Chapter Nine: From Captives to Shipmates

This chapter is especially sad. It focuses on the slaves aboard the ships and really emphasizes on their lives aboard and how poorly they were treated. It is understood that Rediker views the enslaved as victims within the slave trade because of how he wants the reader to feel after reading this chapter specifically on the enslaved. I believe he wants you to feel for the slaves in a time where they had no control. The images in this chapter are vivid and horrid. Although, Rediker somewhat stands up for the captains and sailors in previous chapters, that does not justify the unruly punishment the slaves receive aboard the ships. Many first hand stories are added in this chapter from slaves who experienced the trade as another way to evoke some type of emotion from his readers. This chapter is necessary to understanding life as a slave, never the less extremely sad and depressing.