American Dream in Song of Solomon, Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Push
In an era where "knowledge is power," the emphasis on literacy in African American texts is undeniable. Beginning with the first African American literary works, the slave narratives, through the canon's more recent successes such as Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon and Sapphire's Push, the topic of literacy is almost inextricably connected to freedom and power. A closer investigation, however, leads the reader to another, less direct, message indicating that perhaps this belief in literacy as a pathway to the "American Dream" of freedom and social and financial success is contradictory or, at least, insufficient in social and cultural terms. In this way, African American literature reconstructs the "American Dream" into an even more complex "dream deferred."
In his introduction to The Classic Slave Narratives, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. states: "In literacy lay true freedom for the black slave," (ix). Such is the case for Frederick Douglass whose initial tutelage by his mistress, Mrs. Auld, and the subsequent denial of such tutelage by Mr. Auld enlightens Douglass to "an entirely new train of thought," which allows him to understand "the pathway from slavery to freedom," (275). Understanding that maintaining the illiteracy of the slave population was "the white man's power to enslave the black man" (275), Douglass realizes that learning to read is a potential pathway for freedom from the chains of slavery. It is here, however, that the distinction between freedom from slavery and the freedom inherent in the ideology of the "American Dream" begin to breakdown what Harvey Graff terms "the literacy myth."...
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...n the successful negotiation of not just illiteracy, but of a history of social and cultural denial. Such is the nature of the dream deferred.
WORKS CITED
Brent, Linda. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. Introduction. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. ix-xviii.
Graff, Harvey J. The Literacy Myth: Literacy and Social Structure in the Nineteenth-Century City. New York: Academic Press, 1979.
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977.
Sapphire. Push. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1996.
Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that an education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054). He believed that the ability to read makes a slave “unmanageable” and “discontented” (2054). Douglass discovered that the “white man’s power to enslave the black man” (2054) was in his literacy and education. As long as the slaves are ignorant, they would be resigned to their fate. However, if the slaves are educated, they would understand that they are as fully human as the white men and realize the unfairness of their treatment. Education is like a forbidden fruit to the slave; therefore, the slave owners guard against this knowledge of good and evil. Nevertheless, D...
One day, Douglass eavesdrops on him and Mrs. Auld’s conversation. Mr. Auld persuades her that reading “could do him (Douglass) no good, but a great deal of harm.” (page 39) This antithesis along with the rest of his statement makes Douglass come to the realization that literacy is equated with not only individual consciousness but also freedom. From that day on, Douglass makes it his goal to learn as much as he can, eventually learning how to write,
Jacobs, Harriet, and Yellin, Jean. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press
Jacobs, Harriet. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Mentor, 1987.
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997).
Brent, Linda. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Ed. L. Maria Child. San Diego:
insights into what the narratives can tell about slavery as well as what they omit,
Douglass does not hesitate to describe in vivid detail the cruelty and hypocrisy he has witnessed throughout his lifetime before reaching a period where he is free. He emphasizes the lack of empathy (that which differentiates a human from a robot or machine) within slaveholders. He is restricted from certain unalienable rights guaranteed to any individual such as the right to read and write. Douglass explains how he revolted against the system where slaveholders reign superior. He soon comes to find that deception becomes the battery that fuels the engine of slavery. For if a slave cannot read, the slave will not understand. “He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of the God who made me” (116). Once Douglass learns how to read, the deception created by slavery which clouded his mentality is evaporated and the disgrace toward morality is quickly seen. The narrative brings to mind what we most generally take for granted, that is, the rights and freedom not only guaranteed to us by our government, but by simply standing as the equivalent to someone other than ourselves. That in of itself raises the question of what it truly means to be
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written By Himself. Boston, 1845.
Print. The. Douglass, Frederick. A. A. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995. Print.
The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Wortley, near Leeds: Printed by J. Barker, 1846. Print.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Professor David Hennessy, 1845.
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.
After reading the slavery accounts of Olaudah Equiano 's "The Life of Olaudah Equiano" and Harriet Jacobs ' "Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl", you gain knowledge of what slaves endured during their times of slavery. To build their audience aware of what life of a slave was like, both authors gives their interpretation from two different perspectives and by two different eras of slavery.