Ex-Slave Narrative Analysis

“The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave” revolves around the life of Esteban Montejo: who once set his life is the Caribbean island of Cuba; in which this story provides readers with another distinctive approach to teaching the lives of slavery. As the narration progresses through this writing, readers consequently have many opportunities to annotate how the abolition of slavery played a great role in his personal life. Evidently, whether it is intentional or unintentional, the narrator frequently mentions the ending of slavery, as he substantially detailed “…till slavery left Cuba,” (Barnet 38); “… I got to know all these people better after slavery was abolished,” (Barnet 58); and “It was after Abolition that the term ‘effeminate’ came into

Since Jacobs knew many of her readers would consider her account exaggerated or fictitious, she included the testimonials of two white female abolitionists and one black antislavery writer to confirm that the recorded events were true. These slave narratives were powerful in the abolitionists’ effort to spread their antislavery cause. As long as people remained ignorant about the realities of slavery, they were not motivated to action, but stories like Jacobs’ showed the need for reform.

Since the publication of the first slave narratives as early as 1740, black authors accounting their experiences as former slaves have used a variety of tactics to best reach audiences with whom it was thought they had little in common with beyond basic humanity, including testimonials, documentation, and use of the popular literary techniques of the era. As the tradition of the slave narrative grew alongside the abolitionist movement, these narratives became increasingly political, as authors hoped to not only share their stories of subjugated, but motivate those in power to action against the institution oppressing them. Two of the most significant

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a slave narrative written by Harriet Ann Jacobs is highly commended for the portrayal of women during the excruciating times of slavery. Disregarding that the slave narrative was initially written for the audience of Caucasian women, “…, as white women constituted Jacobs’s primary audience at the time she wrote her narrative” (Larson,742) the struggles of being a female slave were emphasized throughout the narrative. Harriet Ann Jacobs elaborates on slave women’s worth being diminished. In the slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by Harriet Ann Jacobs, the theme of the perils of slavery for women was portrayed by women being viewed

In Western culture we are born with the right of autonomy. It is believed that this right can never be taken away from us. We are born into this privilege of liberty and are given opportunities to grow and make our own choices without being oppressed or discouraged for them. We are free, or so we think we are. In the book Slave My True Story by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis (2003), Mende a 12 year old girl, is stripped of her happiness, childhood and most of all, her freedom.

(1) The use of natural dialect can be seen throughout the slave narrative interviews through words and phrases used that were common during the period of slavery, but are not used today. One example can be seen in the dialect used by former slave Mama Duck, “Battlin stick, like dis. You doan know what a battling stick is? Well, dis here is one.” Through incomplete sentences and unknown words the natural dialect of the time can be seen. Unfamiliar words such as shin-plasters, meaning a piece of paper currency or a promissory note regarded as having little or no value. Also, geechees, used to describe a class of Negroes who spoke Gullah. Many examples can be seen throughout the “Slave Narratives”

During the 1840s, America saw increasingly attractive settlements forming between the North and the South. The government tried to keep the industrial north and the agricultural south happy, but eventually the issue of slavery became too big to handle, no matter how many treaties or compromises were formed. Slavery was a huge issue that unraveled throughout many years of American history and was one of the biggest contributors leading up to the Civil War (notes, Fall 2015). Many books have been written over the years about slavery and the brutality of the life that many people endured. In “A Slave No More”, David Blight tells the story about two men, John M. Washington (1838-1918) and Wallace Turnage (1846-1916), struggling during American slavery. Their escape to freedom happened during America’s bloodiest war among many political conflicts, which had been splitting the country apart for many decades. As Blight (2007) describes, “Throughout the Civil War, in thousands of different circumstances, under changing policies and redefinitions of their status, and in the face of social chaos…four million slaves helped to decide what time it would be in American History” (p. 5). Whether it was freedom from a master or overseer, freedom from living as both property and the object of another person’s will, or even freedom to make their own decisions and control their own life, slaves wanted a sense of independence. According to Blight (2007), “The war and the presence of Union armies

