Slave Narratives of Frederik Douglas and Harriet Jacobs - Assignment Example

Slave Narratives of Frederik Douglas and Harriet Jacobs Douglas slave narrative is a superior account of the inhumane effects of slavery that African Americans went through and his victory over it. Harriet Jacobs was another similar writer who was born into slavery and her book ‘incidents in the life a slave girl’ is an all inclusive antebellum slave narrative which focused on the exploitation of female slaves of the African American decent and how she escaped from it. Both Jacobs and Douglas slave narratives were very significant in the abolitionist movement and also continued in the literary discourse as they explained the issues of injustice, contact with indignation and savage barbarity (Douglas 27). Douglas was born into slavery on the shore of Maryland in 1818 and successfully escaped in 1838 after which he settled in Bedford. While there, he got involved with Massachusetts Anti-Slavery society and lectured audiences about slavery. Later, he wrote his book and became an American abolition movement leader. Jacobs was also born into slavery in 1813 in North Carolina. She was taught to read and write by her master who later died and she was left under his relatives. Her new master attempted to sexually abuse her which led her to spend seven years in hiding. She later worked as a domestic servant in New York and eventually settled in Massachusetts in 1862. It is after this that she wrote her slave narrative. Both writers’ lives as slaves had great effects on their writings. Douglas life as a slave enabled him to bring out the necessary emotion and experiences of a slave and hence becoming a victorious abolitionist writer. Having grown up as a slave and experiencing the hardships of slavery such as lack of meals and whipping, his desire for freedom led him to write successful stories about his miserable life (Douglas 97). In Jacob’s narrative, she condemns slavery by revealing the horrifying mistreatments of the slaves in her time. She advances the view that slavery is a curse both to the whites and the blacks. She says “I never would consent to give my past life to anyone, for I will do it without giving the whole truth, if I could help save another from fate, it would be selfish and unchristian of me to keep it back”. Slave narratives were then used to show why the abolition of slavery was justified and thus their success lied on how well they presented the abuses in the system. Today, the narratives are used as an instrument to study the slavery institution and to examine the narrator’s capability to define them in the world. This new focus has been evidenced in the narratives of Douglas and Jacobs (Jacobs 107). Jacobs’s narrative depicts the story of a woman who addresses their painful sexual past in order to publicize it and insist that the issue of sexual abuse of slave women be integrated in public discourse of the slave question. Her slave narrative tackles the issue of gender role and the strength of a person’s spirit. Her focus is not only on the slavery system but also the life of a slave. It enables one to trade in the mind of the slave and understand what went on in their minds. We can see what deterred the dreams of the slaves and also what made them possible, i.e. their community and culture (Jacobs 115). Jacobs, just like Douglas focuses on the role of the ancestor in the individual’s life and also that of the community. She portrays Lelinda grandmother as a woman who is full of skill and spirit. The slave narratives of Jacobs and Douglas differ from earlier literature since they highlight directly the pains the slaves went through and the reader is forced to experience what it is like to be an American slave. They write about the inhumanity of slavery portraying the painful lives of the slaves and their experience after gaining freedom. The two narratives were written during the same period of time. Both works tackles important issues such as a slave’s childhood, types of work slaves do, the period of time they lived in; Jacobs however extends to the effect of gender in slavery life. (Marcus 115). During the 1800 slaves used to receive inhuman treatment having been mere property of white men. They were also kept uneducated and their illiteracy prevented them from understanding their world. Those who learnt to read and write such as Douglas and Jacobs always rebelled against their masters. The lives of Jacobs and Douglas in their narratives included different experiences but which allowed them to relate to each other’s stories. Both are born in slavery but experience happier times during their early childhood, until the time they both experience the loss of their mothers at an early age. They are both of the view that slavery destroys families. Douglas explains his emotions after losing his mother and says, “Never having enjoyed to any considerable extent her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care…” (Douglas 117). Popular films and literature at the beginning portrayed slavery as field work that wasn’t as harsh as it was made to appear but narratives such as Jacobs and Douglas changed this view. They brought a different aspect of the struggles that slaves went through. Douglas utilizes vivid language to portray the violence towards slaves and the power dynamics in relation to the slaves and their masters. In his book, he uses names of persons and places which make the book a powerful condemnation of a society that continued to consider slavery as a sustainable socio-economic institution. He examines basic issues and themes such as the value of freedom, equal rights, social injustice and denouncing violence against people with no legal rights to protect themselves. The book uses various rhetorical questions and other literacy devices. (Douglas 53) Douglas had witnessed the first act of brutality towards slaves at an early age when he saw Aunt Hester whipped. He explains in details the structure of the farm, the work of slaves and how they interacted with their masters. Douglas seems to understand the life of a slave as he describes their singing. He explains how slaves had to be penalized by their masters, whether they told the truth or not. Douglas continues to explain how he was moved to Baltimore hence having hope of a better life since his mistress was kind though she later turned cruel. It s here that he learns to read and write. (Douglas 115). After the master died, his property was divided among his son and daughter and the slaves at the same value as the live stocks. This made Douglas to develop a new hatred for slavery. In the hands of the later master, Douglas was a field hand and was often harshly whipped due to how awkward he was. However after being beaten one day until he collapsed, he decided to fight back the next time which later led to his escaping subsequent beatings. He was transferred to another farm where he befriends and teaches them how to read and write. (Douglas 88). They later planned to escape but did not succeed and this led him to be jailed .He however succeeded to escape after the release. He fails to give much detail of his escape in the narrative in order to ensure that the slaves could possibly use the same manner to escape and to protect those who helped him. He then attended the antislavery convention and from then on began to battle with the issue. (Douglas 93) Jacobs’s narrative starts with her life as a young girl, raised by her maternal grandmother. She learn how to read, write and sew from her first mistress whom she hoped would free her but she died and Jacobs was willed to Dr James Norcom.This marked the begging of her life of hardships and suffering. She was physically as well as sexually abused by her master. She decided to encounter the sexual advances of her master by entering into an affair with a white lawyer Anskam .She later bore 2 children who legal owner was Norcom and therefore she hid at her grandmother’s house until she managed to escape by boat to New York City where she was later re-united with her children. She was still under mercy of the fugitive slave law and therefore could be reclaimed by Norcom. Her employer then purchased her freedom from Norcom in 1852. (Jacobs 343) Conclusion Jacobs’s narrative differs from that of Douglas in that it focuses much on depicting her sexual history in slavery in a direct manner. She explains her sexual abuse and how she also used her sexuality to escape the exploitation of her master. She lays emphasis on the importance of family and tells in detail of her suffering after being isolated from her grandmother and her two children. Both strives to show the slaves struggle to survive and how they finally escape to freedom. They both reveal the unique brutality afflicted on slaves. Slave narratives goal was primarily to win sympathy from the whites thus gaining support from antislavery movement. Frederick Douglas narrative explains chronologically his life and struggle from slavery to freedom. Jacobs’s narrative however focuses of particular incidents in her life. She interrupts the narrative to deal with social and political issues such as the fugitive slave law. Both narratives address the themes of the quest for freedom, important of family, self assertion, pain and suffering and the economics of slaves. The writers however use different perspectives in tackling these issues. (Douglas& Jacobs 135) WORKS CITED Frederick Douglas.Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas: Tandem Library books, 1997.ISBN 0808595237 Harriet Jacobs. Incidents in the life of a slave girl, Oxford university press, 1991 Read More