analysis of Running a thousand miles for freedom
In reading the narrative Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, it is hard to ignore the repeated ways that William Craft undermines his wife Ellen and her gender. In doing so, William is reinforcing the gender hierarchy of the time. By referring to Ellen as “master”, William is implying that a plan as extensive as their escape could not have been carried out by a female. William also implies that he is mastermind behind their plan and fails to give credit to Ellen for her role, where credit is much deserved. He further reinforces this above notion by including the picture at the opening of the narrative, depicting Ellen dressed in her disguise. Even though William Craft gives the impression that the focus of his narrative is to describe their escape, it is rather to highlight the role of masculinity and to subdue the role of the female. Traditionally women have been portrayed as being inferior to men. William supports this idea through out his narrative by addressing Ellen as helpless and unable to survive without him. He is consistently painting her in a light of insecurity, vulnerability, and gullibility. By referring to Ellen, as well as other females in the text, as a “defenseless creature” and a “poor creature”, he gives the impression that she is of a lower status then that of himself. There is no reference in the text where he addresses male slaves or slave as a whole in the same manner.