The Whipping Man

by Matthew López

Drama / 3 maleIt is April 1865. The Civil War is over and throughout the south slaves are being freed soldiers are returning home and in Jewish homes the annual celebration of Passover is being celebrated. Into the chaos of war-torn Richmond comes Caleb DeLeon a young Confederate officer who has been severely wounded. He finds his family's home in ruins and abandoned save for two former slaves Simon and John who wait in the empty house for the family's return. As the three

Genres: Plays, Drama, Audiobook, Historical, Historical Fiction, Race, Fiction

84 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2009

About the author

American playwright, known for The Whipping Man and The Inheritance.

Reviews

[Carmen]

I'm a sucker for everything that rings history, that's a fact. So i I'm always ready to jump into something like this, though it might be a bit nightmarish too, as to get into a piece about American Civil War involves dealing with issues that might be too hard to chew on. A wounded Confederate officer returns to his home in Richmond once Civil War is over only to find much has changed. His family’s mansion, lies ruined and everything around is crumbling to pieces. His family is nowhere to be found, they seem have fled to a safer location, leaving behind only John and Simon, two of their former slaves. who are barely surviving. Caleb, the young confederate, is not much better — his wounded leg is beyond repair. However, he refuses to get any help or go to the hospital so the only way for him to survive is having John and Simon to cut it off . Not only are these characters undergoing physical damage , but their identities are yet more shattered. The rich are now poor, and the enslaved are now free. Caleb comes from a prosperous Jewish family who raised their slaves to follow their religion. Simon and John continue their devotion to those teachings, though Caleb seems to have lost his faith. These three men will try to make sense of .post war world, tensions rise and secrets coming to surface.
All of them are profoundly conflicted and broken, and likewise does the reader/audience member feel once the play is over as it gives a thought-provoking insight into an astonishing historic fact. At the end of the story none of the issues have been dealt with, nothing is closed, on the contrary and your mind is left rummaging on the past and present meaning and consequences of what you've just read.

[Doug]

4.5, rounded up. This is a really fascinating play with a very unusual subject: Jewish slave owners (and slaves) during the Civil War. Set on the eve and day of Lincoln's assassination, the play ingeniously weaves historical fact with some intriguing 'what ifs'. Despite a gruesome onstage leg amputation (which the author kindly gives some suggestions for staging in various degrees of verisimilitude), the play is ultimately redemptive, and the surprises keep coming right up to the final page/scene.

[Amanda]

This is a powerful play, and one I wish that everyone who talks about kind enslavers could see or read. It's also a great length for assigning in US history classes, or even more in the humanities classes in some states where English and history are intertwined.

[Lior]

Lior Granath
Bennett
American Literature
May 8, 2016
Embedded deep within the hearts and minds of nearly all Southerners, the moral justification for slavery - whose origins derive from Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy - is exhibited throughout various scripts of dialogue in “Whipping Man”. The conflict of the standards for fairness and morality are almost immediately introduced in “Whipping Man” when Caleb De Leon returns from home from battle with a bullet wound. One of his slaves, Simon, does not hesitate to engage in pursuing the bloody and difficult procedure of amputating Caleb’s leg in order to save him. By amputating Caleb’s leg and saving him, Simon thus resolves a moral tension introduced at the very beginning of the book. Simon exhibits the attributes of a Mensch, caring for Caleb not because he wanted to, but because he perceived it as his obligation, which according the the Talmud ranks one very high on the moral totem pole. Furthermore, Simon’s actions and statements throughout the book, which continually manifest his desire to serve G-d to the best of his ability, are not only reflective of his faith in G-d, but to the divine spirits that he was brought up to believe in. I therefore do not find the play to be realistic: for most of the play, Simon behaves with unsuitable trust toward the character of the De Leon family - a family which had proven to manifest its moral flaws periodically. Furthermore, I find both John’s whit unrealistic, as he is described as being drunk throughout much the of play. An uneducated slave, let alone a poorly educated one, no matter naturally intelligent, is not capable of using such complex diction while under the influence of alcohol. However, I do still strongly identify with John. As a young adult having reached the expansive new world, John is full of ambition, vibrancy and color. Nevertheless, in times of trouble, John is willing to move himself onto a lower rung on the moral ladder; he frequently steals and lies without second thought, justifying his actions by telling himself that the ends of justify the means. Like John, in when conditions became more adversarial, I lose my grasp of morality. Ultimately, the “Whipping Man” still effectively resolves the moral conflicts it introduces, provoking and introducing the themes of race, family, and religion while emphasizing the portraying a collective inability to grapple with the most basic laws of morality.

