Sam and Andy trick Haley

Gustavo Quintero
November 29, 2007
English 48A
Journal #23 Harriet Beecher Stowe

Quote:
"Sam knew exactly what he meant, but he kept on a look of earnest and desperate simplicity. 'Our dogs all smells round considerably sharp. I spect they's the kind , though they han't never had no practice" (Beecher Stowe 1717).

Summary:
Sam and Andy are trying to delay Haley by making it seem like their fumbling through his demands, although unapparent to Haley Sam and Andy are actually tricking him.


Response:
It amazes me just how clever these characters are. Haley thinks that he is a man of great intelligence and wit yet he is getting tricked right before his eyes and without the slightest idea of what Sam and Andy are doing. The dialogue that Stowe uses brings the character's to life. As Scott said in class, this was the first book to use direct dialogue as it would be spoken by black slaves in the mid 1800's. When I first read the assigned reading I had a little bit of trouble completely understanding the dialogue that was going on. After going over the selection with Scott I was on the same page as him. This really is quite a witty and humorous description of the interactions between Sam, Andy and Haley. I simply love how Sam and Andy play dumb the whole time and stall Haley. All this to help out Eliza. This also invokes a sense of community and unity. These two slaves are willing to risk retaliation by Haley so that Eliza can escape with her child. Anyhow I want to talk about the humor in the above mentioned scene.
After going over the reading in class I was picturing how this scene would play out in a theater or on the big screen. I can just imagine two older black slaves calling over the fresh horses and beat up and old hounds. While Haley is making demands at them to hurry up. "Yes boss, right away boss", they reply. This scene could really be a funny slapstick kind of routine. The funniest part is when Sam sees Eliza peer through the window and he pretends that the wind has knocked his hat off of his hat. Sam is then jumping and yelling as he picks up his hat. Its amazing how a couple pages of words and dialogue can give someone such a vivid image of what is going on. I also love the reverse psychology that Sam and Andy use on Haley. By telling Haley not to go down the dirt road. All this just shows how intelligent the black slaves could be, although this is simply a work of fiction I like to think that the black slaves were clever enough to trick their masters if such an event like this did occur.