Frederick Douglass' Novel The Heroic Slave

The early American novel was characterized by its emphasis on storytelling, literary language derived from England, events of American history, humanitarian reform, republican ideals and politics and a didactic style. Frederick Douglass' minor novel The Heroic Slave, the only work of fiction he wrote, is a good representation of the early American novel because of its emphasis on didactic storytelling including plot, characters and setting.

The story is based on newspaper articles of a slave rebellion of 1841 led by Madison Washington, an escaped African-American slave who was recaptured when he returned to Virginia to free his wife, and who led the rebellion on the American slave ship Creole. Although Douglass, in choosing fiction as his format for the story, uses artistic techniques, the novel is polemic in expression. Douglass' intention is to show how slaves fought for their freedom and were not illiterate, obedient, sub-human people. Basically all fictional artistry is subsumed to the book's message. Based on Douglass' own struggles for literacy and freedom,

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Category: Literature - F