[Dima]

Initially I was expecting The Whipping Man to be a slightly disturbing and boring play that would present how inhuman slavery was from yet another perspective, however, I quickly found it to be comedic and surprisingly entertaining read. I enjoyed observing characters grow, the realisticness of the situation, and the thought provoking overall manner of the play.
The Whipping Man had three main characters: John, Caleb, and Simon. In the beginning of the play we, the readers, were not aware of their meaningful history, individually and communally. As the play advanced we quickly learned about their external conflicts with each other. Above all I found Caleb and John’s relationship most surprising. The backstory we learned mid-way through the play was that they were best friends until John, the slave owner's son, whipped caleb, the slave. I would say that learning those details from their past was the climax of us, as readers, learning of their history. Their tale resolved when we learned about an even more surprising plot twist: they are brothers. The end definitely foreshadowed a friendly future between the two newly enlightened brothers.
I would not say that this specific situation would be super realistic, however, individual details in The Whipping Man were. For example having to cut Caleb’s leg off in a house without proper supplies, or even a slave owner having sexual relations with one of his slaves. I was not however aware of Jews being present in the Civil War in the way they were.
What I found most surprising is that Jews owned slaves. I would be sure that there is some commandment in the Torah against ownership of another human. It seemed like Caleb and John were both very religious at one point or another. This just makes me question what Judaism stands for. I am curious to find out if Jewish slave owners were breaking Jewish Talmudic Law.
I could not associate with any individual character most in The Whipping Man. I associated with Simon because he was organized and liked for everything to be structured. Simon I would describe as a father figure throughout the play. I also associated with John’s easygoing, carefree attitude. I would say those are the two personalities that I jump between.

[Zoe Starr]

At the end of the play, when John and Caleb are passing back and forth the bottle, I think it symbolizes a sense of respect between the boys. Throughout the play, they are battling each other on when the right moment is to tell John that Lizabeth and Sarah were sold and Lizibeth is pregnant with Caleb’s child. When they finally tell him Simon reveals that like Caleb, his father had a child with a slave hinting the reader that Caleb and John are brothers. I think their ongoing conflicts are somewhat put to rest as they realize they both need each other in order to survive. I think the play was realistic somewhat. In the South, I would have never assumed a family would be so gracious to let their slaves practice a religion. In this case, Judiasm teaches many important stories and life lessons. Pesach teaches people that when faced with adversity, they will eventually be free and due to that message, I feel it is not very realistic that many slave owners would teach this to their slaves. Besides that, I feel the play made sense. Following Act I where we had to get into groups and predict how the Seder would turn out, I thought it was very amusing how similar the ending was to our group's script. Besides the fact that Caleb was killed by Simon (in our script) and Simon revealed that Caleb and John are brothers (in the actual script), our scripts are almost identical. Personally, I thought it was very hard to read the part with John described the whipping in great detail. Despite this, I feel it was very necessary in order for the reader to be able to visualize what John went through and how it felt. I identify the least with the whipping man as I could not physically hurt people and see them in pain as my everyday job. I identify the most with Simon because we both value the importance of Judiasm, and most importantly family. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this play. I loved all of the plot twists and the personality of all of the characters.

