Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Teaching English Language and Literature for Secondary Schools

Jakub Štěrba

The Slave Narrative and its Crucial Features

Master’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B. A .

2011

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I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………… Author‘s signature

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I would like to thank to the supervisor of my Master‘s Diploma Thesis Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. for the help, support and guidance of my work.

3 Table of Contents

1. Introduction.…………………………………………………………………….. 5

2. The Slave Narrative Genre……………………………………………………… 9

Literacy and Authorship .…………………………………………………… 14

3. Childhood and Disruption of Families in The Slave Narrative…………………. 25

4. Abuse in The Slave Narrative………………………………………………….... 38

Physical Abuse.…………………………………………………………….... 38

Sexual Abuse………………………………………………………………… 49

Social Abuse…………………………………………………………………. 61

5. The Forms of Resistance in The Slave Narrative………………………………... 75

6. Conclusion....……………………………………………………………………. 107

7. Bibliography.……………………………………………………………………. 115

4 Chapter 1

Introduction

The major goal of this thesis is to compare and contrast the early slave narratives written in United States of America by former slaves themselves. Slave narratives were written for and served many purposes in the 19th century. Both antebellum and postbellum narratives offered accounts of slaves‘ lives and the workings of slavery as an institution. The writings also revealed characters of slave owners, plantation overseers, clergy, and, often, the impact slavery had on both slaves and white people, rich as well as poor. As far as the authors of slave narratives are concerned, their writings were usually straightforward and strived towards the most sincere portrayal of their lives and struggles as possible. Serving as means of persuading the American public of the perversion slavery brought about and inherently embodied, the texts also enabled the slaves not only to demonstrate their literacy, but their intellect as well.

Often, slave narratives displayed powerful rhetorical and logical stances and raised arguments and questions against slavery, and again its mechanisms, such as the incorporation of Christian faith into the fabric of slavery.

The slave narratives told stories of life on plantations, of people, and of escapes.

The theme of escape is in fact a recurring one in the writings by slave men – however, this is not so much the case in the writings by female slaves, which constitutes a striking difference between the literary works of the two genders within the same genre. While men ponder the possibility of escaping in most of their slave narratives, theirs are the tales of brave escapes in wooden boxes or physical battles with overseers, women concentrate on utterly disparate issues. They concentrate on slavery as an imminent threat to their families, their bodies, their emotions, and their sexualities.

Even though sexual and physical oppression is common for both genders in slave

5 narratives, the mother-children bond is much more visible in the writings of female slaves. Men hardly ever show much concern for leaving their families behind while escaping. Women, on the other hand, usually stay home precisely because they are unwilling and/or unable to leave their families enslaved. The emotional and, at the same time, logical approach by either of the genders, as well as the role assigned to men and women within the institution of slavery, is thus a crucial point of analysis in critical evaluation of slave narratives as literary works. For it is in comparing the writings and issues dealt with in slave narratives by men versus narratives by women that one moves beyond the obvious to reveal the complexity of slaves‘ lives and the multitude of layers in the writings.

Slave narratives, as mentioned above, are very real and immediate. This is both due to the sincerity and urgency of the issues discussed and the styles the texts are written in. Typically, they were written from the first person perspective. Moreover, slave narratives are non-fiction, in some cases verging on documentary, factual works.

In order to establish an image of the typical slave narrative with its crucial features and to point out the differences between texts written by male and female slaves, the thesis looks at four representative texts of 19th century slave narratives; Frederick Douglass‘s

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Himself, Henry ―Box‖ Brown‘s

Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, Harriet Jacob‘s

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Elizabeth Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes or

Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. The analysis of this four texts traces important aspects of these four writings, and thus depicts the crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter – Introduction – sets the goals of the thesis and sketch how the argument will be approached and dealt with. The

6 second chapter is devoted to the slave narrative genre and especially to the question of authorship which is very important for the slave narrative. The third chapter demonstrates the depiction of childhood and disruption of families in the four texts.

