12 Years a Slave · written by John Ridley and Steve McQueen · 2013

Solomon begins a letter to his family, then tears it up, unaware that the lost chance to communicate will matter later.

Scene 18 of 211 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 11 min into a 2:22 film

The story so farBefore scene 18

After being kidnapped from New York and sold into slavery, Solomon Northup uses his skills and carefully placed trust to survive and seek a way back to his family.

Scene 1
A butcher carries a sheep from its pen into the slaughter shed; the killing follows in scene 2, while scene 1 establishes the image of captivity.
Scene 9
Jasper asks how he might escape, and Solomon says to “watch your opportunities and strike for freedom”; this is a reading of the line as the story’s theme of waiting for a chance to act.
Just before
Scene 15
Mr. Moon introduces Solomon to Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, who ask to speak with the renowned violinist.
Scene 16
Brown and Hamilton describe their traveling circus and offer Solomon paid work accompanying them to New York; he accepts, expecting to return when his family does.
Scene 17
Solomon packs clothes and his violin for the trip.
Scene 18
This scene

18INT. NORTHUP HOUSE/STUDY - LATER

Solomon sits down to write a letter; pen poised over paper with already a few lines written. But Solomon thinks better of it. WITH LITTLE THOUGHT HE TEARS THE PAPER AND SETS IT ASIDE. WE SHOULD GET THE SENSE THAT THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF BEING ABLE TO COMMUNICATE BY LETTER IS LOST ON SOLOMON. THIS FACT WILL HAVE GREAT WEIGHT IN THE NEAR FUTURE.