Comparing Slave Narratives

Last semester, I took a black feminist literature class here at Penn State. The class had us reading plenty of slave narratives, all written by females. In our class discussions of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (another one of the stories in our book), our professor had us note several differences between male slave narratives and female slave narratives. One was the difference between how men wrote about how they achieved their freedom and how women wrote about it.


Frederick Douglass' tale of achieving freedom seems to be mostly attributed to his own hard work. Through using various methods to teach himself how to read and write, standing up to his master in a physical confrontation, and sometimes sheer effort of will, Douglass seems to earn his freedom by his own means. However in Incidents, Harriet Jacobs continually addresses the fact that she would not have been able to achieve her freedom without the help of others. Frederick does acknowledge a few places in his book when he purposefully omits names (in order to not implicate certain people in the crime of helping a slave), but his narrative style focuses the burdens on himself.

It is noteworthy to say that Douglass did not have children as Jacobs did. With the extra burden of acquiring the freedom of her children, Jacobs had a lessened ability to simply run away. She also felt a strong familial connection with her grandmother who Jacobs did not want to leave behind either. Indeed, in comparing these two narratives, it seems that connections of any kind hinder the slave from obtaining freedom. This can also be seen when Douglass' group of friends is stopped from running away due to other slaves that had betrayed their plans to their masters.

The main point I'm trying to make here is the difference of opinion between Douglass and Jacobs towards their emancipation from slavery. Douglass wrote from a very individualistic point of view. Indeed, at one point in his narrative Douglass says that he could not even trust people of his own color. He very well might have been a firm believer in the quote, "if you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself." Overall, Douglass takes a stereotypical male view in his narrative. Jacobs makes use of her friendships and community to achieve freedom and gives plenty of credit to those who helped her. Her collectivist view comes across constantly as she mentions those who help hide, house, and transport her to freedom.

Do you think there is a better view or a right view? Do you think that Douglass left out the names and stories of others who may have had a helping hand in his escape?