[Steven]

In my opinion, the play doesn’t solve any of its conflicts. Instead, it escalates them to the point where the characters can’t solve them within the time of the play. For example, the tension between Caleb and John seems to only escalate when it is revealed that they are brothers as the play ends. Simon finally finds out what happened to his family, only to look for them after the play’s conclusion. There also feels like there is somewhat of a tension between the former slaves, Simon and John, and their former owner, Caleb. None of these three big conflicts are solved in the play. Instead, we just see a very tense seder meal. The play does not do much to solve its conflicts.
The play didn’t feel very realistic. Certain parts felt overly dramatized, like the amputation scene that went on seemingly forever or the tense seder dinner. However, this was what I expected. Honestly, a play about former slaves and their former owner celebrating Passover didn’t seem like it would be very realistic. Generally, these groups of people were not Jewish so it was weird to see their relationships through that lens. It didn’t feel normal to see them as Jews, but I think that aspect only added to the complexity of the play. Overall, I think the play was not realistic, but the lack of realism played to the play’s strengths.
I thought that each character in the play was extremely well developed, which made it hard to keep up with their interactions. Each character had a very detailed backstory, and it took a lot of thought to understand each character’s point of view. I did like when we formed predictions for the seder based on what we knew about the characters because it really helped put the whole play into perspective and weave the characters together. In summary, the play was extremely complex so the biggest challenge was getting a firm grasp on all of the characters and their several conflicts.

[Carly Berman]

After reading The Whipping Man, I was left with many questions and wanting to know more. Throughout the play, many conflicts were introduced like Simon’s family being sold and John hiding from Freddy after killing the whipping man. In the end, I felt like these conflicts were not resolved. The reader was left wondering did Simon ever find his family and did Freddy ever find John?
The Whipping Man play was realistic but at the same time unpredictable. Some of the aspects of the story that felt realistic was the freed slaves keeping their Jewish religion and slave owners getting their slaves pregnant. I believe the overall storyline could have been a real life situation back in the time. Even though the play was realistic, there was multiple plot twist in the play such as John and Caleb learning they were brothers. I did not expect the play to have these twists when I first started reading. This kept the book interesting and dramatic.
One thing I found thought-provoking in the play was the way Caleb felt about Sarah. Towards the end of the play the reader discovers that Caleb’s father got John’s mother pregnant and then sent her away. She was a slave and Caleb’s father did not care about her. In Caleb’s similar case, he did get Sarah pregnant but he loved her and didn’t want her to get sold. Caleb did not care that she was a slave and he “owned” her; He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
After reading The Whipping Man, I think I identify with Simon the most and John the least. Simon was a warm, friendly guy who genuinely cared about people. He was there to help Caleb when he was in need. I believe we both share the same quality of wanting to help people and caring for them. Unlike Simon, John was very selfish and dishonest. He stole from houses and kept secrets from Simon. I think if I was in a situation where I knew something like what John knew about Simon’s family, I would tell the other person involved.

[Jason]

Warning: Spoilers.
Many tensions and conflicts are introduced in the beginning of the book. The play resolves the confusion surrounding what happened to Simon’s wife and kids (Caleb’s dad sold them). The play clarifies the DeLeon family tree (John is actually Caleb’s brother). Lastly, the play eases the tension between John and Caleb as they stay together in the end, even when Simon leaves.

Personally, I think the play was pretty realistic. From my knowledge, Jewish slave owner weren’t that uncommon. So the whole Jewish aspect makes sense. Also, the tension and conflicts between slaveowners and slaves after the blacks were freed was a common occurrence after the war, and I thought this play displayed it pretty well. Also, the ending was nothing what I expected. I thought the entire play was full of great twists that kept me as a reader quite engaged.

When the play ends, there are many though-provoking moments. Once I found out that John was actually Caleb’s father's son, I couldn’t believe that Caleb’s father would take his own son to the whipping man to then whip him himself. Not only did John’s brother Caleb whip John, but his own father purposely did too. That’s pretty hard to comprehend.

