How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Hush your mouth, nigger!" she cried, in that tense desperate voice. "Come on here and get em some wood!" (1.1.15)
This tone makes us cringe, with its bossiness and racial slur. What makes us cringe even more is the fact that it is a slave talking to another slave! The idea that some people should be treated like work animals was so deeply ingrained that it seems natural even for Philadelphy to speak to Loosh that way.
Quote #2
The sun had gone out of the bottom when we finished the fence, that is, left Joby and Loosh with the last three panels to put up.... (1.2.2)
Interesting use of the pronoun "we", eh? Bayard says that "we" finished the fence, but what he really means is that he, his dad, and Ringo left Joby and Loosh, the grown male slaves, to do the work. No matter, though; it is still considered "our" work, because the slaves are the possessions of the owner.
Quote #3
[Joby] had been Father's body servant all the time that he was raising and training Simon, Ringo's father, to take over when he (Joby) got too old, which was to have been some years yet except for the War. So Simon went with Father; he was still in Tennessee with the army. (1.2.6)
Slaves might have been considered and treated like possessions, but the fact is that they get old just like any human being. That's why one generation of slaves would have to train the next so that the owners could enjoy uninterrupted service. The war disrupted this process not only by ending slavery, but also by taking some slaves away from the plantations to fight.