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Speak Right on: Dred Scott

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When I was initially offered the opportunity to read a novel about Dred Scott, I was eager to expand my limited knowledge of such an important figure in our nation's history. I felt I owed my ignorance to either a failed public school system or my own inattention in American History class. As it turns out, the reason behind my lack of knowledge is most likely due to our lack of information as a country. Because of Scott's slave status (or lack of status) and because most slaves, Scott included, were illiterate, there are few recorded documents regarding his life despite the incredible influence he had on the destiny of the United States of America.

From the court documents and other various resources that are available, we know that Dred Scott was a slave who sought freedom through legal means. With the assistance of the sons of his former master, Scott took his case to the Supreme Court to sue for freedom for himself and his family. In this monumental court ruling, it was decided that because blacks were not considered American citizens, they did not have the right to sue. Though Dred Scott remained a slave, the sons purchased the family from their owner and set them free. While in Scott's situation, he seemed to have fought a losing battle, in actuality, the ruling regarding his own freedom enraged abolitionists and set the acts into motion that led to the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency and consequentially, the Civil War.

Mary E. Neighbour has picked up where history leaves off with her 2006 novel SPEAK RIGHT ON: DRED SCOTT A NOVEL. Neighbour takes the pieces of Scott's story and fills in the gaps to present a picture of the person Dred Scott might have been. Though a work of fiction, Neighbour has such a skill for breathing life into characters, the reader sees through the eyes of Dred Scott as if reading from Scott's own journal. Had he been literate, Scott himself could have written the book as an autobiography. It is both a celebration of tradition and family, and an outlet of mourning of lost love and freedom.

Through his grandmother, Scott became a griot, or African storyteller. To ensure the heritage of his family was preserved after his death, he related his tales to his daughter, Eliza, to be recorded. After both have passed, younger daughter Lizzie finds herself sharing the stories with her own son, Harry.

The author begins the stories from Scott's perspective, as if the reader were looking over the journal he and his daughter created. As the book progresses, the author moves back and forth between Scott's words and the elaboration of a narrator. The two flow so smoothly together the reader really doesn't notice the transition between the two. The reader has no trouble at all deciphering the slang and vernacular that would have been used during the time period. It is difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, which shows that Neighbor has proficiently fused them together to create the image of one man's experiences.

The story progresses chronologically through Dred Scott's life, from his birth through adolescence and finally to the troubled man he becomes. Experiences that might have shaped Scott's character, from the horrific to the inspirational, are punctuated by his own thoughts and reactions. The reader is not spared from the injustices slaves endured. Brutal beatings, rapes, and torture are woven in to the chapters as they would have been in Scott's daily life. Neighbour provides some relief in the form of Gran, Scott's grounding force and mentor. Gran provides Scott with steady words of wisdom and sometimes harsh awakenings to reality. "Big and strong makes the white folk nervous. Big and black be half of what got your papa sold away. I give thanks every day that some white man ain't likely to look at you and feel threatened by the sheer might of you."

The reader will be surprised to find this is Neighbour's debut novel, as the writing style is that of an accomplished author with years of experience and published works. Not surprisingly, her short fiction has won numerous awards. In SPEAK RIGHT ON, she has given voice to an inanimate name in the pages of history. Through her words, the reader becomes privy to the thoughts and emotions of an historical icon. History truly comes alive, thanks to Mary E. Neighbour.

Neighbour weaves a compelling tale around the facts of Dred Scott's noteworthy life. Her talent to tell his story in his imagined dialect adds to the charm of this poignant novel. Her writing drew me into Dred's life so that I felt I was experiencing the horrors of slavery and the struggle to win his freedom through our courts. My family,friends and I were captivated by Neighbour's recent speech at the Library of Congress to mark the 150th anniversary of his Supreme Court decision.

I loved how the book itself flowed, sort of like Dred's stories. Neighbor did a great job of creating a rhythm and cadence not only to Dred's voice, but to the book itself. The book is a refreshing change from the typical (dry) historical novel, where everything is a bit at arm's length. With this book, you really felt like you were there. Best of all, you could actually relate to these mythic historical figures. It's so easy to forget that they're people. Neighbor does a good job of reminding us that they were real people with loves and sorrows beyond the historical records.

For my money, there is no better way to learn history than to read a book like this - a book that puts flesh and blood to the bare bones of your average history book.

Living in a basically white state, North Dakota, I have not had much exposure to ethnic diversity. This book was given to me and I accepted it as a novel to pass time. The book was engaging and I was unable to put it down. I longed to know what would happen as I did not know how Dred Scott fit into American history. I was compelled by the notion that Scott's desires are not different from mine even though we lived in a different era with differing histories. Easy to read, I would recommend it to all readers and especially if you are white. I plan to pass it on to my 13 year old son.

This book about Dred Scott is fantastic! The author has such an ear for dialogue and description. I'd never really absorbed the cruelty of slavery until I read the scene where the old slave is beaten. I think I stopped breathing while reading it. The sheer impunity of the owners and overseers is staggering! The way everyone in the book talks about slaves as property, of no more importance than a piece of furniture ... they really believe that!
Several scenes in the book pop off the page so that it seems like a movie's unfolding before your eyes. My favorite scene is when Dred's master berates his family around their campsite while they're moving to St. Louis. The description of old St. Louis is wonderful -- I knew hardly anything about it and I really felt like I was there! Overall, a very well-written, entertaining and educational read.

