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Analysis of a slave narrative
Frederick Douglass narrative of the life
The narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass
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North American Slavery vs. Latin American Slavery: A Comparative Look at Frederick Douglass and Juan Francisco Manzano When we assess the evils of slavery, we typically think of the North American slaves plight. We think of the beatings, murders, hangings and mistreatment of the Southern slave. But what about the slaves of Latin America? Who hears their cries of woe because of their evil slave masters? Is their treatment the same of their brethren under slave rule in North America? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to look into the lives of both North and Latin American slaves. For our purposes, we will utilize two slave narratives. One account will come from the North American slave, Frederick Douglass, and his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The other account will come from the narrative Autobiography of a Slave by the Cuban slave Juan Francisco Manzano. In analyzing these two slave narratives, we will compare the childhood, slave communities, slave/master relations, and literature of both Douglass and Manzano. By taking a comparative look at Frederick Douglass and Juan Francisco Manzano we will be able to hear the voices of the slaves and understand their plight. Childhood Childhood is a period of maturation when our personalities begin to develop into the type of individuals we will eventually become. This is a crucial time where our identities are forming based upon how we are treated by those around us. +If a child is often handled as a burden that individual will take on a negative persona. In the case of children living under the dark hands of slavery, it was impossible to have a normal childhood. A slave's parents were always off conducting laborious tasks, or they were sold away... ... middle of paper ... ...at to the Slave of the Fourth of July?", thus positioning himself as an activist and a spokesperson. Douglass went on to publish two more narratives, My Bondage and My Freedom in 1855, and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass in 1881. In between the time when he was writing his other autobiographies, Douglass worked for the New National Era, a weekly newspaper in Washington D.C. Aside from his writing accomplishments, Douglass became a key figure in the abolitionist and the equal rights movements. He was revered as a speaker, author and statesman. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Manzano, Juan Francisco. Autobiography of a Slave. Detroit: Wayn State University Press, 1996. Wilson, Ruth. "Latin America Speaks." http://130.132.143.21/ynhti/curriculum/units/1990/1/90.01.04.x.html
The author of The House on Mango Street and the producer of The Color Purple are able to integrate numerous important thematic ideas. Many of these ideas still apply to our current world, teaching various important lessons to many adolescents and adults. The House on Mango Street is a collection of vignettes written by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican-American writer. The novel depicts many aspects of Sandra Cisneros’ life including racism, and sexism that she and the main character face. The novel revolves around Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl, who is growing up in Chicago as she faces the various struggles of living in America. The various vignettes reveal many experiences Esperanza has with reality and her navie responses to such harsh
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
Douglass showed “how a slave became a man” in a physical fight with an overseer and the travel to freedom. Jacobs’s gender determined a different course, and how women were affected. Douglass and Jacob’s lives might seem to have moved in different directions, but it is important not to miss the common will that their narratives proclaim of achieving freedom. They never lost their determination to gain not only freedom from enslavement but also the respect for their individual humanity and the other slaves.
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818. His time in captivity molded him into one of the most influential people during the nineteenth century. This paper will discuss his life and experiences as a slave and how they compare to other slaves. Douglass’s traveling and education are what makes him very similar, but also very different from most slaves.
Sandra Cisneros' strong cultural values greatly influence The House on Mango Street. Esperanza's life is the medium that Cisneros uses to bring the Latin community to her audience. The novel deals with the Catholic Church and its position in the Latin community. The deep family connection within the barrio also plays an important role in the novel. Esperanza's struggle to become a part of the world outside of Mango Street represents the desire many Chicanos have to grow beyond their neighborhoods.
