Nightjohn (film)
Nightjohn is a 1996 television movie about a young slave girl who lives a hopeless life on a Southern plantation. Her job is to take care of the white familys son as well as spitting tobacco on the roses to keep bugs away. Her life is changed when she is taught how to read by a fellow slave. The slave, John, says that learning to read is freedom because slavery is bounded by laws and deeds which the slaves cannot read. Her excitement towards reading gets her and her fellow slaves in trouble with their master, Mr. Waller, who prohibits any slave from being able to read. When trouble ensues, Sarny uses her ability to read against Mr. Waller and saves the lives of the rest of the slaves. She ends up being sold, but not before she shows her fellow slaves the letter A.
Sarny grows up and starts working on the plantation. Back at the house, Outlaw tries to get Delie to convince Mr. Waller to give him a pass so he can marry a girl named Egypt from another plantation. Delie is preparing a dress for Sarn so she can go to work at the masters house. Sarny is in charge of taking care of Wallers young son, Homer, who is just a toddler and not housebroken or potty trained.The family and slaves then go to church, with Sarny standing in front with Homer. After the service, the Wallers have guests over for lunch, among them a doctor who later has a romance with Callie, Clels wife. Clel discusses the fact that his cotton is worth a lot of money. During the luncheon, Callie brings up that one of the slave boys wants to court a girl from another plantation, owned by Clels brother. Clel immediately refuses stating that if they were to have a baby, it would give money to the wifes plantation instead of his. Callie asks why things cannot just be about love. Hearing Clels rejection of the marriage, Sarny accidentally drops the plate of food, and she is punished when Clel forces Calle to slap the girl. That night, Delie tells Sarny to behave, otherwise she will have to do the hard labor out in the fields. Sarny replies that one day she is going to own Mr. Waller. ........
Source: Wikipedia
