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Frederick Douglass

In two slave narratives by Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, we see an illustration of BlessingameÆs (1972) claim in his essay, Slave Culture, that such autobiographies ôGive us a window to the æinside halfÆ of the slaveÆs life which never appears in the commentaries of æoutsidersÆö (227). Indeed, apart from showing the harsh brutalities of slave life during slavery, both narratives of Douglass and Jacobs lend a ôvoiceö and ôidentityö to slaves whose voices and identity were often systematically oppressed by the prejudice and racism of slavery. In addition, both The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl reveal a number of methods by which slaves resisted slavery and created an autonomous voice in so doing.

Frederick DouglassÆ (1845) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass stands as witness against the horrible atrocities committed during slavery. DouglassÆ soul purpose in fashioning his narrative is to provide a first-hand account of such horrors from the perspective of one subjected to them, a slave. As Douglass (1845) asserts, ôSincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bondsö (124).

Like Harriet JacobsÆ (1861) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, DouglassÆ narrative is meant to stand as testament to the racism and prejudice that resulted in the horrors of slavery for those whose voices and identity was most oppressed by it. Both Jacobs and Douglass provide us with narratives that demonstrate the torture and cruelty slaves were subjected to by their ômasters.ö In DouglassÆ case, he found education as a form of resistance, but it was education that had to be kept secret. Masters knew that educated slaves might rebel, so they wished to keep them uneducated. As Douglass (1845) informs us, w...

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Frederick Douglass. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:19, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710494.html