What role does religion play in 12 years a slave?

Unsurprisingly and unavoidably Christian religion is a key theme within the film.  It’s another powerful reminder of the ambivalent role that faith played in the slavery of the US southern states.

On the one hand, we see the Bible being used directly as a tool of oppression.  In one scene Epps reads Luke 12:47 to his new slaves:

“And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”

After he has read it, he waves his Bible in the dejected slaves’ faces and says “and that’s scripture!”  Within a ‘Christian’ culture the misuse of such passages gave a theological justification to Epp’s brutal maltreatment of his workers.

But on the other hand, the film also shows how the Christian faith of the slaves themselves is a source of solidarity, comfort and inner resolve.  In one of the most powerful scenes, Northup is pictured singing together the Negro Spiritual ‘Roll Jordan Roll’ together with others following the death of a fellow slave.  You can see in Northup’s face the way that the song is feeding him with sustenance and hope in the face of such brutality.

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