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| James McBride |
In The Good Lord Bird by James McBride, the life of a slave is depicted through
the eyes of the protagonist, Onion, but also through slaves like Sibonia and
Pie. The book forces readers to evaluate whether everyone, not just a slave, is
free or equal in the world. However, Pie can experience more equality
and freedom because she is considered a more sophisticated slave compared to
others in the slave pen. Therefore, Pie is freer and can experience more
opportunities throughout her life compared to Sibonia.
Sibonia and Pie are
two slaves who belong to Miss Abby. Sibonia is considered crazier than the
other slaves on the land, while Pie is considered, classy, more of a help to
Miss Abby, and is therefore, more privileged. Pie is able to maneuver more
freely in and out of the house unlike other slaves who are stuck in the pen.
Also, in The Good Lord Bird, the
character Pie is portrayed as “… a mulatto woman…she wore a flowered blue dress
of the type whores naturally favored” (McBride 144). Her clothing makes her feel more content with
herself, showing that she is a slave of higher order than others. Also the way
Pie talked to other slaves was rude and snobbish which shows off her
“classiness.” The way Pie treated other slaves was like how slave owners would
treat them, which shows how her life of luxury changed her character. Sibonia
has no material items, but has the freedom to think. Additionally, her actions,
like throwing mud balls and babbling at people make her out to be perceived as
crazy. Although Miss Abby still controls Pie, Pie still has more control over
herself than Sibonia.
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| The Good Lord Bird by James McBride |
Freedom is the power to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance. As a
slave, a person would not experience life or be able to choose how they want to
carry out their lives. Therefore life is established through identity and “identity
is established through individual triumphs like the attainment of literacy and
the purchasing of land” (Gates 176). These specific triumphs were not
attainable by slaves as they had no freedom to learn about them. Without the
basics of knowledge, like literacy and owning land, the slaves could not get
ahead in life, thus allowing them to plummet into the same pit every time. In
other words, they could not pull themselves up in the world without the help of
abolitionists who fought for slaves to be free. Sibonia and Pie could not do
anything in their power to change their slavery status but since Pie looked
more attractive then Sibonia and the other slaves she was treated more fairly.
This in turn made Pie freer then Sibonia because Sibonia was given no fair
treatment.
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| A Hotel that resembles the one Pie "worked" in |
Secondly, The Good Lord Bird, allows readers to
question whether or not everyone is equal. In The Good Lord Bird, all slaves hate Pie because of her freedoms.
However, Pie was chosen to be higher up only because of her looks. This
situation shows that freedom was only given to specific slaves. This made other
slaves jealous of Pie and they hated how she was given more privileges such as
a room, good clothing and decent food. On the other hand, Sibonia related more
to the other slaves in the pen because she was given no special privileges and
she resented Pie as much as the other slaves did. Overall, even in the slave
pen, no two slaves were treated equal. As stated previously, Pie has more
freedom than other slaves and this can be seen in the scene where she is out in
the back having sex with Darg, the overseer of the slave pen. She was not
watched as closely as slaves like Sibonia. All of these privileges that Pie
received proves how much more free she was compared to Sibonia and other
slaves.
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| A Slave Pen...this is where Sibonia and the rest of the slaves lived |
Pie has more
freedoms because she is considered classy and more sophisticated due to her
mulatto skin color. This helped her gain work as a prostitute for her slave
master, which in turn assisted her in becoming provided for in a way unlike all
the other slaves. Pie is also considered classy and more sophisticated due to her
mulatto skin color. Throughout her life
she has been given more opportunities than other slaves such as no constant
watch, shelter, and clothing, while Sibonia has lived her life working in the pen
with no escape. Overall, it can be stated that Pie is freer than Sibonia.
