugarcane production, slaveholding became more and more necessary in order for Cuba to ontogenesis production and keep up with the demand for sugar.Miguel Barnets Biography of a Runaway Slave tells the story of a real-life former Cuban slave, Esteban Montejo and his feature personal journey to freedom. While on the surface it may appear like a simple biography, Montejos life-story was presented in the larger context of use of Cubas colorful, but often misunderstood history. The former slave became a fugitive and lived in the wild for several years, subsisting on the abundant industrial plant and fauna of the forest. He later became a soldier for Cubas state of war of independence. possibly his hard life has strengthened Montejo to such a great completion that he lived much longer than most people, or it may be perhaps the need to tell his story to the creative activity was what made him strain living as he did. Esteban Montejo was 105 years old when Bartnet interviewed him for the book, and he lived on for eight more years hence. More than a story about slavery, Biography of a Runaway Slave is a diachronic account of how the Caribbeans culture fused with that of Africans by dint of the slave trade.Esteban life straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and went through most of Cubas most important historical periods in history. As such, he is open to chronicle the changes that his country was going through in its bid for freedom, hitherto off as he searched for personal liberty. Through Bartnet, we ar giv en a chance to glimpse at the life of genius man and one hundred of memories of a way of living long gone by. Perhaps some of the most poignant images in the book were Estebans commentary of life in the sugarcane plantations.Esteban recounts that slaves in the plantation lived in places called barracoons and he describes these barracoons as he remembers them, The slaves disliked living under those conditions being locked up stifled them This was laid out in rows two rows facing each other with a door in the middle and a huge padlock to shut the slaves in at night Both types had bog d bear floors and were dirty as hell. And there was no modern ventilation there Just a hole in the wall or a small barred window.The result was that the place swarmed with fleas and ticks, which made the inmates ill with infections and immoral spells, for those ticks were witches. The scarcely way to get rid of them was with hot wax, and sometimes counterbalance that did not work. The masters emer gencyed the barracoons to look clean outside, so they were clear washed. (Barnet 1994, 12) Clearly, as Esteban remembers, there was no dignity for African slaves in Cuba. Their work was hard and unrelenting, and they barely had anytime to rest.Their sleeping quarters as Esteban remembers were not fit, even for animals. Estebans hated his life, and he yearned to break from the yokes of slavery and this is revealed by his own words, I cared for myself as if I were a pampered child. I didnt want to be taken into slavery again. It was repugnant to me, it was shameful. (Barnet 1994, 16) Such feelings gave him the courage to escape. He ran to the shadowy forest where he found safe haven. His loathing for slavery made him risk the dangers of living in the wild. For him, it was freedom or nothing.And he flourished in the forest, where he had everything he needed to live, except for the warmth of other persons companionship. The truth is I lacked for nothing in the forest. The only thing I could not manage was sex. (Barnet 1994, 21) Esteban lived in the wild until the abolishment of slavery. Later, Estebans love for freedom compelled him to join the fight for Cuban independence. By becoming a soldier, Esteban has shown his love for his country even as he despised slavery. He dreamt of a better Cuba, and he did his part, small as it may have been to help achieve that.He is a nationalist because period he could have chosen to just live the rest of his age in the forest, he decided to rejoin society and fight, this time not for personal freedom, but for the collective freedom of all Cubans. All of Estabans life has been defined by slavery and his struggles against all the things that keep him in chains. Reading the book I have realized that while some circumstances may vary, there is never an instance when slavery is delicious or dignified. Its mere concept goes against the very nature of free impart that mankind was born with.In Cuba, as in most places, slavery was send for economic gains. It is ironic that the very people producing goods for material prosperity are the very people who never benefit from it. Estebans accounts of life in the plantation make for a very poignant illustration of the condemnable ways that we can treat one another. It was in this seemingly despondent situation that Esteban cling to hope because it was the only thing that he has. He kept alive the hope for freedom for all slaves and a better, kinder world for all of mankind. Reference Barnet, M. (1994) Biography of a Runaway Slave. Trans. W. Nick Hill. curbstone Press.