Relating myself to the characters in the play, I think I can identify with Simon the most. Simon took charge the entire play, and I also like to be a leader in certain situations. I can identify with John the least. First of all, I could never know what it’s like to be whipped/go through slavery, but I also don’t find it morally correct to just steal from people’s homes all day.

[Courtney]

In the play, The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez, two former slaves attempt to have a seder with their slaves master’s son, Caleb. The play portrays all the high tensions that were present immediately following the civil war when slaves were free and the white plantation owners were furious. Another conflict that is represented in the play is the relationship between former slaves and their owners. Caleb ended up impregnating Simons daughter, who was a slave in the household. The audience learns that these relationships between slaves and their owners were very common, since we find out that John and Caleb are brothers. Overall, the play was shocking and had me sitting on the edge of my seat, yet it still was realistic and greatly informed the audience of the events during this time period. I found it thought-provoking that the former slaves were so intent on having a seder. They learned all about the religion and were raised in a house where they were lucky enough to be included on the family's traditions. It was also interesting how enslavement of blacks has so many similarities to the enslavement of Jews. I would mostly identify with Simon because he did not know some secrets, yet at the same time knew lots of family history. I resonate most with him because I often feel like I am not always in on big secrets, but I usually know lots of older background history that most people don’t know about. I would highly recommend this play to anyone because it shows many different perspectives than what the audience would learn from a typical history textbook.

[Adam Spector]

The Whipping Man, a play that depicted the lives of slaves immediately after they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Confederacy's surrender to the Union. During the play, numerous conflicts were brought up, such as different characters having whipped each other in the past, but not all of these conflicts, however, were resolved by the play’s end. One example of this is after Caleb and John had become free, they adopted an unfavorable habit of lying and this angered Simon a lot, causing him to leave the group’s Seder in a fit of rage. Although the play is realistic, it brought up some facets of slavery that I had never considered. For example, even though I am a Jew myself, I had never before considered slaves to be Jewish nor I had considered that slaves may have converted to Judaism after their emancipation. One part that I found unrealistic was the revealing of the brotherhood between Caleb and John because it means that Caleb had been physically abusive towards his brother at different points throughout their lives. I just find it unrealistic that family members would turn against each other like that. Despite it being unrealistic, it did add to the dramatic effect of the play and made the plot more interesting. If I were to identify with a character, it would be Caleb because he was not a slave and enjoyed a better life than the other characters and I, myself, have had a privileged childhood.

[Eli]

The play does not resolve most of the conflicts that it introduces. A significant problem that was introduced was Sarah and Elizabeth being sold. In the end, it is still not known where they end up and to whom they were sold. Simon only just begins his search for them. Another unresolved issue is the question of what will become of army-dodging Caleb and his murdering half brother, John. However these parts of the play are not necessarily a negative aspect but instead leaves the reader wondering what happens to these conflicts. The play was realistic in that many true historical facts were added in such as Abraham Lincoln being shot and owners having relations with their slaves. However, I was not expecting the large amount of Judaism in the play as I did not know of any Jewish slaves. I found the idea of Caleb taking the whip and beating John when they grew up together challenging. This left me wondering what was going on in his mind when he did this. I identify the most with Simon as I have a very strong set of values and I found myself going through the same thought processes as him during certain parts of the play such as cutting off Caleb’s leg. I least identify with the Whipping Man as I could never imagine myself taking a job where all I am supposed to do is whip people.

