Frederick Douglass Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

“Incidents in the Life of a Slave” by Harriet Jacobs is an autobiographical narrative. It gives us a look inside in how the lives of slave women were, the troubles they faced and how they met them, especially the sexual abuses they suffered by their masters. She tells us how her master had the “right” to impregnate the slave and then that child would have to follow in its mother’s life as a slave. It took a lot of courage to stand

In "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", Harriet Jacobs writes, "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women" (64). Jacobs' work shows the evils of slavery as being worse in a woman's case by the gender. Jacobs elucidates the disparity between societal dictates of what the proper roles were for Nineteenth century women and the manner that slavery prevented a woman from fulfilling these roles. The book illustrates the double standard of for white women versus black women. Harriet Jacobs serves as an example of the female slave's desire to maintain the prescribed virtues but how her circumstances often prevented her from practicing.

The endeavor to escape slavery was an idea that pondered in the minds of slaves. While slavery influenced both genders emotionally, physically, and educationally, ultimately only the male gender was able to comprehend what it would be like to be able to flee slavery. Men took charge and became independent being able to leave slavery, whereas the women were more dependent as wives and mothers, which caused them to not be able to getaway. Douglass’ and Jacobs’ works proved this to be true as the reader sees their experiences as a slave fluctuate based on their gender. Through Douglass’ encounters as a slave we see how important it is for a male to participate in physical labor and then through Jacobs’ story, one is able to see how women were used mostly by their masters sexually. Once Abolition started everyone thought it would better the lives of men and women, but boy were they mistaken. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the authors vary in the way that the men are able to escape slavery easier than woman because of the expectations of gender roles during the time and that is what shaped these two works.

One of the most important examples of perseverance in Douglass’s Narrative is his constant thirst for knowledge. The great impact learning had upon Douglass is inarguable. When his master Anthony takes him to Baltimore, he is introduced to Mrs. Auld who begins teaching him letters and small words (Douglass 250). Once Mr. Auld finds out, he warns the woman of the dangers of this kindness and forbids her from continuing these lessons (Douglass 250). Douglass’s hearing of this stirs within him his most important revelation. He tells readers, “From that moment, I

Autobiographical narrative that has been written by african-american female from North Carolina by the name Harriet A Jacob, who depicts horrors of normal life of a slave, beginning her story with description of her childhood memories of her family and people who were their owners. Harriet adopts a pseudonym of Linda Brent, and assigns different from reality names to anyone important in her narrative, in order to be able to share the story of her life and probably save important to the author people since the time of publication meant, certain investigations or unwanted interest from the opposing side of the civil war. In the preface of the narrative, the author, importantly explains significance of her ability to share her story to the people of free states, in order for them to decide their future, but more interestingly she was able to set up a tone with a beginning quote, a tone of understanding the reality of the situation as a whole, a certain type of disrespect to the authorities who execute what is needed in order for the system of slavery to function. Since she begins with description of her family starting with her father who seems to be caring and responsible person, even trying to buy freedom for his children. The story of her grandmother is tragic as well, but through it we can judge the importance of family ties that Harriet was able to absorb from her relatives, especially her opportunity to live among her grandmother and

Both novels, Incidents in the Life of a Slave girl by Harriet Jacobs, and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, share common slave narrative elements. The main characters Linda Brent, and Frederick Douglass undergo similar experiences dealing with slave owner hypocrisy and slavery's corruptional effects upon their masters. On top of that, both individuals emphasise the weight that knowledge has upon their situational understanding as well as eventual escapes. As a female slave, Brent is subject to sexual intimidation by her master, unlike Douglass; regardless, Brent and Douglass's accounts of the challenges of slavery correspond greatly to one another.

Frederick and Harriet both as narrative were different in several ways and had few similarities between each other. Both slave narratives had a huge impact on slavery in many unique ways. The majority of Douglass and Jacobs work symbolize the tension between the disagreements motives that generated autobiographies of slave life. Both narratives of Douglass and Jacobs indicates the full range of requests and situations that slaves could experience. Both suffered under cruel masters, got whipped, beaten badly, and escaped from slavery. Each fought for several rights to be equal as well. Douglass and Jacobs both were able to accomplish something that proslavery writers often proclaim was impossible which was how to write and read. After ten years

Her master at the time hid from her the fact that she was a slave and treated her well. When her master passed away is when her real mental and physical abuse occurs. She was denied her freedom and was freely sold and traded amongst other slave owners. She then goes on to explain how she went into hiding and the mental and sexual abuse she went through as a women, something Douglass can not really touch up on as he is a male. Jacobs narrative is meant to touch the female audience as even in her title, she uses the word "girl" in order to depict a young innocent girl, which may or may not captivate

In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” Frederick Douglass demonstrated many examples of courage. Throughout the narrative Frederick Douglass was faced with various fearful and confusing situations, causing him to react in certain ways. These situations, that Frederick Douglass was put in, allowed him to show courage. In particular, these situations varied; amongst Frederick Douglass trying to learn how to read and fighting his slave-owner, he was courageous through it all. During chapter X, Frederick Douglass enlightened the reader with the story of his battle with Mr. Covey.

