The Cuba Reader 1 - Autobiography of a Slave

Today, we were assigned to read the "Autobiography of a Slave" which was one of the only kept pieces of writing from a slave in Cuba.  It was written from the point of view of a slave named Juan Francisco Manzano and told the story of his experience on a sugar plantation in Cuba.  It was a very personal story that focused on many detailes of his life that a person wouldn't normally know just my meeting someone.  Honestly, the names were really hard to follow so I don't really know who is who, but I got the gist of the story and what happened to the main character.

I haven't read too many autobiographies of slaves in my years of school, but of the ones that i have read, this is by far the worst.  (Not worst as in most boring or something, but the slave was treated the worst).  In fact, the writer often skipped parts of the story because they were too violent or unpleasant.  

Now I know that I'm supposed to read this with the mind of a person reading this a long time ago, but the more personal a story is, the harder that is to do.  When I read this, I make a connection with the writer that you don't get in most readings, especially in history class.  It is almost impossible for me to comprehend what it is like to be kept against my will, purposefully hurt, and forced to do things like the things that this man had to.  Part of that, im sure, is attributed to my sheltered life in Lincoln Park and Francis Parker; but also to living in a country where things like this are no longer acceptable.  The writer may tell about how he was hurt, but those things don't mean anything to me because I have nothing to compare it to.  The concept of being beaten for what are truly petty things is so... so inconceivable.  I wanted to talk about that too.  Why are they punished for things like picking a leaf or letting a lantern go out?  What is the significance of this lantern that he keep talking about?  I mean, it's obviously a real lantern and not a metaphor, but why is so much importance placed in it?  I hope we can talk about some of these in class tomorrow.  I'll try to bring them up.