In the book, Esperanza doesn’t want to follow the norms of the life around her; she wants to be independent. Esperanza states her independence by stating, “Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own,” (Cisneros 108.) The syntax of these sentences stick out and are not complete thoughts, yet they convey much meaning and establish Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging. Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging is also emphasized when her sisters tell her that the events of her life have made her who she is and that is something she can not get rid of. Her sisters explain that the things she has experienced made her who she is by saying, “You will always be esperanza. You will always be mango street. You can’t erase what you know” (105.) What her sisters are trying to tell her is that the past has changed her but it doesn’t have to be a negative thing; it can be used to make her a better person who is stronger and more independent. Esperanza realizes that the things around her don’t really add up to what she believes is right, which also conveys the sense of not
Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey on Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1818, he was the son of a slave woman and, her white master. Upon his escape from slavery at age 20, he adopted the name of the hero of Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake. Douglass immortalized his years as a slave in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845). This and two other autobiographies, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881), mark his greatest contributions to American culture. Written as antislavery propaganda and personal revelation, they are regarded as the finest examples of the slave narrative tradition and as classics of American autobiography.
In sum, all of these key arguments exist in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” because of the institution of slavery and its resulting lack of freedom that was used to defend it. This text’s arguments could all be gathered together under the common element of inequality and how it affected the practical, social, and even spiritual lives of the slaves.
At first, Esperanza is young, insecure, and immature. Her immaturity is apparent when she talks about her mom holding her, saying it is, “sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe” (Cisneros 6-7). This shows Esperanza’s insecurity because her mom is still a big comfort source to her. She feels a false sense of comfort because her mom is there and will protect her. In addition, Esperanza’s immaturity is shown through her dislike for outsiders of the neighborhood when she says, “They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake” (Cisneros 28). This indicates how defensive and protective Esperanza is towards her barrio by calling outsiders stupid for reacting the way they do, even though she dislikes Mango Street....
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.
Frederick Douglass’ landmark narrative describes the dehumanization of African-American slaves, while simultaneously humanizing them through his moving prose. Douglass shows the dehumanization of slaves through depictions of violence, deindividuation, and the broken justice system. However, Douglass’ pursuit of an education, moving rhetoric, and critique of his own masters demonstrates to the reader that African-Americans are just as intelligent as white people, thus proving their humanity.
Throughout The House on Mango Street Esperanza learns to resist the gender norms that are deeply imbedded in her community. The majority of the other female characters in the novel have internalized the male viewpoint and they believe that it is their husbands or fathers responsibility to care for them and make any crucial decisions for them. However, despite the influence of other female characters that are “immasculated”, according to Judith Fetterley, Esperanza’s experiences lead her to become a “resisting reader” in Fettereley’s terminology because she does not want to become like the women that she observes, stuck under a man’s authority. She desires to leave Mango Street and have a “home of her own” so that she will never be forced to depend on a man (Cisneros 108). During the course of the novel Esperanza eventually realizes that it is also her duty to go back to Mango Street “For the ones that cannot out”, or the women who do not challenge the norms (110). Esperanza eventually turns to her writing as a way to escape from her situation without having to marry a man that she would be forced to rely on like some of her friends do.
Although Esperanza is constantly reaffirming that she wants to move away from Mango Street, we know by the end novel that she will one day return to help those who will not have the opportunities Esperanza has had in her life. Indeed, in the closing pages Esperanza admits that she cannot escape Mango Street. She can never again call it home, but it has influenced her dreams, formed her personality, and she has learned valuable life lessons from its inhabitants. That is why, explains Esperanza, she tells stories about the house on Mango Street, revealing the beauty amidst dirty streets and unveiling her true inner self, the peace of knowing that her “home is where her heart is.”
Overall, Esperanza experienced multiple events that shaped her into the person she is. The experiences she had built the foundation for what she values by exposing her to the world around her. By moving to the house on Mango Street and experiencing the traumatic events along with the social norms Esperanza became the person she wanted to be even when the circumstances weren’t in her
In this book, Douglass narrated the life of a slave in the United States into finer details. This paper will give a description of life a slave in the United States was living, as narrated through the experiences of Fredrick Douglass.