Summary Of Harriet Jacobs And Frederick Douglass - 702 Words

Slavery (noun): a condition compared to that of a slave in respect of exhausting labor or restricted freedom. Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass were both born into slavery, and both suffered the consequences of American ignorance. Jacobs and Douglass provided a brutally honest truth through their poetry about slavery, and how white Americans interpreted slavery. Everyone was subject to Jacobs and Douglass’ assessment on how differently people interpreted what slavery meant – just a means of labor – in both the free Northern states and the rural South. It was their goal to illuminate the brutality of slavery, and how important abolishing slavery was. Harriet Jacobs focused on how much suffering and adversity slaves faced, targeting†¦show more content†¦Pike. Servants and slaves alike could not escape â€Å"God’s eye†, and were inherently evil – they needed to serve their masters to gain forgiveness. Almost all free Americans hid b ehind a smoke-screen of religion to justify slavery or so-called â€Å"labor† in their eyes. Not only are the Southern states to blame, but the Northern states as well, because of the inaccurate and insensitive belief of what slavery was. In addition to Jacobs’ account, Douglass’ narrative focused on his journey through manhood and freedom – â€Å"†¦I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men †¦ ‘Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?’† (Douglass, Chapter VII) – as well as, â€Å"This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood.† (Douglass, Chapter X). He had no freedom, but when he decided to fight back against the evil hand of slavery, he found it and made it his own. As a slave, he had no right to freedom, which in turn belittled his own manhood. His f ight with Mr. Covey restored his sense of honor, his entitled manhood, as well as a spark of freedom he did not previously have.Show MoreRelatedEssay on Out of the Silence1445 Words   |  6 Pagesthe past we can better determine the path of the future. The personal stories of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs are two excellent examples of the slave narrative genre in American literature. To be sure, bondage and oppression had a lasting and profound effect on both genders; however, men and women experienced slavery in different ways. By comparing and contrasting â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave† and â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,† we gain very different