--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In trying to make the slave experience…" description: "\"“In trying to make the slave experience intimate, I hoped the sense of things being both under control and out of control would be persuasive throughou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/toni-morrison-271_day-life_in-trying-to-make-the-slave-experience-i_566957.jpg" --- # In trying to make the slave experience intimate, I hoped… ![“In trying to make the slave experience intimate, I hoped the sense of things being both under control and out of control would be persuasive throughout; that the order and quietitude of every day life would be violently disrupted by the chaos of the needy dead; that the herculean effort to forget…” quote by Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/toni-morrison-271_day-life_in-trying-to-make-the-slave-experience-i_566957.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/toni-morrison-271_day-life_in-trying-to-make-the-slave-experience-i_566957.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/toni-morrison-271_day-life_in-trying-to-make-the-slave-experience-i_566957.jpg) > ““In trying to make the slave experience intimate, I hoped the sense of things being both under control and out of control would be persuasive throughout; that the order and quietitude of every day life would be violently disrupted by the chaos of the needy dead; that the herculean effort to forget would be threatened by memory desperate to stay alive. To render enslavement as a personal experience, language must first get out of the way.”” [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. To convey slavery's personal horror, language must recede, letting raw experience dominate the narrative. **In simple terms:** Language should step aside for raw truth. Key Takeaway Prioritize lived experience. Themes memory trauma history Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - historical fiction - therapy sessions Key Concepts narrative technique embodied storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How can writers balance technique and emotion? - What role does language play in healing? A Different Perspective Over‑emphasis on technique can obscure emotion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enslavement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enslavement/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Personal experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ## Related quotes > [The Southern newspapers, with their advertisements of negro sales and personal descriptions of fugitive slaves, supply details of misery that it would be difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-kemble/the-southern-newspapers-with-their-advertisements-of-negro-sales-and/) [Fanny Kemble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-kemble/) > [The idea of making a film - a film that I had certainly never seen before - about the slave experience was a huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/the-idea-of-making-a-film-a-film-that-i-had-certainly-never-seen/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [Evil is so seductive. It needs to grind you up and make you its slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/evil-is-so-seductive-it-needs-to-grind-you-up-and-make-you-its-slave/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Life is not a finished product, it is only what we make of it, and if we make nothing of it, someone else will,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehudi-menuhin/life-is-not-a-finished-product-it-is-only-what-we-make-of-it-and-if/) [Yehudi Menuhin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehudi-menuhin/) > [Fashion condemns us to many follies; the greatest is to make ourselves its slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/fashion-condemns-us-to-many-follies-the-greatest-is-to-make-ourselves/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [The very instant I saw you, did My heart fly to your service; there resides To make me slave to it. ...mine unworthiness, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-very-instant-i-saw-you-did-my-heart-fly-to-your-service-there/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The right to have a slave implies the right in some one to make the slave; that right must be equal and mutual, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-seward/the-right-to-have-a-slave-implies-the-right-in-some-one-to-make-the/) [William H. Seward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-seward/) > [“Make yourself a slave to good habits”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-john/make-yourself-a-slave-to-good-habits/) [Dan John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-john/) > [“The mind is your servant or can make you a slave to its control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/the-mind-is-your-servant-or-can-make-you-a-slave-to-its-control/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [“Once people said: Give me liberty or give me death. Now they say: Make me a slave, just pay me enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-garlington/once-people-said-give-me-liberty-or-give-me-death-now-they-say-make/) Todd Garlington > [“This man, he could make her his slave, her body his command. -Sahara”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/this-man-he-could-make-her-his-slave-her-body-his-command-sahara/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [“How can they look in the eyes of a man and make a slave of him and then quote the Bible?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shaara/how-can-they-look-in-the-eyes-of-a-man-and-make-a-slave-of-him-and/) [Michael Shaara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shaara/) > [Now what is Judge Douglas Popular Sovereignty? It is, as a principle, no other than that, if one man chooses to make a slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/now-what-is-judge-douglas-popular-sovereignty-it-is-as-a-principle-no/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [One of the reasons that make many to be a slave, is the fear of death and grave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olalekan-ayo-omojayogbe/one-of-the-reasons-that-make-many-to-be-a-slave-is-the-fear-of-death/) Olalekan Ayo Omojayogbe > [I defied the machinery to make me its slave. Its incessant discords could not drown the music of my thoughts if I would let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-larcom/i-defied-the-machinery-to-make-me-its-slave-its-incessant-discords/) [Lucy Larcom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-larcom/) ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You looked at them and wondered why the were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-looked-at-them-and-wondered-why-the-were-so-ugly-you-looked/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/for-me-art-is-the-restoration-of-order-it-may-discuss-all-sort-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/to-sethe-the-future-was-a-matter-of-keeping-the-past-at-bay/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/hate-does-that-burns-off-everything-but-itself-so-whatever-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-know-how-a-star-is-supposed-to-twinkle-we-say-twinkle-because/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-father-saw-two-black-men-lynched-on-his-street-in-cartersville-as/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-was-fierce-in-the-presence-of-death-heroic-even-as-she-was-at-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Explore all 774 Toni Morrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## More Day life quotes > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. 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