Comparison of Five Passages:
First Passage: In both The Narrative of Frederick Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl the characters begin their lives with nice families that accept them as human beings rather than slaves. However, this leads both of them having difficulties adjusting to harsher slave holders. Douglass begins his life as a slave; however, he never felt like a slave until he was “about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon [his] heart” (Douglass 50). In Jacobs’ novel, Linda, a determined girl enters a life of slavery at the age of six. However, she lives closely with her mistress due to the fact that her mother had died early on in Linda’s life making her mistress …show more content…
Linda achieved freedom by running away in the novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eventually getting bought when her mistress is of age and her husband sold Linda to Linda’s close friend. Douglass achieved freedom by running away and never getting caught because there was never a bounty put out for him to be returned. Linda felt “If [anyone] spoke kind words to me, I thought it was for some selfish purpose” because she had been betrayed multiple times (Jacobs 330). Linda entered the city, but was still discriminated against due to the fact that her skin color was different. In the city, the status of whether you were a slave or not didn’t matter; however, the color of your skin was extremely criticized. “Everywhere I found the same manifestations of that cruel prejudice, which so discourages the feelings, and repressed the energies of the colored people” (Jacobs 339). Readers are able to infer that the word usage of “colored people” referred the entire colored population rather than just slaves in the community. Douglass was able to reach the city and gain his freedom “in the midst of my own brethren-children of a common Father” (Douglass 105). However, he was cautious as he entered the city because he always told himself that he was to “’Trust no man!’” (Douglass 105). Slavery comes with multiple betrayals …show more content…
“Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women” (Jacobs 218). This is because if a woman looked attractive, white men would buy her and use her for their own purposes and break her spirits. This is what Mr. Flint did to Linda because of her exquisiteness, thus making her beauty a curse. However, women still worried about their beauty and it was degrading to women to have to wear their cheap dresses. “Linsey-woolsey dress given me every winder by Mrs. Flint. How I hated it! It was one of the badges of slavery” (Jacobs 138). Their beauty might grant them the right to have a child; however, “it was a crime for a slave to tell who was the father of her child” (Jacobs 141). The slave’s sons and daughters were not only left defenseless to slavery, but did not have the right to know who their father was. The children were exposed to slavery “by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers” (Douglass 19). The child’s future was already fated before they were born. Because their mother was a slave, they would be a slave. This took a toll on womens’ hearts because they only wanted the happiness of their children; however, they would be left clueless as to whom their father was and the hardship of slavery. In Jacobs’ novel she had to run away from her children in order to obtain her own freedom and her children; however, this meant she was
First Passage: In both The Narrative of Frederick Douglass and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl the characters begin their lives with nice families that accept them as human beings rather than slaves. However, this leads both of them having difficulties adjusting to harsher slave holders. Douglass begins his life as a slave; however, he never felt like a slave until he was “about twelve years old, and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon [his] heart” (Douglass 50). In Jacobs’ novel, Linda, a determined girl enters a life of slavery at the age of six. However, she lives closely with her mistress due to the fact that her mother had died early on in Linda’s life making her mistress …show more content…
Linda achieved freedom by running away in the novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Eventually getting bought when her mistress is of age and her husband sold Linda to Linda’s close friend. Douglass achieved freedom by running away and never getting caught because there was never a bounty put out for him to be returned. Linda felt “If [anyone] spoke kind words to me, I thought it was for some selfish purpose” because she had been betrayed multiple times (Jacobs 330). Linda entered the city, but was still discriminated against due to the fact that her skin color was different. In the city, the status of whether you were a slave or not didn’t matter; however, the color of your skin was extremely criticized. “Everywhere I found the same manifestations of that cruel prejudice, which so discourages the feelings, and repressed the energies of the colored people” (Jacobs 339). Readers are able to infer that the word usage of “colored people” referred the entire colored population rather than just slaves in the community. Douglass was able to reach the city and gain his freedom “in the midst of my own brethren-children of a common Father” (Douglass 105). However, he was cautious as he entered the city because he always told himself that he was to “’Trust no man!’” (Douglass 105). Slavery comes with multiple betrayals …show more content…
“Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women” (Jacobs 218). This is because if a woman looked attractive, white men would buy her and use her for their own purposes and break her spirits. This is what Mr. Flint did to Linda because of her exquisiteness, thus making her beauty a curse. However, women still worried about their beauty and it was degrading to women to have to wear their cheap dresses. “Linsey-woolsey dress given me every winder by Mrs. Flint. How I hated it! It was one of the badges of slavery” (Jacobs 138). Their beauty might grant them the right to have a child; however, “it was a crime for a slave to tell who was the father of her child” (Jacobs 141). The slave’s sons and daughters were not only left defenseless to slavery, but did not have the right to know who their father was. The children were exposed to slavery “by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers” (Douglass 19). The child’s future was already fated before they were born. Because their mother was a slave, they would be a slave. This took a toll on womens’ hearts because they only wanted the happiness of their children; however, they would be left clueless as to whom their father was and the hardship of slavery. In Jacobs’ novel she had to run away from her children in order to obtain her own freedom and her children; however, this meant she was