Introduction
For the current generation, literature, especially the genres of biography and autobiography, is one of the few opportunities to know and feel the events and atmosphere of past eras and specific periods. For those who write such works, these usually serve several functions. These may include sharing one’s experience, psychological introspection and self-reflection, a message to posterity, and criticism of current socio-political, cultural, and economic trends and models. The autobiographical works of the first Black writers, such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, contain all of these conceptual, narrative, and artistic elements. Early African American literature is also unique in a socio-cultural sense; it shows its readers the dark and shameful sides of the United States (US) history, slavery. By contrasting these works, one can identify and analyze the unique gender-specific aspects of the lives of the people of the past. This paper aims to explain how Douglass narrates his pursuit of freedom and manhood, how Jacobs describes her experience of being sexually exploited and the relationship of these American writers’ ideas to the central purpose of the slave narrative.
Sexual Exploitation in Harriet Jacobs’s Autobiography
One of the central yet veiled themes in Harriet Jacobs’ magnum opus, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, is the sexual harassment and abuse of enslaved Black women. Jacobs describes the sexual harassment from her master, Dr. Flint, with indirect means and subtext. She uses metaphors and allegories to hint to the audience about the sexual pressure and associated fear she experienced during her enslaved years with the Flints. For example, “but I now entered on my fifteenth year — a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl” is how she marks her teenage years when sexual exploitation of her began (Jacobs 44). More thoughts of her of that period, “he peopled my young mind with unclean images, such as only a vile monster could think of” (Jacobs 44). Even the very sexual intercourse is not directly told to the audience. Instead, the writer describes her thoughts before and after sleeping with Mr. Sands, calling him a lover (Jacobs 84-85). It was traumatic for her to experience, remember, and share all these events.
There is another reason for Jacobs’s allegorical approach to describing experienced sexual exploitation and relations. It is the cultural paradigm of Christian modesty that was prevalent in late 18th-century US literature. The author builds the focus on the themes of sexual harassment, pressure, and exploitation of the enslaved Black girls and women in her literary work by explaining everything around the subject without directly touching on it.
Freedom and Manhood of Enslaved Black Men in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Jacobs’ famous autobiography demonstrates that for enslaved Black slave women, slavery was closely linked to sexual abuse. Douglass’s monumental literary work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, shows that being enslaved had a psychological linkage with non-freedom and lack of manhood for African American men. Judging by the author’s experience in the book, these can only be obtained by transgressing and transcending personal, traditional, and institutional boundaries. For example, he tells readers that “going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity” (Douglass 27). Douglass realized retrospectively that the first stage of his emancipation began with the breaking down his psychological restraints, which had been formed during his life at the Great House Farm. They began to crumble when he was told to be sent to Baltimore. He washed himself and got new clothes before leaving; it was a ritual of passage from one mental state to another.
Douglass found manhood through the breaking of traditional constraints. It happened when he decided to rebuff Convey, his most cruel enslaver. It was the moment when the narrator found the spirit of manhood. According to Douglass, “but at this moment — from whence came the spirit I don’t know — I resolved to fight” (62). In this narrative episode, one can again see some rite of initiation into a man through violence and gaining strength, fearlessness, and a resisting attitude. Douglass confirms to himself that he is free from institutional shackles and courageous when he begins to follow his plan to escape and succeeds. Making conceptual and narrative connections between freedom, manhood, breaking of boundaries, and the audience’s unconscious understanding of prehistoric ceremonial rites in readers’ subconscious minds is how Douglass focuses their attention on his struggle.
Authors’ Goals, Autobiography, and Slave Narrative
The purpose of the genre of autobiography is straightforward and obvious. According to literature experts, it is “to portray the life experiences and achievements of the author” (“Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir”). Both Douglass and Jacobs follow its sub-genre called the slave narrative. Jacobs exposes sexual abuse to enslaved young and adult Black women by recounting her life story. She also shares positive memories, such as eventually freeing herself from the tyranny of the Flints and obtaining happiness (Jacobs 302-303). Jacobs describes the humiliation of enslaved Black boys and men and shows how one can gain freedom and self-respect using a personal example.
Conclusion
This analytical work is devoted to two world-famous and great autobiographies of early African American writers. To be more specific, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas were discussed. The topics explored are the sexual exploitation, humiliation, and oppression in the works of Jacobs and Douglass and the literary techniques they used to draw the audience’s attention to these.
Works Cited
“Autobiography vs. Biography vs. Memoir.” Blurb, Web.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. Ibiblio, Web.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written By Herself. Schlesinger Library, 1861. The University of Hong Kong, Web.