Narrative Of The Life Of A Slave Girl Rhetorical Analysis

Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, both southern enslaved African Americans in antebellum America, shared their experiences through the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Both Douglass and Jacobs attempt to appeal to an audience much larger than the white northerners: those across the Atlantic living in free Europe. By documenting the horrors of slavery and exposing the underlying hypocrisy, Douglass and Jacobs argue that the institution of slavery should be abolished as it affects not only the enslaved, but everyone in the country. Douglass reveals the male experience of slavery through details of physical abuse, while Jacobs displays the female experience by uncovering the emotional

While thinking of her children and their future under slavery, Jacobs recalls her constant fear of slavery and Dr. Flint and how it persistently overlooks her life: “If I went out for a breath of fresh air, after a day of unwearied toil, his footsteps dogged me. If I knelt by my mother’s grave, his dark shadow fell on me even there” (Jacobs 28). Through the metaphor of a dark shadow representing Mr. Flint and slavery, Jacobs is able to show herself in vulnerable situations to appeal to her audience’s sense of humanity and freedom. As a slave, any time not working is valuable, especially with family, which is why this metaphor from Jacobs is so effective. Even while kneeling by the gravesite of her mother, she feels the “dark shadow” of slavery covering her. At the gravesite, the audience is pushed to feel sympathy for Jacobs, and recognize that slavery is a burden that should not follow her to places which are as personal and vulnerable as the gravesite of her mother. They can also infer a similar situation will be bestowed upon her children once they are of age, effecting future generations of African Americans. While there is no physical abuse for Jacobs in this example, she is able to achieve her purpose of advocating for abolition by explaining the emotional side, much more commonly experienced by female slaves. Later in the narrative, once her family

One of the dominant examples of hypocrisy in the institution of slavery was the happy slave myth. Slaveowners would often depict their slaves as content employees, hiding from the outside world the abuse they inflicted upon them. On top of that, as slavery was confined in the southern states, northerners were often ignorant about what was going on in the south, giving more power to the slaveowners. In comparison to the happy slave myth, slaves themselves also felt pressure to feel content under their master’s rule. As Douglass states, “Slaves, when inquired as to their condition and the character of their master, almost universally say they are contented, and that their masters are kind. [...] The frequence of this had had the effect to establish among the slaves the maxim, that a still tongue makes a wise head” (Douglass 11). Once again including a maxim, “a still tongue makes a wise head,” Douglass produces an effect which explains the fear put into slaves to conform to their masters’ standards. Through the happy slave myth, masters portray their slaves as delighted individuals to others, so when asked about their happiness directly, slaves must agree or else they will be punished for exposing the mistreatment of their master. By revealing the happy slave