This insinuates that people of color do not have the ability to save themselves. Although Solomon asks a white Canadian worker to help him regain his freedom, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to regain his freedom without the help of a white person. This in no way reinforces the notion of the great white savior because it was Solomon who led a fight to survive, which allowed him to regain his freedom. Solomon Northup in the film begins as a free man with a family, educated, refined and playing the violin. He is then kidnapped and while he tries to protest that he is a free man, he is brutally beaten, stripped of his clothes, his possessions and his name. His resilience and struggle to maintain his dignity and respect is what ultimately led him to his