Hartman’s prose in this chapter operates almost like poetry, she does not simply describe the violence of the auction block or the coffle but circles around it, building dread through repetition and indirection, layering question after question until the reader feels the impossibility of the situation before fully understanding it. What she is doing on the surface parallels what she is saying about the institution of slavery itself: it was an exercise in confusion, forcing the existence of both joy and suffering simultaneously. In her refusal to make anything clear in her writing style, Hartman prevents the reader from settling into a comfortable rhythm. What resonated with me the most was the section regarding John Rankin. He was an abolitionist, someone who had it right, and yet Hartman illustrates the way in which he attempted to empathize had inherent faults. His ability to relate to the slave’s condition required him to imagine himself in the same situation; thus, the slave must be erased for the sympathy to be felt. This is typically how I connect empathetically to others, I must put myself in their shoes. This reading made me question my own typical responses, giving me more to think about than anything I have read this semester as it directly correlates to my life.