A main character is Solomon Northup, his perspective on life changes when he loses hope of gaining freedom and seeing his family, when at first he was determined to see his family. But Northup explains that “hope is dead in my heart. My time had certainly come. I would never see the light again, I would never see the faces of my children again, the sweet anticipation that I had nurtured with so much affection. Should I that hour struggle against the fearful agonies of death! No one would cry for me, no one would avenge me." Northup realizes that whatever happens to him will not affect anyone because all the slaves he knows do not know that he is a free man and are strangers to him. As far as he knows, his family doesn't know if he is dead or alive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay An example of the theme in 12 Years a Slave is that peace and happiness can be found with music the same way Solomon finds comfort in playing the violin. Early on, Solomon speaks of how his violin playing was "an amusement which was the ruling passion of my youth... giving pleasure to the simple beings with whom my lot was assigned, and deceiving my thoughts... from painful contemplation of my destiny". Solomon uses the violin to escape his life and problems. Later, when Solomon is hired to play during his time as a slave, he explains that if it were not for his violin he would not have been able to “endure the long years of slavery… He was my companion, the friend of the my chest triumphed strongly when I was joyful, and emitted its sweet and melodious consolations when I was sad." When Solomon played the violin at Christmas dinners, he described that it was his only source of comfort and would give him a sense of home since he would play it when he was a free man. Also, giving him a distraction because it would take away all the problems and fears he has been dealing with since he became a slave. Solomon Northup is a freeman from the northern states with his wife, Anne, and three children, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonso. He is a well-known violinist which led to him being kidnapped by two men named Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton who tricked him into traveling due to his violin skills. During the trip, Brown and Hamilton suggest Solomon get his free papers and he does, then they go to a bar where Solomon gets sick and only remembers going to his room and letting people in, but later loses consciousness. Solomon wakes up chained and no longer in possession of his free papers, then meets two slave traders, James Burch and Ebenezer Radburn, who cruelly whip him for claiming to be a free man and threaten to kill him if he speaks of his freedoms. After a few weeks, Solomon is forced to get on a boat to be examined to see if they are good to be sold. On his way home, Solomon meets two slaves named Arthur and Robert who like him are free men taken as slaves. Then the slave traders come on board and start taking slaves and Solomon is called Platt. Theophilus Freeman, a slave trader, prepares his slaves so they can be sold, and buyers arrive and examine the slaves. Where Eliza, a slave and mother of two, watches one of her children being taken away from her and is heartbroken, but a buyer named William Ford buys Solomon and Eliza but can't buy Eliza's daughter because Freeman wants to wait until it gets bigger because it will be worth more. Solomon describes Ford as a man who treats his slaves with kindness. Until Solomonmeets John Tibeats who is a ruthless and cruel man towards slaves. Ford later decides to sell Solomon to Tibeats because he cannot pay him, leading him to work extremely hard and often get whipped. One day, Tibeats lashes out at Solomon for not having the right nails and orders Solomon to take off his clothes to whip him, but he refuses. Tibeats is about to whip him but Solomon tackles him and whips him instead. Then Chapin appears because of Tibeat's screams and leaves and Chapin tells Solomon not to run away because it will end up worse. Tibeats returns with two men who take Solomon and tie him up, but Chapin comes out with a gun and says that Ford still has a loan on him and asks a slave to go and tell Ford that Tibeats is trying to kill Platt. When Ford returns, he frees Solomon and tells him that he must watch out for Tibeats who wants to punish him. But once in possession of Tibeats, he attacks Solomon with an ax and Solomon grabs the ax but instead of killing Tibeats, he runs away. Solomon reaches a swamp to get rid of his scent from the dogs and, fleeing, heads towards Ford's house where he was protected and cared for. Then Ford and Solomon meet Tibeats, where Ford asks Tibeats to sell Solomon and he sends him to work for Eldert but he was later bought by Edwin Epps. Epps picks cotton and when he is sober he punishes the slaves when he thinks they should be punished, but when he is drunk he enjoys whipping them for fun. Epps can be brutal towards slaves, but he is even more so with a slave named Patsey who he often rapes, and Mistress Epps enjoys seeing Patsey being whipped because she blames her for her husband's infidelity. Epps sends Solomon to work harvesting sugar and is hired to play the violin at Christmas dinners. Then Epps hires Solomon as a driver where he whips the slaves, but Solomon learns to whip the slaves without causing pain. Nine years of slavery, Solomon has kept a letter that could help him escape and a man named Armsby arrives; and Solomon tries to find out and asks if he can take the letter and send it. Armsby agrees and says he won't tell anyone, but then Epps enters Solomon's quarters and asks him if he wrote the letter. Solomon denies this and claims that Armsby tried to get hired by Epps and is lying. Epps believes him and leaves, and after leaving Solomon burns the letter. Later, Solomon meets Patsey who is being whipped because Epps became jealous when she went to talk to a friend. Epps stripped Patsey, tied her up and ordered Solomon to whip her but he stops after more whips but Epps whips Patsey extremely and brutally. Later a man named Bass, who is against the slavery act, is hired to help with the construction work and Solomon is sent to help. Since they always work together, Bass and Solomon are getting closer and Solomon tells him that he is a free man and Bass wants to know more, he plans to meet at night and talk about his life before being a slave and how he planned to escape. Bass promises to help Solomon and send letters to his closest acquaintances. Bass tells Solomon he will be back by Christmas and when he does, nothing has arrived and Solomon despairs, but Bass won't stop sending letters until he gets a reply. Although, in the North, Bass' letters reached Anne who passed them to Henry B. Northup, who spends a few months proving that Solomon is a free man. Henry Northup goes to Louisiana where he teamed up with a lawyer, John Waddill, and they try to find Bass since he was the one who sent the letter. When they find him, Bass tells them that Solomon is called Platt and that he is a slave on Epps' plantation. With this information they go to the sheriff's office and head to the, 66(3), 429-442.