Bibb And Otter's Appeal To The Hypocrisy?

History is never defined by the story of an individual, though one person can influence history. By publishing their autobiographies, Bibb and Otter both express sentiment for broader public appeal, although to varying success. Bibb leverages legal and religious hypocrisies experienced in his life to appeal to rational Northerners and poor whites in his rally against slavery, while Otter markets his wilder and more violent lifestyle towards his jolly fellow brethren and those fascinated or disgusted by his multitudes of amoral sprees through a series of short tales. Throughout his entire narrative, Bibb repeatedly references an “All-wise Creator” [17] and “common law” [24], nods to God and legality, to decry and expose the hypocrisy of slavery, while addressing both Northern abolitionists and poor white Southerners. In his appeal to poor white Southerners, he emphasizes their participation with slaves in unchristian practices such as gambling, drinking, and fighting during the Sabbath represents an ironic disadvantage they hold over slaves as, in addition to the “lynch law,” [17], whites are also subject to “common law” [17]. However, his larger audience remains Northerners less sympathetic towards slavery, utilizing their notion of religion and education as pillars of society, a result from circuit riders frequenting the area. Bibb consistently identifies hypocrisies in the use of religion, such as “licentious white men… living in an open state of adultery… yet regular members of these various denominations … …show more content…
Bibb relies on his life experiences to direct ethical and legal argumentation to win over Northerners and spread his anti-slavery message, while Otter directs his work to elicit a constant visceral response to entertain his readers as he lays out his own