[Paul Rosing]

The Whipping Man is an interesting piece of literature which has the ability to intrigue any type of reader. As the Whipping Man sets place during the Civil War, it offers an interesting historic side of the play in addition to the Jewish aspect of it. In addition, the characters offer a lot of meaning in the reader's life. All in all, what makes this play a 5 star play is the plot and ending. Very unpredictable and surprising. -- I enjoyed reading the play “Whipping Man” in our English class. I believe it is an interesting piece of literature and is something that the class can relate too as Judaism is a big part of the play. I believe that the play did a good job at resolving conflicts and tensions, even though we do not figure out all of the conflicts. I believe that this could be a true story, however it would be a very rare case. The entire ending of the play suprised me and I do not think I could have ever predicted the ending. I thought the aspect that black slaves could be somewhat Jewish was surprising and eye-opening to me. I think I could relate myself mostly to Simon for his values, and I relate myself least with John for his values and situation he is in. Overall, I enjoyed reading this play for the topics, conflicts and characters.

[Liana Slomka]

It was probably common for former slaves and their former owners to have encounters such as this one, but the parts of their backstories and feelings about each other and about the situation seemed far-fetched and convenient. The rest of it was what I expected from the time period and the characters. The relationships between the characters were very thought-provoking, as they have conflicts that went back their entire lives. They managed to partially overcome them, but the events of their lives built upon each other and complicated their relationships. The play ends in a cliffhanger, but at the end, most of the conflicts from the beginning are resolved, and the reader can be fairly sure of how the characters will react to the new information and how they feel about each other. For me, Simon was the most realistic and relatable character because he had the best grasp of their situation and was least preoccupied or confused. John and Caleb had strange goals and weren't able to fully understand their surroundings. The play really made me think and was well written, but it was hard to relate to, since it is such an unusual situation.

[Lucy Singer]

The Whipping Man is an interesting, drama-filled play. The play resolves some tensions such as fixing Caleb’s gangrene and Simon’s reaction to Caleb’s upsetting news about Sarah and the rest of Simon’s family. One subject that was not resolved was what will happen to to Simon, Caleb, and John. Will Simon find his family? Will Caleb and John go with him? Will John get caught for his crime? This was all very challenging to me because I was left hanging with no resolution. I think the play is realistic. John’s crime makes sense; after being whipped all his life, he got his revenge. Caleb’s relationship with Sarah is also realistic because I have learned of relationship like this. The reaction from Simon is extremely reasonable; of course he would be mad at Caleb. I find Caleb to be the most relatable. He is driven by emotions which is something that pertains to me. I find Jon least relatable because he is selfish and somewhat violent. This is the complete opposite of my personality. Overall, this play was very insightful. I had never thought about Jewish slave owners and slaves before reading this.

[Daniel Stearns]

This play did a fantastic job of representing the intricacies of slavery during and after the Civil War. Each character had a nuanced and interesting background that was slowly laid out for the reader over the course of the play. The Whipping Man pushes boundaries, as well. At one point in the play, Lopez attempts to put the reader in the position of a slave being whipped through graphic imagery, which creates a lot of emotion for both the characters and audience. Reading the play instead of watching it left me feeling a little short-handed. I believe that watching the plot play out on stage is an important part of the experience of understanding Lopez's vision that I did not get to witness. The play was both realistic and shocking. The plot took unexpected twists which was well appreciated by me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and highly recommend taking on Lopez's journey.

[Julia Tresh]

The Whipping Man was a play about A confederate Jewish soldier and his slaves celebrating passover together. Throughout the play there are many tensions and conflicts with the three main characters: John, Caleb and Simon. At the end of the play, I was somewhat disappointed with how things were left off. I believed there to be so many unanswered questions. The play had aspects that were very realistic and others that were not. It accurately portrayed the civil war era, yet lacked on portraying slavery and religion during the war. The ending of the book was extremely challenging for me to understand and provoked many thoughts and follow up questions because of the action and “cliff-hangers” at the end.

[Dee Dee OConnor]

This is one of my all-time favorite plays by one of my favorite playwrights—on my list of "dream plays to direct." Depicts an aspect of the civil war you don't hear much about. Jewish slave holders, the meaning of passover, what it means to be free.

