The Harsh Lives Of Frederick Douglass And Harriet Jacobs

In today’s world, we learn about the harsh lives that slaves had to endure and how mistreated they were their entire lives. It’s often hard to imagine what it would have been like and how they coped with their terrible lives. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs discuss how they were able to find hope and comfort through the toughest of times. Through the harsh reality of slavery, slaves had the comfort of family, friends, and God to give them hope to one day have freedom. Family was a large comfort and a little bit of an incentive for slaves who were fortunate enough to have their family near them. Jacobs was able to have her family near her for much of her life in slavery, particularly her grandmother. Jacobs writes,”To this grandmother I was indebted for many comforts.” (806). Jacobs also later mentions, “I was indebted to her for all my comforts, spiritual or temporal” (2). Jacobs felt that her grandmother helped her so much through these times that she would never be able to repay the comfort she received from her grandmother and all the good deeds she did for her. Jacobs also discussed how her grandmother was a “sweet balsam for our troubles.” (5). Her grandmother lived a life that they all longed for

“I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before waked she was gone.” (932). Though Douglass does not know his mother for long, the reader can infer that his mother comes to him for comfort, not only to attempt to comfort her son, but to comfort herself and the separation she had from her beloved child. Slaves had hard trials and struggles through wanting freedom and being separated, but looked to the family they had around them to console them and give them comfort for their pains and