

Right before Patsey was whipped, Epps was initially reluctant due to his fascination with her. This is because he loves tormenting them rather than merely mistreating them because he considered them inferior. He took pride in his sadism and found the idea of racial equality humorous, making him one of the evilest slaveowners of all time. This makes him much viler than most other fictional slave owners.Įven though Epps knows that black people are able to think and feel, he thought they deserved only the worst possible existence. If anything, he likely has sex with Patsey to make both of their suffering worse. On top of this, he doesn't even care about his wife as he still continues to rape Patsey despite knowing it makes her jealous. He is also a sexual sadist he throttles and hits Patsey while having sex with her. Nevertheless, he is infatuated with his slave Patsey, whom he rapes regularly. He despises all black people as less than human, put on earth for the sole purpose of being abused, worked, and tortured.
#Edwin epps borderline personality disorder 12 years a slave free
However, Epps is defeated when Northup is set free and taken home to his family after the Sheriff found out he was a free man.Įpps is a vicious brute who takes sadistic pleasure in torturing, sexually abusing, and killing his slaves, rationalizing his behavior by saying, "A man does what he likes with his property". Northup begins to do so, but Epps grabs the whip and lashes Patsey ferociously. He catches Patsey with soap, believing she has stolen it, and forces Northup to whip her. The next day, he gets furious with Northup for Patsey's disappearance and attacks him. He forces Solomon Northup to work for him and treats Patsey, a female slave, like his love, raping her on a regular basis.

Very quickly he saw Solomon as clever and this sparked an intense and twisted relationship between the pair, with Epps repeatedly threatening to beat or murder Solomon yet always relenting, seeming to find a strange fascination with his rival and seeking to destroy his spirit (and thus earn himself a victory and prove that he was indeed superior).Įdwin is first seen using biblical "wisdom" to force the slaves to comply with his demands. He was portrayed by Michael Fassbender, who also played Burke in Jonah Hex, the young Magneto in the X-Men films, David 8 in the Alien prequels and the title character in Macbeth.Įdwin Epps was a particularly infamous slave-owner known to take in and "break" slaves, even those others found troublesome - hence when William Ford was forced to give up Solomon after a confrontation with the plantation's carpenter turned into a near-fatal feud it was Epps who would take Solomon in. He is obsessed with both a female slave named Patsey whom he sexually abuses, and Solomon Northup (known by his slave name "Platt" then), whom he is particularly interested in breaking. He is a barbarous plantation owner, whom made a name for himself of being one of the cruelest of slavers due to his relentless brutality. You be goddamn careful I don't want to come to lighten my mood no further.Įdwin Epps is the main antagonist of the 2013 autobiographical film 12 Years a Slave. At the moment, Platt, I am of great pleasure. "Sin"? There is no sin! A man does how he pleases with his property. ~ Edwin Epps' biblical justification for his ownership and harsh treatment of his slaves. Forty, a hundred, a hundred and fifty lashes-that’s Scripture.

prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." D'you hear that? "Stripes." That ni-er that don't obey his lord - that's his master, d'you see? - that there ni-er shall be beaten with many stripes. which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself. "And that servant which knew his Lord's will.
