Mam
Is Mam, ironically, the only person in Manderlay who wants change? She pleads with Grace to destroy "Mam's Law", which is what keeps the whole system together.
shareI believe so. In the beginning, she asked Grace to destroy the book, but Grace, unknowlingly, denied her request. I believe that Mam wanted it to end with her.
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In the end, Grace was going to be held prisoner as the reluctant overseer of the plantation. Is it possible that Mam was also a prisoner, and had been for many years, just as Grace would have been? Maybe Wilhelm was the true slavedriver. Maybe Mam did want it to end with her, and have Grace read the book of law, and understand, and end it there. But Grace, being a liberal, wouldn't let the truth out, and she cut off Mam before she could explain her wishes. Because, by being a liberal outsider, she ALWAYS knows a better way, and her way is right, as ALL liberal outsiders think. Why do you think Mam died so suddenly at Grace's arrival? I think she was hanging on until a replacement arrived, and unfortunately, it was the all-knowing, all-wise, Democrat Grace, who wouldn't let enything be explained, she just went by what she saw and perceived.
Or maybe it's just me...............
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The movie's full of little ironies and moral trouble-spots like this, that only emerge after two or three viewings. Mam did want slavery to end with her. And later, when the whites are debating with Grace about the "generosity" of Mam's Law, they're right, as detestable as that may seem and though we don't realize it until later.
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