Frederick Douglass Nonfiction

The nineteenth century was a dynamic and trying time for many American citizens, politicians and unfortunately slaves. In the middle of the century one courageous slave named, Frederick Douglass confronted adversity as a slave through literacy and documenting pertinent events and feelings as a slave. Through his persistence, bravery and knowledge he was able to write two intriguing nonfiction works that provided insight and was incredibly popular. The first work of pure grit is titled, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845 as he in a brief, though callous way summed up his experience as a slave. As a consequence of such popularity and attention in 1855 Douglass published a second book titled, My Bondage and My Freedom

The three pertinent similar events and attitudes are the: essentially absent mother, the illusive father and the very religious but terribly violent slaveholders. , [and the description of plantations and the name and characteristics of most slaveholders]. In addition, another interesting event that is present in both works is the relationship of Douglass his mistress, Mrs. Auld. Lastly, though perhaps not the most obvious similarity was that Douglass, though with varying degree of detail, remarks of his experience in Sabbath school as a teacher to other

As Douglass mentions this in both autobiographies, it reinforces the difficulties he had as a slave and the emotional toll it took on him. In The Narrative, Douglass describes the lack of a relationship with his mother from a very young age, the several mile trips his mother walked to reach him at night and her illness that facilitated her death (Douglass,1845,41-42). Douglass appeared bitter in The Narrative, when describing the separation of him and his mother, questioning the purpose (Douglass,1845,42). Again, in The Narrative, once he received news of his mother's death he had very little emotion towards her death as he was unfamiliar with her (Douglass,1845,42). However despite the ten year difference between the publication of the two autobiographies the information of his mother is quite similar. In the second autobiography, Douglass mentions the separation as a simple statement as it was a custom to separate the children from their mothers, without question or much emotion, but still he mentions it as it is the ultimate source for the lack of affection towards his mother (Douglass, 1855, 42). Another interesting similarity, was that in the later text Douglass described his encounters with his mother practically as a mirror experience, in which he again states that they only met when she snuck out in the night, for short periods of time.