The Theme of Slavery in “My Family’s Slave” & “The Embassy of Cambodia”

Introduction

No wonder that slavery has been evolving for centuries. While the majority of people try to get rid of the idea of enslavement in the state-of-the-art world, it still exists among everyone. In the short biographical story “My Family’s Slave” by Alex Tizon, the journalist revealed his shock after finding out the truth – his ‘Lola’ (cf. grandmother in Tagalog) turned out to be a slave for 56 years. In another slavery-like story “The Embassy of Cambodia,” the author, Zadie Smith, talked about an African servant in one of the families without knowing that she was an actual slave.

Humankind’s cruelty, stupidity, and irrational mindset cause hardships, concerns, and lifetime trauma to other people. It is hard to accept the fact that someone is a slave, though this person has never said any world against it (BBC para. 7). Although slavery is a heartfelt theme for many people, Alex Tizon and Zadie Smith could open the cards about the real struggles of slaves within families and their freedom after decades of being tortured. Thus it is essential to analyze “My Family’s Slave” and “The Embassy of Cambodia” in the contemporary community and how the authors confidently reflected slaves’ lifespans after years of hell.

Alex Tizon

My Family’s Slave is the short story revealing the challenging fate of the Filipino woman, Eudocia Tomas Pulido, known as ‘Lola’ in the Tizon family. Throughout decades she was mistreated by the author’s father, and then his parents. Lola was suffering so much over 30 years serving for the Tizons, including the journalist himself. No other word but slave encompassed the life she lived (Tizon 2). Alex noticed every her smile and smirk, happiness and sadness, calmness and stress, but one thing he did not notice until adulthood was the fact that she had never been in pain while working in the family both in the Philippines and United States.

Slavery in the islands is a long story. The journalist conceded how Spanish and other capturers would enslave women and men; how some of Filipinos were volunteers to be a slave just to get shelter and food; how high-income slaves could own low-income and low-income – the lowest. Lola was one of those inhabitants who was enslaved a long time ago, i.e., after the World War I. Lola came from a low-income family and was given to Alex’s mother by his grandfather when Pulido was just 18 years old. She took punishments instead of the author’s mother, did not sleep most of the time, and exhausted herself by doing all domestic chores without any sound coming from her mouth.

Eudocia Tomas Pulido was more than a domestic for Alex and three more siblings. She took care of them all days long while their parents received education and worked. Moreover, Pulido did not shift her focus from upbringing children while performing her ‘slavery’ job. The author wrote (2017): “As a toddler, I refused to go to sleep unless Lola was holding me, or at least nearby” (21). Ironically, Alex’s parents sometimes teamed up to yell at Lola until she broke down crying. She later confessed how much she was scared and wanted to come back home. Throughout all years in America, the author sought the truth about slavery and was sticking up for Lola since 13 years old. Parents would grasp at her and punish, but all siblings were defending her by all means – against own mother and father. At the end of “My Family’s Slave,” Alex Tizon reflected his kindest dead to his Lola: he took her to his home along with wife and children, paid for all years so that she could return to her rural village to families in the Philippines. Though the story got both praise and criticism, the critical point of it was to explain the daunting life of some people in the past and even present. The author managed to reveal heart-breaking details of being a slave and the role of ‘domestic figures’ for some people. However, the moral is the one: everyone deserves a life!

Zadie Smith

“The Embassy of Cambodia” is the other story revealing horrible facts and stories about slavery. The main character of the short novel is a West African domestic woman, Fatou, who walks by the embassy of Cambodia to hear the sounds of the badminton game. On Mondays, she always tries to steal the guest passes for swimming pool from the Asian family – the Derawals – whom she works as a live-in maid and nanny for. Unlike quiet and stressed Lola in the Tizon’s short story, this servant is away from anxiety and fear as she simply enjoys rare moments of solitude by attending a church service, spending some time with her Nigerian friend Andrew, and swimming secretly from owners. No, on balance she did not think she was a slave (Smith 14). Fatouh believes that she is just one of the domestic householders despite the fact of having no documents and money. The badminton game genuinely portrays Fatou’s life: from something splashing to more confident and firm. The main considers the key to surviving as a people as to make own arrangements, like in the game.

Zadie Smith’s style of creative writing is a bit of controversy and abrupt. She makes the contrast between discrimination, slavery, inequality, and genocide to the determination, light head, and the desire to live as an average human being. The Embassy of Cambodia serves as an impeccable yet very concrete reminder and sign of the unknown sufferings of human beings. Since the author left out many details and explanation of manners, actions, and characters, it is up to a reader to imagine own scenarios based on the fundamentals of the original story. She also did not disclose all struggles of the live-in mind, but it became apparent from many passages that the Delawares tortured her physically and verbally, though Fatou did not want to believe in the cruelty. She still did not believe she was a slave. Such feelings and actions cover mental issues since a person refuses to admit the truth and accept the reality, and instead, find some excuses and minor delights to please a life. Thus Smith could reflect an enormous controversy between suffering and seeking happiness, pain, and calmness, inequality, and hope for a better future.

Conclusion                              

Slavery is a way too scrupulous theme. Not everybody can percept it in a rational way since it is heart-breaking to realize that some people are nothing by domestic figures. Alex Tizon and Zadie Smith could reflect topics related to slavery in very unusual in-depth details. Servants are sometimes so close that it is puzzling to see whether they suffer or not, but inevitably, there is no ‘delighted’ slave. It would be ironical even to think so. My Family’s Slave and The Embassy of Cambodia are two excellent examples of servants’ real status within families. Certainly, not every family is so terrible and cruel, but most of them feel even ‘the taste of life’ in humiliating and punishing somebody. Therefore, the two stories opened the cards about tough life stories of slaves and their own thoughts and feelings towards own selves.

Works Cited

Smith, Zadie.  “The Embassy of Cambodia.” The New Yorker, 11 & 18 Feb. 2013 Issue, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/02/11/the-embassy-of-cambodia

Tizon, Alex. “My Family’s Slave.” The Atlantic, June 2017 Issue, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/

“What does modern slavery look like?” BBC News, 31 May 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36416751

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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