Similarities Between Harriet Jacobs And Frederick Douglass

Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass are two American slave narrative authors. Both were born into slavery, and their real life stories provide a unique insight into the brutal conditions faced by slaves in the 19th century. However, even with their shared experiences, their narratives diverge significantly. Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass’s history need to be compared, to be able to understand how gender influenced their experiences and writing styles, and whether they experience the same kind of freedom.
Both Jacobs and Douglass were both born into slavery in the 1800’s. Jacobs was born in North Carolina and worked as a house slave from a young age. Her master sexually harassed her, but she eventually escaped and went into hiding before

As a woman, Harriet Jacobs faced unique challenges in the slave society. She was forced to endure sexual abuse from her owner and struggled to protect her children from the same abuse. This experience is clear in her narrative, which focuses mainly on the sexual misuse of female slaves. She writes with passion, using her own experiences to gain the attention of free women in the North (Jacobs).
In contrast, Frederick Douglass's narrative is focused on physical abuse and violence. His writing is more organized, focusing on the political and social impacts of slavery. While he breifly talks about to the existence of sexual abuse, he does not write on it in the same way that Jacobs does. This reflects the difference in gendered experiences of slavery, with women facing a unique form of exploitation (Douglass).
The gendered experiences of Jacobs and Douglass are also reflected in their writing styles. Jacobs writes with a lot of emotion, using mental images to project her experiences. She also uses an inconsistent structure in her narrative, constantly moving back and forth in time creating a complicated picture. Douglass, on the other hand, writes in a straightforward style. He structured his narrative using lots of logic to assist his argument against slavery. This shows the different expectations placed on men and women in the 19th century, with men expected to be more rational, while women were allowed