Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave

As Never Caught is a biography, Ona Judge serves as the central figure of the narrative, with the text spanning the full of her life, from birth to death. Judge is biracial, born to an enslaved Black mother and a free white father. Dunbar offers little physical description of her beyond mentioning that she is “[b]ushy haired, with light skin and freckles” (13). Her physical traits likely help her in later life as she tries to pass as a free Black woman in New Hampshire.

Dunbar speculates considerably about Judge’s thoughts and feelings throughout her life, but two traits that require no speculation dominate: fear and determination. Fear serves as an undercurrent for the entirety of Judge’s life, as was likely the case for most slaves. At Mount Vernon, Judge experiences the fears of many enslaved people: sensitivity to her masters’ moods and whims, uncertainty about her future, and the possibility of physical or sexual violence. As an escapee, Judge lives in constant fear of being apprehended and forced back into slavery as well as still having to endure the threat of violence due to the color of her skin.

Judge’s determination balances her fear. She spends years keeping her head down, learning about the world and people around her in the North, learning useful skills that she may be able to use to her advantage (like sewing), and swallowing her feelings in a terrible situation. All those traits combined ultimately allow her to pursue her freedom from bondage. She is resourceful and driven by a blind belief that “she would ‘rather suffer death’ than return to slavery” (197). Nothing–not ties to her family, threats from her former masters, or the difficulties of living as a free Black–induce her to give up what she gains.

As the central figure of the book, Judge also serves as an avatar for its primary theme: that freedom, no matter the cost, is always preferable to slavery. Dunbar emphasizes two opposing but equally important points about Judge. The first is that Judge represents all slaves, particularly female slaves, in her desires and beliefs. The second point is that Judge is unique among slaves due to the circumstances of her upbringing and life. Judge accomplishes what she does only because of her uniqueness, but her life is an allegory for the feelings of the Black community in the United States during that period.

Washington is a critical figure in United States history, and Dunbar paints him in a different light than many other historical accounts that focus on his military and political accomplishments, or his relationships with other white people. Washington embodies the notion of a “noble” enslaver–a concept that Dunbar seeks to dismantle. George does not enjoy his political lifestyle; rather, he merely tolerates it out of a sense of duty. His real desire is to remain home with his wife, in a house supported by slavery. While George generally does not engage in some of the more heinous enslaver practices like extreme violence or rape, he does not have a problem with inflicting violent punishments “if necessary,” and for him, necessity could come simply from perceived laziness or an improper attitude.

While he may not be the cruelest master, he is still a man who owns other human beings as property and seems to take no issue with the idea of this for much of his life. He genuinely believes that he and Martha treated Judge “more like a child than a Servant” (140), and does not understand why Judge would have run away. Dunbar offers a slight bit of redemption for George at the end of his life, noting that he must have wrestled internally with the concept of slavery, given that his will offered gradual emancipation, as well as additional provisions like money for older slaves and education for younger slaves. Dunbar’s portrait of the first president is critical of him, but not entirely condemning.

Though George may earn a small reprieve from Dunbar’s condemnation, Martha does not. Martha represents the attitudes of the entire South: reliant upon and devoted to human bondage, with no doubts as to whether it poses a human rights issue. Dunbar paints Martha as moody, temperamental, and callous. She expects her slaves to be completely devoted to her and cannot fathom why they would run away when they are so well provided for in her care. Given the choice of whether to follow her husband’s example and emancipate her slaves after her death, Martha chooses not to, instead dividing them up among her grandchildren.

Martha’s greatest frustration with Judge’s escape lies in having her plans to give Judge to her granddaughter as a gift thwarted. While Dunbar only occasionally mentions slaves being afraid of George, she often notes fear of Martha, particularly her unpredictable behavior when upset. Overall, Martha Washington earns a dark portrait from Dunbar.