The fourth chapter analyzes the presence of various forms of abuse and shows how they are treated in the slave narrative. The third and fourth chapters trace passive aspects of the slave narrative, since they depict what happen to the slaves, without them being able to engage somehow into the state of affairs that concern them. The fifth chapter of the thesis is quite different as it analyzes the active part of the slave narrative; by performing the acts of resistance the protagonists of the books are acting on their own by standing up to injustices of slavery. This chapter depicts the various forms of resistance that are exercised by the authors. The last chapter, conclusion of the whole thesis, supplements the conclusions presented at the end of each chapter, and summarizes the points that are made in the thesis.

The thesis consists of the textual analysis of these four primary sources in question with the aim to avoid any philosophical questioning, discussion of unrelated issues or implementation of any personal or subjective insights. With the help of the secondary sources consisting from the books dealing with the slave narrative genre in general, and books, articles and reviews dealing with the particular primary sources, the thesis progressively focuses on the answering of two research questions; What are the crucial features of the slave narrative genre and how they are depicted in the writings?

The second questions relates to the diversity of the genre and to the attitude of these four authors towards the institution of slavery which are displayed in the depictions of the crucial features of the slave narrative in their writings. The early slave narratives, as being written roughly at the same time and basically for the same purpose, bear a lot of resemblance typical for this genre. However, despite all the resemblances there is

7 certain diversity and the goal is to point out these differences which show that this genre is worth exploring. The main argument that is being progressively developed through out the thesis depicts the atrocities of slavery as the crucial feature of the slave narrative genre. Atrocities of slavery are presented in every slave narrative and are very significant for the texts. Thus, the thesis concludes with the depiction of the crucial features of the slave narrative, of which the atrocities of slavery are the most significant, which completes the analysis of the slave narrative genre.

8 Chapter 2

The Slave Narrative Genre

The first question to be raised while dealing the slave narrative genre is what is the slave narrative? Charles T. Davis and Henry Louis Gates Jr. offers an answer in their work The Slave’s Narrative. Davis and Gates argue that slave narratives are

―autobiographical narratives written or dictated by ex-slaves of African descent in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries‖ (Davis and Gates v). Such a description of the slave narrative provides the reader with a lot of useful information; it says what a slave narrative is as well as when and by whom the slave narrative was written.

Although slave narratives were written over a period of three centuries, this thesis focuses on the narratives written in the nineteenth century, since the nineteenth century slave narrative represents the climax of the development of the slave narrative genre.

Another important question that is to be raised is what stands behind the origin as well as the expansion of the slave narrative genre? Jennie Miller gives insight on what is known about the slavery while it still exists and what is the character of the information concerning slavery. ―Much of what was initially known about the condition of slaves came from antebellum travel accounts, such as those of Frederick Law Olmstead, or from the writings of Southern apologists published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as Ulrich B. Phillips‖ (Miller 31). Miller continues on the depiction of slavery in the first writings, which also shows how slavery is presented to the broader community. ―In these early works, slavery, as seen through the eyes of the white community, was characterized as both respectable and necessary. Such accounts often depicted slavery as a benign institution and failed to capture the essence of life for the slave‖ (Miller 31). It is quite understandable that ―essence of life for the slave‖ could not be captured and described by a person who never experienced such a life. As

9 stated in Miller‘s words, the reality of slavery was practically non-existent in literary form prior to the publications of the narratives written by former slaves. Thus, the general public could not become familiar with the atrocities of slavery, simply because the bigger part of American population did not have a chance to encounter manifestations of slavery in its real form. This explains why there was a necessity for an emergent of the slave narrative genre. Since there were no real accounts of the realities of living under the slavery in the United States of America, former slaves felt the responsibility to write their life stories in order to familiarize the public with what

American slavery is really like. Since former slaves were writing their stories mainly to help to abolish slavery, they focused in their writings mostly on the depiction of the atrocities materialized by the institution of slavery. Thus, the depiction of the atrocities of slavery can be perceived as the most important feature of the slave narrative genre.

However, there was an obstacle for former slaves to write their narratives; the obstacle caused by the lack of education for slaves and especially by the fact that majority of slaves did not have reading and writing skills. The problems with literacy, and consequently questions concerning the authorship of the slave narrative, are dealt with separately in the next sub-chapter. Since these two related concepts are of great importance, they need to be looked upon before the actual comparative analysis of the four slave narratives in question is initiated.

