Essay Comparing Equiano And Jacobs

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American literature consists of many different kinds of narratives. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a new type of narrative emerged: the slave narrative. Though they both share similar experiences, Equiano and Jacobs feel very differently about their circumstances and society. Equiano holds a more charitable view of his masters, but Jacobs examines her owners' good traits and bad qualities. Both writers were valuable to their masters, but they proclaimed their value in different ways. The differences in these two narratives can be attributed to the different personalities of Jacobs and Equiano. Equiano and Jacobs both held different views on buying their freedom. Jacobs believed she had a right to freedom and …show more content…

Whenever he could, he "worked with redoubled alacrity, from the hope of getting money enough by these voyages to buy [his] freedom," (Equiano, 170). When he had saved enough money to buy his freedom, his master was reluctant to let him go. When Equiano asked his master to honor his promise and accept money for freedom, his master regretted the promise he had made. (Equiano, 189). His master was reluctant to give Equiano his freedom, but fortunately a kindhearted man was standing by. He persuaded Equiano's master to honor his word. "I know Gustavus (the name given to Equiano by his master) has earned you more than an hundred a-year, and he will still save you money, as he will not leave you," (Equiano, 190). The master grudgingly freed Equiano, who used his newfound freedom to help other …show more content…

He does not read into the actions or motives of his owners, he simply tries to narrate the facts of his captivity and survive. "Every body on board used me very kindly, quite contrary to what I had seen of any white people before," (Equiano, 76). He writes of being robbed by some white people and of being treated well by others, but he does not let his situation discourage him. "Rather than deplore his condition, Equiano opts to make the best of the situation and make the system that oppresses him pay him, too," (Bozeman, 9). He accepts the new name his master gives him and works hard. (Equiano, 77). Equiano even makes several friends during the course of his narrative: a boy his age named Richard Baker, and later a woman named Miss Guerin, who convinced him to be

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