[Dean Backus]

Challenging, illuminating and ultimately wrenching look at a Jewish Confederate deserter returning to his crumbling Antebellum family home, and discovering the balance of power has shifted profoundly in the house.

[pdxmaven]

eerie read, because of our family history. set in a Jewish home, in Richmond, just after the end of the Civil war, when a wounded Confederate officer comes home in time to celebrate Passover. Re-read before each Passover.

[Rick]

An incredible play! I couldn't put it down. The characters and themes are well crafted and the momentum is fast-paced. What a great read! Can't wait to see this on stage.

[Isabella]

4.5 stars

[Jillyn]

I had to read "The Whipping Man" in my American literature course in college. It is the best piece of fiction that I got to read the whole semester.

This play is absolutely fantastic. I can honestly say that I've never read a story like this one.

The characters are a mix of Jewish home owners and slaves during the Civil War era. I can honestly say in all my years of education (and reading for fun) I've never read a story that weaves these two points of view together. But the incredible way that French has written this story, it seems like a common sense pairing. It works so well.

The characters are well developed. They're distinct, and they feel real. I had feelings toward them all. Not all of those feelings were positive, but I was emotionally invested in the way these characters developed and grew, the way their backgrounds are teased to the surface, the way each of them struggle and have faith in their own way.

It's rugged. It's gritty. It's real. It feels almost like you could be watching this unfold from through the window. There's a particularly gnarly leg amputation that is very well detailed, that sets the tone of dirt and blood and alcohol and grit that gives this play a distinct tone. That said, it's not all drama and heartbreak. It's rather comedic, which I did not anticipate even a little. I was pleasantly surprised, and it keeps you reading and connects you to particular characters.

It's a short play, but there's so much packed into these 90 pages.

I sincerely hope I get the chance to see this on stage. It's fantastic, and I can't recommend it enough.

This review can also be found on my blog.

[Linda]

My bookgroup read this play, then went to see the performance at the Ensemble Theater. The play is deceptively short and simple, but the themes are far reaching and resonate with you for a while. I don't read many plays, so I missed some important moments when I read it that were very obvious in the performance. The play concerns two Jewish slaves and their master's son, who has just returned from battle in the civil war. It's a fascinating character study with plenty for a bookgroup to discuss.

[Maddsurgeon]

A very intense play dealing with the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. It really gets at the horror of war itself, starting off with the amputation of a character's leg. Some of the first act gets a bit talky, but there's a lot of setup necessary as everyone has a big secret, and the second off pays off as the fallout of the characters' choices plays out. The final scene is a Seder in which the author draws comparisons between Jewish traditions and the lot of ex-slaves after the war. It's very ritualistic and dramatic, and a great way to stage the climax of the play.

[Loen]

Also saw the play at City Center, and it was really great too!

Spoiler alert: I did think that the big reveal at the end about them being brothers distracted from Simon's much more important speech about the meaning and responsibility of being free. Plus, I knew they were brothers the whole time (and I never know the secret ending).

[Tom Elliott]

Amidst all the literature on the Civil War, this is the first piece I've ever read to address the phenomenon of Jewish slaveowners in the Confederacy. Given the ambivalent history between the Jewish-American and African-American communities, this adds a whole new context. I'd like to see it in rep with Master Harold...and the boys.

[Matthew]

A Confederate (and Jewish) soldier returns to Richmond at war's end to find his family gone and two former slaves occupying the household. A fascinating drama that opened my eyes to a chapter of Civil War history I knew nothing about.

[Rubén]

The thematic layers in this play offer a very enjoyable experience, both analytically and entertainment-wise. The topics of religion, slavery, and humanity are brought together with a tact and tenacity that shows that Matthew Lopez talent and worth as a playwright

[Cathy]

This play takes a situation that seems familiar and adds some unexpected twists to it. The characters all have secrets that they reveal to each other as the play progresses, and the reactions to those secrets drive the plot forward in a compelling way. Really hope to see this produced sometime.