The Whipping Boy

The Whipping Boy

The American Civil War was a civil war taking place from 1861 to 1865 in the USA. It was a political and military war between the Southern and Northern states because the southern states in some areas used blacks as slaves. During the war thousands of people died. The Northern and the southern states had different views of the human's rights and freedom. In "The Whipping Boy" we see the three slaves Martha, Mikey and Tommy who have lived as slaves during the war.

The text is called "The Whipping Boy". It was a short story published in 2011. It was written by the author Richard Gibney. "The Whipping Boy" takes place during the American Civil War.

A man from the Union came to the farm where they lived on, and told them that they could leave the farm and said that they were free. The plot in "The Whipping Boy" is that Martha, Mikey and Tommy were free to do what they wanted to and after that they wanted to take revenge against Sterling on the farm, but it ended really sad for the slaves, because after the revenge they died on their way to the Northern states.

Foreshadowing means that we are being warned about what is going to happen later in the story. There is an example of foreshadowing in the first five lines, where the slaves receive their freedom, and afterwards kill the dogs. The killings are described very brutal in the text: "Rex and Shepherd Gage were stabbed through the head with pitchforks by Gage's Mikey and Gage's Tommy as they dozed in the midday heat near their kennel".

This gives the reader an idea of what perhaps is going to happen later in the story, and it gives the reader an idea about that it is a very harsh story. It is also setting the theme for the story, which is revenge and killing. The reader will therefore have something at the back of one's mind while reading on. In the end, when the former slaves are killed, the pieces will fall into place, because the killings on the slaves remind a lot about the killings on the dogs.

Mikey thoughts about his and Sterlings relationship is also a foreshadow to what is going to happen with Sterling when Mikey becomes free: "When his father, Alvin Presco Gage, had confronted him, Sterling thought nothing of blaming Mikey, and Sterling's father whipped Mikey with a severity the eight-year-old never forgot". Because of this foreshadow the readers are not surprised when Mikey whips Sterling.

One of the main characters in the text is Martha, who is a black slave for Master Sterling Gage in a state in the Southern of USA. Martha works for Old Mrs. Gage in the kitchen. On page 1, line 9-11 it is described how she react when the boy from the union brought her the message about freedom: "Martha, convinced that the boy from the Union had been mistaken, that he was too young and underqualified