Similarities Between Harriet And The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

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The Civil War was a pivotal time in history when slaves were finally able to achieve their goal of freedom. Many stories written after the Civil War used Realism, which is defined as looking at life as we see and experience it. The movie Harriet and the short story Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass both make an excellent use of Realism. While it is true that they both share several similarities, including the use of Realism, there are also abundant differences that can be noted. The similarities between the movie Harriet and the short story Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass can easily be seen, especially because both are based on a common subject: slavery. More specifically, however, both of these works depict slaves who …show more content…

The largest difference between these two stories is that Harriet escaped permanently, while Douglass did not. While Harriet was able to start a new life after her escape, Douglass was sent back to the plantation by his master. In the short story Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass states “I remained all night, and, according to his [His Master’s] orders, I started off to Covey’s in the morning…” Another difference between these two stories is that Harriet escaped not only to save herself, but others as well. Frederick Douglass attempted to escape because he feared Mr. Covey would kill him. In the movie Harriet, Harriet goes back to the plantation several times to rescue other slaves. In the short story Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass states “I told him [His Master], to let me get a new home; that as sure as I lived with Mr. Covey again, I should live but to die with him; that Covey would surely kill me…” In addition to this, Harriet’s approach to escaping was certainly more radical than Douglass’ was. Harriet ran away from her master while being shot at, while Douglass went to his master and asked to be moved to a new home. The reason for both of these slaves’ wanting escape also varied slightly. While both wanted to escape to obtain freedom, Harriet wanted to help other slaves and Douglass was trying to preserve himself out of fear of being