Frederick Douglas and Harriet Ann Jacobs: A Difference in Perspective - Book Report/Review Example

Frederick Douglas and Harriet Ann Jacobs: A Difference in Perspective Fredrick Douglass’ "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and Harriet Ann Jacob’s "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," are both first-hand accounts of the cruelty of slavery. Jacobs and Douglass transcend the limitations of the lack of formal education to write compelling stories. Written and published at about the same period of history, 1845 and 1861 respectively, these poignant testimonials served as powerful tools in the anti-slavery movement of that time. The narrators also became active participants in the abolitionist movement and served as public speakers. While both autobiographical narratives deal with the brutal treatment meted out to slaves by their white masters, the vicissitudes faced by the authors in their struggle to retain their self-respect, and their escape to freedom in the North, significant differences exist between the two works. These differences may largely be attributed to the difference in the perspective of the narrators. Douglass’ and Jacobs’ accounts differ in terms of childhood experience and writing style, in the focus of the narrative, and in the attitude of the writers to the citizens of the Northern States. ‘Narratives’ and ‘Incidents’ are written from different viewpoints. Of course, this may to some extent be attributed to the difference in the sex of the narrators. However, the main reason for these diverging viewpoints is the difference in the childhood environment of the writers: Douglass is a plantation slave with no family ties, while Jacobs lives in the city in the midst of a close-knit family. Douglass’ poignant assertion, “I never saw my mother,” (Chapter 1, 4), sums up a childhood barren of the warmth of family life. His grandmother lives at a distance, and he does not have any relationship with his two sisters and brother. Douglass says, “The ties that ordinarily bind children to their homes were all suspended in my case” (Chapter 6, 5). In contrast, Jacobs enjoys “six years of happy childhood” (Chapter 1) with loving parents, and the lifelong care of an affectionate grandmother, the intimacy of a beloved brother, and close relationships with her extended family of uncles and aunts. It is commonly acknowledged that plantation slaves were worse off than their urban counterparts. According to Douglass, “A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the slave on the plantation” (Ch.6, Last p). Douglass’ childhood on the plantations is marked by hunger and inadequate clothing. He eats mush at a trough as one of many jostling children, “like so many pigs” (Chapter 5, 3). On the other hand, Jacobs, as a house slave, is given adequate food and clothing. The fear of public opprobrium served to make urban slave owners less brutal than their counterparts in the isolated plantations. Jacobs herself acknowledges this: “I was never cruelly overworked; --lacerated with the whip from head to foot; --so beaten and bruised that I could not turn from one side to the other; --my heel-strings cut to prevent my running away; --chained to a log and forced to drag it about, while I toiled in the fields from morning till night; --branded with hot iron, or torn by bloodhounds. On the contrary, I had always been kindly treated, and tenderly cared for, until I came into the hands of Dr. Flint” (Ch. 21, 1p). Douglass is exposed to brutal physical punishment, while Jacobs is protected by Dr. Flint: of course, out of his own nefarious designs on her. Another marked difference between the two works, is the writing style. “Not only is Douglass's writing eloquent and moving, it is also carefully planned and sophisticated” (Lee, Melus). His writing often verges on the lyrical: He speaks of freedom, “It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm” (Ch.7, 6p). Jacobs writing is more prosaic. This difference may be attributed to Douglass’ greater application in mastering the art of reading and writing throughout his youth, holding it to be his key to freedom. The focus of the narratives is significantly different. ‘Incidents’ is written mainly from Jacobs’ personal experience as a mulatto woman who is vulnerable to sexual exploitation by white men. The theme of Jacobs works is evident in her anguished words, “Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own” (Ch.14, 6p). ‘Incidents’ revolves round the axis of a black woman’s humiliation as a slave, and focuses on “gender and motherhood” (Wolf, 518). The greater part of her narrative deals with the vicissitudes peculiar to women: sexual exploitation, motherhood, and the fear of being parted from one’s children. Her entire narrative is colored by a mother’s love. Even in her seven long years of secret confinement, Jacobs declares, “But I was not comfortless. I heard the voices of my children.” (Ch.21, 1p). Douglass also includes several accounts of the cruelty meted out to black women: his mother is exploited by a white master; the beautiful Aunt Hester is stripped naked, tied, suspended from a joist and whipped until “the warm red blood came dripping to the floor” (Ch. 1, last p); Henrietta and Mary are whipped mercilessly by Mrs. Hamilton. But, while “Douglass goes into great detail to illustrate the complete and ugly silencing of black women” (Lee, Melus), he remains an observer and does not make the female experience the center of his narrative as Jacobs actively does. The exploitation of slave women is a part of Douglass ‘Narrative,’ but almost the whole of Jacobs ‘Incidents.’ After Douglass and Jacobs escape to the North, their attitude to the citizens of the Northern states varies significantly. Jacobs recounts many instances of her ill-treatment at the hands of the abolitionist white society. She passionately resists “the customs of northern society that treated her as a lesser citizen” (Wolfe, 517). Jacobs finds that colored people cannot travel first class; the hotel in Rockaway expects her to dine in the kitchen; Benny is scorned for being a “nigger”; the north accepts the Fugitive Slave Law. Jacobs expresses her anguish at finding “how the north aped the customs of slavery” (Ch, 31, second last p), and her pain at finding in the north “the same manifestations of that cruel prejudice, which so discourages the feelings, and represses the energies of the colored people” (Ch.35) as in the south. This is in marked contrast to Douglass’ view of the North: “Every thing looked clean, new, and beautiful” (Ch. 11). He finds employment almost immediately on his arrival, and soon becomes a successful abolitionist orator. While Douglass’ ‘Narrative’ ends on a ‘happily-ever-after’ note, Jacobs’ ‘Incidents’ details eleven years of life in the North and “exposes the oppression that she experiences in northern states” (Wolfe, 521). From these experiences, she passionately urges all blacks to stand up for their rights in the north: “Let every colored man and woman do this, and eventually we shall cease to be trampled under foot by our oppressors” (Ch.35, last p). Fredrick Douglass’ "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and Harriet Ann Jacob’s "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," are similar works but demonstrate significant differences. Douglass and Jacobs experienced a markedly dissimilar childhood environment: the former as a plantation slave and the latter as an urban slave. This difference, combined with their varying educational backgrounds, results in divergent perspectives on childhood and in their writing styles. Jacobs work is focused on first-hand gender and motherhood experiences, while Douglass remains an observer and commentator on women’s issues. ‘Incidents’ is almost completely woman–centric, unlike ‘Narrative.’ The narrators differ markedly in their attitude towards abolitionist society. Douglass is satisfied with life in the North, and concludes with a sense of satisfaction, while Jacob’s remains critical of the persistent prejudice against blacks which pervades Northern society, and ends her account on a note of incomplete fulfillment. In spite of these differences, Fredrick Douglass’ "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and Harriet Ann Jacob’s "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," share the honor of serving as moving testimonials to the barbarity of the institution of slavery as a dark blot in the annals of human history. . Works Cited. Douglass, Frederick. From "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas." An American Tradition in Literature, Twelfth Edition, Concise Edition in One Volume. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins (ed).  McGraw-Hill. New York City. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-07-338489-4   887-899. Jacobs, Harriet Ann. From "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." An American Tradition in Literature, Twelfth Edition, Concise Edition in One Volume. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins (ed).  McGraw-Hill. New York City. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-07-338489-4   874-886. Lee, Lisa Yun. The Politics of Language in Frederick Douglass’s “Narrative of the Life of an American Slave.” Melus; Summer91, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p51, 9p. Literary Reference Center. Accessed on 25 July, 2011 from http://web.ebscohost.com/lrc/detail?vid=4&hid=112&sid=7949f20f-e439-4dd0-b026-5717d2ffaf09%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9bHJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=lfh&AN=9601294717 Wolfe, Andrea Powell. Double-Voicedness in "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl": "Loud Talking" to a Northern Black Readership. ATQ; Sep2008, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p517-525, 9p Literary Reference Center. Accessed on 25 July, 2011 from http://web.ebscohost.com/lrc/detail?vid=5&hid=12&sid=7949f20f-e439-4dd0-b026-5717d2ffaf09%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9bHJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=lfh&AN=34757935   Read More