The Removal of Dignity

Paper Summary:

This paper presents an examination of two slave narratives, Harriet Jacobs's "Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl" and Frederick Douglas's "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave". It looks at how both texts are presented from the viewpoint of the slave and how, even though they are similar in many areas, there are differences as well. It attempts to explore the differences using gender as its basis.

From the Paper:

"Everything about being a slave meant that the dignity of the slave had to be hidden. If the slave showed dignity or self respect the slave was punished and if they did not hide their dignity the punishment could be severe. The self respect of a slave meant that the slave might begin to think he or she could be something. They might get the idea that they could learn to read and write and then they would start to think for themselves. This was something that the slave owners wanted to avoid at all costs therefore the dignity of a slave was subject to attack and destruction throughout the life of the slave."

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