Been In The Storm So Long, written by Leon F. Litwack exposes the cruel, harsh,and most disgusting attitudes of humans towards one another. This story is about the livesof black slaves, slave owners, and the people fighting for freedom during the Civil Warand even after Emancipation. This story reveals the interactions between blacks andwhites and dramatizes their inner dependency on one another. It also divulges the tensionand friction between the two groups. After reading this short summery of Been In TheStorm So Long, I hope one can acknowledge the intentions of this book and perhaps giveone the desire to pick up this book and let the story take one to a place Americans tend tokeep hidden. As the story begins, it talks about the changes in attitudes of the slaveholders. Oneslave by the name of Robert Murray recalls how his white folks started to change. Murray was a young slave that had been treated fairly well and was even taught how toread, even though it was against the law. Some of the children were even welcomed inwhat was called the Big House because the children found warmth there. With AbrahamLincolns election as President, things changed for the slaves. The children were notwelcomed in the Big House anymore. Robert Murray, along with the other slaves, feltuneasy because he was being watched constantly. The slaveholders started to wonder howthe slaves continue their chores as if nothing was going on. Mary Chesnut, a SouthCarolina slaveholder, wonders, Are they stolidy stupid or wiser than we are, silent andstrong, biding their time(4). When the white males of all the plantations go off to war,they think it will be an easy and short fight. One North Carolinian says, whup the North(5) as if he would be back in time for dinner. Needless to say, many of the white males donot return and for those who are restored; it was in mangled bodies. Because manyfathers, brothers, and sons do not return, the women left at the p...
