This Strange New Feeling by Julius Lester
"This Strange New Feeling" by Julius Lester is a novel that intertwines three distinct narratives, each portraying the experiences of individuals navigating the harsh realities of slavery while seeking freedom. The first story follows Ras, a slave who assists in building a tobacco shed and becomes inspired by a visitor from the North. His journey leads him to an escape, but upon being captured, he ultimately aids in the escape of other slaves, resulting in a conflict with his master. The second narrative focuses on Maria, who faces tragedy after her partner's death and is sold back into slavery despite his intent to free her. The final story recounts the daring escape of Ellen and William Craft, who disguise themselves to journey to freedom, only to face the looming threat of the Fugitive Slave Act that may force them back into bondage.
These stories, rooted in true accounts, highlight the resilience and bravery of ordinary individuals in the struggle for freedom. The Craft's narrative is particularly notable, as it has been widely documented in abolitionist literature. Lester's work aims to preserve and celebrate the cultural history of African Americans and contributes to a broader understanding of the legacy of slavery and the fight for freedom.
This Strange New Feeling by Julius Lester
First published: 1982
Type of work: Historical fiction
Themes: Love and romance, and race and ethnicity
Time of work: The pre-Civil War period
Recommended Ages: 13-15
Locale: The American South
Principal Characters:
This Strange New Feeling
Ras , a strong young slave, whose outward appearance belies a bright, sensitive manUncle Isaac , an old slave, who reared RasSally , a young, female slave, who captures Ras’s affectionsThomas McMahon , a Maryland plantation owner, who frees the slaves he “inherits”
Where the Sun Lives
Maria , a house slave, who has endured unjustified whippings from her mistressForrest Yates , a free black man, who by reputation is one of the finest blacksmiths in VirginiaMaster Phillips , a man who chooses law and politics rather than the distasteful task of managing his wife’s plantation
A Christmas Love Story
Ellen Craft , a slave, who has inherited the appearance of a white woman from her white father and masterWilliam Craft , Ellen’s husband, a slave and a carpenter, whose trade gives him some independenceThe Reverend Theodore Parker , a noted Boston abolitionist
The Story
This Strange New Feeling is a novel that is composed of three entirely separate stories involving different characters. The first story, “This Strange New Feeling,” opens as Ras helps to build a tobacco shed with a visitor from the North, who arouses Ras’s desire for freedom. Uncle Isaac, moved to action, arranges Ras’s escape with Thomas McMahon, who owns a neighboring plantation. Ras settles in the North, where his appearance and demeanor are transformed by two months of freedom. Recognized by the Northerner, who is now in financial difficulty, Ras is returned to Maryland for twenty-five silver pieces.
Ras is saddened to learn of the gruesome death of Uncle Isaac, who, rather than reveal Ras’s whereabouts, endured hanging upside down and bleeding to death from whip lashes. Ras plays the dumb and repentant slave who is disdained at first by those who loved Isaac. Their scornful looks turn to laughter when Ras, with the help of McMahon, aids in the escape of numerous slaves.
His master, however, deduces Ras’s role in the escape plots and, in the middle of the night, comes after him with a pistol. Warned by the house butler, Ras, with Sally, manages to reach the bridge. He and his master struggle in the rainy night. Sally intervenes by grabbing the pistol and killing the master, whom Ras then tosses into the raging river. Together Ras and Sally experience “this strange new feeling of freedom” before moving on.
In “Where the Sun Lives,” the mistress of the plantation dies just prior to her thirtieth birthday. Neither Master Phillips nor the slaves mourn her passing, since she was a harsh and embittered woman. Master Phillips makes a feeble attempt to persuade Maria to live with him in Richmond, but she refuses.
Approximately a month later, Master Phillips sells Maria to Forrest Yates, who by Virginia law may not marry nor free her. Instead, they live as if married, and for several years, Maria enjoys a life of freedom with a loving “husband.” Tragedy strikes, however, when Forrest is killed while shoeing a horse. His will, which frees Maria, becomes meaningless when she must be sold to cover his debts. Remembering Maria’s refusal, Master Phillips does not volunteer to pay the debts, and Maria will not beg. Maria returns to slavery with the proud knowledge that she knows “now where the sun lives.”
The protagonists of “A Christmas Love Story,” Ellen and William Craft, decide to escape their onerous lives as slaves by disguising themselves as “Mr. William Johnson” and his manservant, who are traveling to Philadelphia. Swathed in bandages and wearing green spectacles, Ellen will appear to be a young man requiring medical treatment. Their journey begins in Macon, Georgia, where they secure a four-day Christmas pass to visit family. Many transfers back and forth from train to steamer are required as they travel to their destination via Savannah, Charleston, Richmond, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Almost detected in Macon by William’s master, the couple face mounting tension as they encounter various people and obstacles along the way. On Christmas Day, they safely arrive in Philadelphia.
The Crafts move to Boston, where William gets involved in the antislavery crusade. Ellen is apprehensive and somber as William travels the state of Massachusetts, telling their story of escape and publicizing their whereabouts. After two years of freedom, their return to slavery appears imminent when the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Bill brings William’s master to Boston to secure his lost property. With a contingent of sixty white men, the Reverend Theodore Parker confronts the master and a slave catcher in the United States Hotel and persuades them to leave rather than risk their lives. The Crafts are persuaded to journey to England to escape any future slave hunts.
Context
While all three stories are based on true accounts, the story of Ellen and William Craft is the most widely known and documented. Information about the Crafts is included in books about the abolitionist movement and Boston African Americans, as well as in William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, The Liberator. In 1860, William Craft recorded the escape story in a book entitled Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. In 1971, a version for children by Florence B. Freedman was published under the title Two Tickets to Freedom: The True Story of Ellen and William Craft, Fugitive Slaves.
Julius Lester is the author of two other books written for young adults on the topic of slavery. To Be a Slave (1968), a Newbery Honor Book, presents the narratives of former slaves, as recorded by abolitionist groups in the 1800’s and the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930’s. Long Journey Home (1972) contains six stories from black history, all true accounts of ordinary people living during or after the slave period. Both of these books are good companions to This Strange New Feeling.
Basically, Julius Lester has chosen to record the slave experiences of the ordinary but, in his mind, great men and women who forged the freedom movement by escaping the bonds of slavery. These stories can be read in combination with those of the famous leaders, such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth.
Julius Lester’s interest in preserving the cultural history of Afro-Americans is evident in several other books that he has written for the benefit of both children and adults. Black Folktales (1969) contains twelve tales of African and Afro-American origin, The Knee-High Man and Other Tales (1972) contains six tales told originally among slaves, and The Tales of Uncle Remus (1987) and More Tales of Uncle Remus (1988) retell the Afro-American folktales of Brer Rabbit important to American culture and folklore.