The captivity narrative and the slave narrative are two types of literary works, which were very common during the 17th and the 18th century. The captivity narrative usually involves an innocent white woman who is taken captive by an Indian tribe, who the woman describes as savages in most of the cases. On the other hand, the slave narrative focuses on the quality of life that slaves were facing before the time of the abolishment of slavery. Although the captivity narrative and the slave narrative show some similarities, they are completely different. We can observe the differences by analyzing two literary works, A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson and From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano. A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a narrative written by Mary Rowlandson herself, which sheds light on her own experiences revolving captivity. The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano gives the reader insight into the life of a slave, the treatments they endure, and usually their freedom, whether it be through escaping or other means. Both narratives usually include real-life accounts, however, the differences lie in the structure of the narrative, the purpose that the narrative is trying to lay out and the treatment of the parties who are living these experiences.

Before Patrick continued to the shelter, he made a detour to the barn to grab his whip. As he was in the barn, he noticed that his horse was missing. Patrick was getting worried that one of his financially valuable slaves had escaped at night, if that were the case, Patrick realized he’d be losing money. So he quickly dashed toward the tin shelter, and as he entered, he took notice of a pile of blankets that he’d given the slaves, but there was some new looking coverings that were prudently folded and hidden under the old rugged blankets that he had originally given to the slaves. Patrick put the evidence together: one, his horse was missing. Second, someone, possibly a member from his family, was responsible for the missing article and slaves. Patrick was confused and provoked at the thought that someone, possibly a member of his family, had given

Slave narratives are works of literature written by ex-slaves and abolitionists which include personal accounts from enslaved Africans during the 18th and 19th centuries. Most authors characterized themselves as Africans instead of slaves, mainly because they were born in Africa. These narratives were mostly written to help support the movement of the abolition of slavery. They usually expressed a specific kind of storytelling as well as a specific purpose of writing that emphasizes subjectivity and interiority. Subjectivity is how a single persons’ judgment is formed by their own opinions and feelings rather than by other people’s influences.

Chapter 3 contains the aftermath of the ending of slavery in Washington and Turnage's lives and how they proceeded their lives as the "first freed". Of course, being in charge of their own lives a lot of responsibility came along especially since they had families to care for. For example, finding shelter in safe grounds, and feeding themselves.

git beatin's and half fed... Mostly we ate pickled pork and corn bread and peas and

Prior to the publication of any slave narrative, African Americans had been represented by early historians’ interpretations of their race, culture, and situation along with contemporary authors’ fictionalized depictions. Their persona was often “characterized as infantile, incompetent, and...incapable of achievement” (Hunter-Willis 11) while the actions of slaveholders were justified with the arguments that slavery would maintain a cheap labor force and a guarantee that their suffering did not differ to the toils of the rest of the “struggling world” (Hunter-Willis 12). The emergence of the slave narratives created a new voice that discredited all former allegations of inferiority and produced a new perception of resilience and ingenuity.

Some of the problems that have been described have had major effects onto the slave people but with these problems there needs to be some recommendations put into place. The first recommendation that could be made is that the owners could provide their slaves with some more medical help by making the slaves fill out a form before they start their jobs about what their medical needs may be. This could then help keep the slaves keep their jobs if they have more medical attention so they wouldn’t risk loosing it. It could also recommended that the slaves house care is taken into better proportion such as making changes to the room floors by at least putting down concrete instead of having the slaves lay on a dirty floor and giving them mattress

Slave Narratives were written by the slaves themselves or narrated by them and written by a friend or a relative and some were even passed on orally. These narratives depicted the difficult lives of the hardworking slaves; description of cruel masters, whippings, difficulties encountered in learning to read and write, slave auctions and their successful attempts to escape as well as foiled escape attempts. One of the defining characteristics of the slave narrative is the testimonial or letter of authenticity generally written by a white editor or abolitionist friend of the narrator. In order to be published, black authors had to be endorsed by whites who could testify to their credibility and the authenticity of their stories. One of the defining