Final Exam: Unchained

         The artifact that I chose, a poster from the new Quentin Tarantino film, Django Unchained, shows a dark red sky with huge descending black chain that ends in a broken link. Right below that chain, there is a silhouette of 2 figures walking toward the viewer. I believe that the chain represents both mental and physical slavery, similar to what we studied this semester. The red background conveys a feeling of passion, blood, and danger. The chain also links a violent past to a future where being armed is clearly a necessity. As we have seen throughout history, chains are usually used to imprison someone who is accused of wrongdoing, or for holding a person captive. Django (left) is pictured with wrist cuffs and loose broken chains illustrating his emancipation. This contemporary artifact that I have chosen is important because the imagery connects the Crucible, Virginia Slave Code, and Mr. O’Connor’s blog entitles “Proclaiming emancipation”. 

         Throughout the first semester, we have discussed examples of both mental and physical forms of imprisonment. Starting with the Crucible, we see the people of Salem mentally trapped in their irrational ideology, and in a world of paranoia. No one in the play is willing to take a stand against the hysteria because they think that they too will be accused of witchcraft and hanged. In Act II, the witchcraft investigations have taken on momentum and Hale states: “I have seen too many frightful proofs in court—the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!” (Act II). As in my artifact, the people of Salem in the 1600s were not free (and therefore enchained) to exercise their own judgment and opinions for fear that they would be accused of siding with the devil. The chains of religious fanaticism bound the people of Salem as a community to keep silent and to obey the laws of the church. Unfortunately in the Crucible, the only way to break free from the mental chains resulted in public execution. 
        Another example of unjust treatment came in the form of the Virginia Slave code in the late 1600’s. These laws set limitations for both slaves living in Virginia, and southern white slave-owners. The code establishes laws regarding what is and is not acceptable behavior in terms of slave ownership and interaction. From my perspective, the word “slave” is interchangeable with the word livestock because these people were treaded no differently than farm animals. They were bound to their owners and had no basic civil liberties. They were not free, could not marry, could not be educated and were not aloud to practice religion. In this poster, Django is depicted with a gun in his right hand. Number two of the Virginia Slave Code specifically states: “slaves are not allowed to carry arms of any kind which they might use in either attack or defense” (1680). Based on the picture, the gun is another example of Django walking into the future as a free man. 
        This movie poster also connects to Mr. O’Connor’s “Proclaiming Emancipation” blog in that he discusses President Lincolns shift in policy that lead to the Emancipation Proclamation and freedom for all slaves. Like my artifact, Lincoln had been chained to an ideology that he needed to get beyond in order to bring the country together and end the war. Doc Oc states: “Here, Foner suggests, Lincoln frees his past self from his own earlier position on slavery. And on January 1st, he proclaimed the freedom of the vast majority of the nation’s slaves” (1). Very similar to the broken chain in the poster, Lincoln’s ideals were set free which allowed the country to come together and do what’s right.