People who go through similar tragic events often have very different perspectives about rather similar experiences. There are many reasons for people’s stories to different even if they are about the exact same event. People perceive things differently based on things they have been through, how good their memory is, and what their attitude is towards the subject. The stories Slave Narratives by Fredrick Douglass and Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs are both about the writer’s experiences as slaves, yet they are very different. The main differences include their masters, their placement as slaves, and what drove them towards freedom. First off, the main masters of Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were completely …show more content…
Each change of master held new things for Douglass. Early on he was taught that mistakes were met with harsh punishment when his aunt was brutally beaten. As he went through the next few masters he was met with compassion and education, but before he was free he worked as a field hand and he was met with the philosophy he learned from his first master. These different interactions introduced Douglass to reading and education but also the evils of the power of one human over another. Jacobs had in the early part of her childhood a caring master who taught her to read, but once she died Jacobs was given to a relative. This relative, Dr. Flint made sexual advances toward Jacobs leading her to have an affair with a neighbor whom she preferred. This oppression from her master lead to her children and they ended up being the most positive thing in her life. Jacobs had to hide in an attic to stay with her children instead of running to freedom. Douglass’s worst master just brutalized him and caused him to fight his master taking power from him and it caused him to lose his humanity. This fight between Douglass and his master Covey Douglass says was the “turning point in my career as a slave” and it lead to a better life for Douglass (2207). This lead Douglass on a trail of being loaned out to other masters until he could save money and escape to New York. Jacobs had her children indirectly due to the master she had and the people she knew while Douglass had to fight his master to eventually earn his way to
She talks about how she was treated by Dr. Flint " But Dr. Flint swore he would kill me, if I was not as silent as the grave." Although in Jacobs narrative she was treated, in Douglass' his grandmother was whipped "The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped, and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped the longest." He also talks about how bad women had it "He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush; and not until overcome, would he cease to swing the blood-clooted cowskin." Then he talks about how slavery was like hell "It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass."
Booker T. Washington and Harriet Jacobs are two black historical figure. Booker was born on April 5, 1856 and died on November 14,1915 and Harriet was born on February 11, 1813 and died in March 7, 1897. In the movie Booker, it shows the early life of Booker and showed the ending of the Civil War and the effects. It also showed how hard booker had to work to get education. Doing my research on both of them I realized there are some difference and some similarities.
“Born into slavery to Elijah and Delilah Jacobs in 1813, Harriet Ann Jacobs grew up in Edenton, N.C., the daughter of slaves owned by different families. Her father was a skilled carpenter, whose earnings allowed Harriet and her brother, John, to live with their parents in a comfortable home. Her grandmother, Molly Horniblow, was a beloved adult in young Harriet’s life – a confidant who doled out encouraging advice along with bits of crackers and sweets for her grandchildren.” (Edenton). Harriet Jacobs wanted to preserve her plan to escape free.
From the beginning, Douglass’ life was a struggle; especially since his first master, Captain Anthony, and overseer, Mr. Plummer, were both merciless beings. The title “Captain” was thought to have come from Anthony’s time sailing the Chesapeake Bay. Described as “a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding”, Captain Anthony would often take sadistic pleasure in torturing Douglass’s Aunt by tying her up and whipping her until she bled. Mr. Plummer also took part in these heinous acts. He was “a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster.”
In the autobiography, Incidents of the Life of the Slave Girl (1861), written by Harriet Ann Jacobs relates to readers when telling her experience throughout the course of her life. After the death of her kindhearted, and loving mistress it was then that Jacobs finally came to a haunting realization that her life will begin astray. In addition, while consuming this heartbreaking information at a young age, it was also when she knew she was a slave.
It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood” (Douglass 43). Now Educated, he is able to understand his worth, not monetary but internal. Douglass assures, “I could see no reason why I should, at the end of each week, pour the reward of my toil into the purse of my master” (Douglass 60). Employed under Master Hugh he advocates for his worth, “I applied to Master Hugh for the privilege of hiring my time” (Douglass 61). Douglass employs slight arrogance, however, within his new mindset, allows for a different approach to Master Hugh than that of a slave; but as a
Frederick Douglass “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”, stated Frederick Douglass at a speech. Frederick Douglass, known by many as the most important African American leader of the nineteenth century, endured many of the struggles stated in this quote and was robbed of the most basic human freedoms during his twenty years as a slave. He saw unimaginable acts of cruelty and was overworked both physically and mentally. At the age of twelve, Douglass learned to read and write from Master Auld's wife Sophia and then later from white children in their
The Narrative of Fredrick Douglass displays the hardships of many African American experienced first-hand, and also his journey toward freedom and enlightenment. At the age of seven, he is introduced into the world of literature and storytelling, by nonetheless a white woman, Mrs Auld. But soon enough, the teachings have stopped since a educated black is no good in society. After Douglass old master died, Captain Anthony, there was a valuation of the property to divide the assets. This in turn, makes Douglass have a new master whose name was Thomas.
Frederick Douglass was a former slave, journalist, author and a human rights activist. In his autobiography, the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave”, Frederick describes the inhumane and cruel practices of his masters, the conditions of the slaves’ clothing, food and sleep and their relationship with the slaves. Frederick’s first master was Captain Anthony. He draws him as a brutal man who brings pride and pleasure in beating his slaves.
The whisper that my master was my father, may or may not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little consequence to my purpose whilst the fact remains, in all its glaring odiousness, that slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers; and this is done too obviously to administer to their own lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable; for by this cunning arrangement, the slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slave the double relation of master and father” (947). “Douglass ' Narrative begins with a few facts about his birth and his parentage. Douglass father is a slave owner and his mother is a slave named Harriet Bailey. When Douglass
The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
PAGE 2 In the Narrative Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, he uses this text to explain his purpose in “throwing light on the American slave system”, or show it for what it really is, as well as show his position on how he strongly believes slavery is an issue that needs to be addressed and how it differs from those who defended slavery, with experiences from his own life to support his argument. Douglass uses experience from his early days as a young slave to throw light on the aspect of physical abuse. According to his narrative, Douglass states, “Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder.
After having read both Frederick Douglass’s Narrative and Harriet Jacobs’s Incident 1. How were Douglass and Jacobs similar and different in their complaints against slavery? What accounts for these differences? In both the inspiring narratives of Narrative in the Life of Fredrick Douglass by Frederick Douglass’s and in Incidents in the life of a slave girl by Harriet Jacobs the respective authors demonstrate the horrors and disparity of slavery in there own ways.
Thus, in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass is able to represent slaves as dehumanized property with the sole purpose of working their masters land until the day they die. Douglass also successfully represents slaves as intelligent people who wish to learn and begin to see the world for themselves, not through the eyes of a slave master. Douglass illustrated both sides of the spectrum of slave life, being deprived of knowledge and having, although against the rules, access to material to learn, to provide a distinction between how slaves are handled and how they truly