Douglass demonstrates to his audience this steadfastness by providing vivid details into the absolute lowest moments of his life. To prove to his audience the broader capabilities of human fortitude, Douglass first validates his own personal suffering. He writes, “If at any one time of my life more than another, I was made to drink the bitterest dregs of slavery, that time was during the first six months of my stay

In 1833 Douglass was sent to a “slave breaker” who flagellated him constantly in an effort to physically and mentally break him down. Finally after 6 months of working with covey in all kinds of weather conditions every day except Sunday, Douglass was “broken in body, soul, and spirit.”(Douglass 2064-2128) Douglass lost the will to do anything intellectually he was numbed expressively “my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died…” (Douglass 2064-2128). After enduring this treatment he tried to get protection from his former master and absconded to him. After this covey was set on beating Douglass to death and in a stable he tried where Douglass fought back and told covey “that he had used me like a brute for six months, and that I was determined to be used so no longer.”(Douglass 2064-2128) Only until Douglass seized this opportunity was he no longer subject to covey’s yoke of oppression. No longer bound his mind was free to soar and he was able to pen his autobiography in addition he was also an abolitionist who helped end slavery. His path through slavery was harsh and it took great patience to withstand that condition and to rise up. His experience of slavery was no different than any other slave of the time

During the final years of legal slave ownership in the United States, the slave narrative became a popular way for literate enslaved people to express their anti-slavery stance through their own testimony. Two of the most influential writers on the slave narrative topic were the autobiographical authors Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Since Douglas and Jacobs were both born in a similar time period, there are many similarities found in their works. Douglass’s Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave is closely comparable to Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl when analyzing how they represented their enslavement in their autobiographies. The two authors have similar ideas when portraying their struggles with forced ignorance. Their writing also contains parallels with the corrupting power of slavery for the slave owners, as well as the parallels in pointing out the hypocrisies of using the bible to defend slavery. These similarities can be explained in part due to Douglass and Jacobs following the same basic slave narrative outline to maintain the shared goal of abolishing slavery in the United States.

write. Douglass uses irony and a sense of unawareness in his narrative to describe "the toils of women through his aunt’s afflictions but failed...to accurately address and interpret," (James 34) these strategies attempt to validate his role as a "fugitive American slave narrator, seeking a written document to prove that"(James 27) he has obviously suggested through language the free territory he claims. The connection for Douglass between the wanting of literacy and personal worth is what he focuses on primarily throughout the narrative. Douglass establishes himself as a man who is deserving of freedom, and that itself is a major significance to other slave narratives. This generalization doesn't extend to the slave narrative written by Harriet Jacobs who focuses on the brutality that women slaves face compared to men slaves. She states many times the fact that women slaves are degraded and treated "less than there worth." (Jacobs 29)

Most slaves went through violent whippings and severe deprivation inflicted on them by their white masters. Most of them told narratives and inspiring stories of a brutalized slave’s journey toward self-definition and self-assertion. Like many of these stories, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl narrates the abuses of slavery, the slave’s struggle for self-definition and self-respect, and the harrowing details of a dangerous escape. However, Jacobs’s story also emphasizes the special problems faced by female slaves, particularly sexual abuse and the anguish of slave mothers who are separated from their children (Africans in America, nd).

Douglass faced the evils of slavery in many forms throughout his life-- the whippings, the hunger, the beatings, etc. Douglass dreamed that he could one day escape the south and become a freed man in the north. While Douglass had no clear plan to escape from slavery, he gained many skills along the way that guided him to break free in the future. When Douglass was separated from his family and sent to a plantation by himself, it was his responsibility to survive. Douglass’s behavior started to change when he had his first encounter with Mr. Covey. Once Douglass stood up for himself, he gained a great amount of confidence while also becoming rebellious. The more confidence and power that Douglass gained, the more determined he was to flee to the north and be free. This boost in his emotions pushed Douglass to begin planning his