As recipient of one of the 2 gift novels Claudia purchased I lept into this book with extra voracity. Mrs Neighbour's novel is told in mostly first person status. There are some portions that are third or in the view of another character but most of the novel is from the viewpoint of Dred Scott.

As I do with novels woven around facts, I got on the web to see what I could verify as true or dismiss as false. I'm not a researcher nor geneologist by trade but was also absorbed into the subject matter as the facts I found only enhanced the story and gave it new life. There aren't many gaps in this story, none that I would call loose ends nor others that confuse the plot.

My high school didn't offer much depth to this time period nor these characters of our history. My knowledge was of Dred Scott was sketchy at best. I thank the author for being drawn to this wonderful part of our history and bringing him alive once again.

This book will be read often by myself and my children. It is a tale that should be told often and in depth no matter your race, beliefs or upbringing. I will be recommending that the focus on African Americans of historical note include this novel to draw our young people into thinking about not only slavery but our country at large. It's growth and the characters involved in planting the seeds should be given more than a few lines in a history book.

"The truth will out" was a phrase I heard often as a child. This novel brings the truth to us in a story of depth, breadth and character. Applause ... Applause ... Applause ! ! !

"Uh-uh. A story, a story! Let it go, let it come."
"Let us be off!"
~p6, prologue

Join us in this story and enrich yourself with it's lesson. Let us be off!

Congratulations to Mary Neighbour for her sagacious portrayal of Dred Scott as a true example of HONOR. "Speak Right On" exhibits courage and love growing in a boy who values his life and works hard to prove his worth as a man. Neighbour presents all the available historic facts and weaves her own research (of that time of slavery) into absorbing stories of wonder and human resourcefulness. I ordered two books to give as gifts...it is a story to share.

Speak Right On" is a fictionalized biography of Dred Scott, the
African-American slave at the center of the hotly debated antebellum Supreme
Court decision that will forever bear his name. Scott was a slave who, because
he had lived in the free North with his Southern master for a time, decided
later to sue for his freedom on that basis. His case wound its way through the
courts for ten years, eventually landing in the Supreme Court where the justices
(most of them slave holders) ruled that Scott couldn't sue for anything since
only citizens could bring lawsuits and slaves were not citizens. The case,
which was ruled on in 1857, enraged Abolitionists and fanned the fires of the
Civil War.

Armed with a few biographical facts but plenty of Southern (and African)
history, Neighbour has sought to flesh out a portrait of the man behind the
ruling and in the process has created a powerfully moving portrayal of the
psychology of slavery.

Because he was too small to be a field hand and because his grandmother was the
primary household slave on the plantation where he spent his boyhood years,
Scott had a comparatively comfortable life. Due to the nature of work he was
involved with as an adult (a doctor's assistant), his life was often actually
quite fulfilling.

But the immorality of slavery wasn't about the quality of life, it was about
the basic human craving for freedom and it is this point that Neighbour
brilliantly illustrates again and again - in often breathtakingly beautiful
prose. For instance, after his first slavery-related crisis, Neighbour gives
Dred these thoughts: as he realizes the cold hard fact of his slave status: "My
life didn't matter. My acts didn't matter. And when that don't matter, neither
does tomorrow. I stopped dreaming and scheming; stopped feeling the
possibilities. You could say I come to know I was a slave."

"Speak Right On" is a powerful, disturbing, and ultimately uplifting page-turner.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (4/07)

Dred Scott's history is not recorded, yet he was at the center of one of the most important legal cases in the history of the United States. The case helped to ignite the flames of the Civil War. Dred wanted freedom for his family. He had no wish to be a political focus.

Negroes were not allowed an education. They were not allowed to read or many times to even touch a book except to dust it. "My kin never trucked in no books."

A book doesn't change; it's the same story over and over. But a story that's told out loud has changes each time. Each person that performs the story would tell it a little different. Gran told stories each evening, she taught through her stories. She always knew which story to tell and when to tell it. "That's the knowing of the griot, and Gran passed it down to me." Dred passed on the stories to his daughter so that they would not be lost.

Dred's story was never recorded in a book. This is considered a fictional account of a real person. Dred Scott was a slave. He saw men beat and women raped. He witnessed his first love chained to the bed of a wagon as she was taken away to be sold. He wanted freedom and attempted escape once. He particularly wanted freedom for his daughters.

"Speak Right On" by Mary E. Neighbour is one of the finest books ever written. I must admit that I knew little about Dred Scott. The name was vaguely familiar. Neighbour's does an excellent job of depicting the life of the slave. I was brought to tears as I turned the pages. Dred and his family come to life on the pages of this book and I desperately wanted to know what happened. The slang makes it more authentic but was easy to read. Mary Neighbour's plot flows smoothly; this would make an excellent movie. I would never have guessed that this was her first novel. I believe we will hear a lot more from Neighbour. This is a must read and I'm glad I did.

Book received free of charge.