The Utilization of Race, Gender, and Class in Ellen and William's Escape

Ellen and William are only able to escape the South by understanding the prejudices of their society and exploiting them in such an audacious way, that they are able to escape and avoid suspicion. Ellen, William’s wife, is a very light-skinned slave that could easily be mistaken for a white person and often was. The basic plan was to dress Ellen up as a white gentleman and have William accompany her/him as her/his slave to the North, to freedom. Instead of running a 1000 miles to freedom, they gambled with this daring disguise and traveled on the train system. The unexpectedness of the escape method probably shielded them from most usual suspicion. Ellen and William invest so much energy into the disguise, that William ceases to refer to Ellen as his wife, rather he addresses her even in the narrative as “his master.” It is not until they arrive in the relative safety of their apartment in Philadelphia that he refers to her again as his wife. In order to perform their roles convincingly, they become the white master and the slave boy.

The people on the train were infinitely more accommodating and kind to a sickly white man than they would have been to a terrified, white-skinned slave. Ellen bolstered her disguise by affecting illness and partial deafness. Other gentlemen would take him by the arm and help him get along while women expressed their deep sympathy for the poor creature.

As soon as Ellen and William are in the north, people are quite surprised to see a seemingly “white” woman in the company of a black man. Couldn’t believe that this seemingly white women would be dining with a black man (101-102). The butler assumed that her dining partner had not arrived yet, as opposed to understanding that the only other person in the room might also want dinner and be the recipient of the second meal.

This suspicion of others based on skin color is a two-way street. When Ellen and William first arrive in Philadelphia they are brought to the home of a white family. At first Ellen assumed the man was a quadroon like herself but upon learning that they were white people she, very understandably, became fearful and distrustful. After a convincing conversation, “her fears and prejudices vanished and from that day she has firmly believed that there are good and pad persons of every shade of complexion” (85).

Although Ellen knew first hand that skin color was a very superficial means of identification, she too was raised in the system but learned to overcome her own prejudices and see beyond skin color.