Onesimus Our Brother: Reading Religion, Race, and Culture in Philemon (Paul in Critical Contexts)

by Matthew V. Johnson

But Hiram’s health is failing, and control of the plantation is taken over by his immature, simpleminded son, who runs the plantation with a harsh hand, hiring Zeb as overseer to enforce his new policies. When Everett discovers that Hannibal has learned to read, he orders a reluctant Zeb to carry out brutal punishment—put out Hannibal’s eyes. Zeb, astonished and horrified, stifles his own protest and carries out the order. The blinding of Hannibal shatters the illusion that slavery can be redeemed from its moral bankruptcy. The master cannot even protect the son of a woman for whom he cares; the slave’s loyalty to the master cannot prevent a human catastrophe; and the poor white farmer cannot maintain any semblance of self-respect and humanity while being an overseer and enforcer of brutal actions. The disease of the slave institution infects them all.