One of the arguments concerning the slave narrative genre in general is the fact that it lacks diversity. James Olney deals with the question of diversity of slave narratives in his essay ―‘I Was Born‘: Slave Narratives, Their Status as Autobiography and as Literature‖ which is included in the collection of essays The Slave’s Narrative.

Olney argues that since slave narratives are autobiographical works, they should be

10 unique. In this sense they should represent quite a broad diversity, however, this is not the case as Olney points out.

―If […] a reader should proceed to take up […] half dozen narratives, however

(and there is a great lot of them from which to choose the half dozen), a sense

not of uniqueness but of overwhelming sameness is almost certain to be the

result. And if [the] reader continues through two or three dozen more slave

narratives, still having hardly begun to broach the whole body of material (one

estimate puts the number of extant narratives at over six thousand), he is sure to

come away dazed by the mere repetitiveness of it all: seldom will he discover

anything new or different but only, always more and more of the same‖

(Davis and Gates 148, emphasis in original).

This quotation is important for several reasons. Firstly, it provides the reader with an interesting as well as useful information for dealing with the slave narrative genre – the estimated number of slave narratives. Secondly, this quotation declares that even despite the fact that there are ―over six thousand‖ slave narratives, the slave narrative genre does not offer much diversity. The reason for this is mainly the fact that the conditions that had to be endured by slaves were of very similar character. However, for the purpose of the analysis of the slave narrative genre in this thesis I have chosen slave narratives that, within the possible limits, display certain amount of diversity. All of these four chosen narratives bear a lot of resemblance, but they also have some dissimilarities, although these dissimilarities are not to be found in crucial facts but rather in some minor phenomena.

The first step in an attempt to present diversity of the slave narrative genre for the analysis in this thesis is the inclusion of male and female slave narratives. Quite an interesting point is that slave narratives were, at the very beginning, rather dominance

11 of male writers. Ann Taves points out that ―[o]f the more than one hundred and thirty autobiographical narratives and slave narratives written by persons of African descent and published prior to 1865, only sixteen were written by women‖ (Taves 59).

However, although female slave narratives were not as numerous as male slave narratives, they were of no less significance. Female slave narratives are very important, because they bring something new to the table. The contribution of the female slave narrative to the slave narrative genre is apparent also from Beaulieu‘s comments. Beaulieu declares that ―Jacobs offered me [Beaulieu] the companion piece to Douglass‘s example of physical bravery, heroic struggle, and escape; her work […] provides a woman‘s perspective on slavery, suffering, connectedness, and motherhood and is straightforward in outlining the multiple sites of oppression faced by black women‖ (Beaulieu x). After showing important aspects of the female slave narrative on Jacobs‘ example, Beaulieu also comments on the importance of Keckley‘s writing for the slave narrative genre. ―Keckley‘s postbellum slave narrative‖ Beaulieu points out, ―modifies the genre to accommodate female experience, just as Harriet Jacobs’s

[sic] Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which had appeared earlier, added a female perspective to the antebellum slave narrative‖ (Beaulieu 78, emphasis in original).

Here, Beaulieu demonstrates the importance of the female slave narrative, especially how it enriches the diversity of the slave narrative genre by offering different perspective on the conditions of life under American slavery. This comment of

Beaulieu also brings attention to another important part of the slave narrative genre – the postebellum slave narrative.

Having pointed out the importance of including male and female slave narratives for dealing with the slave narrative genre, another point to be made in the selection of the narratives that helps to create diversity of the analyzed material is the

12 inclusion of the postbellum slave narrative. For dealing with the slave narrative genre, an important distinction between two types of slave narratives – antebellum and postbellum slave narratives – have to be made. Steve Criniti presents insights of

Frances Smith Foster concerning the postbellulm slave narrative. ―Foster,‖ Criniti points out, ―compare[s] antebellum slave narratives to postbellum slave narratives—of which she argues Elizabeth Keckley's is a prime example. Foster points out that the duty of antebellum slave narratives, like Jacobs‘s [sic] or Douglass‘s, [sic] was to bring to light the downright wickedness and brutality of the institution of slavery‖ (Criniti

312). Thus, the main distinction of the postbellum slave narrative is the fact its authors do not dwell much on the cruelties and inhumanity of slavery since they are ―relieved of the responsibility of making an argument for the insidiousness of slavery, are free instead to demonstrate that freed slaves are prepared to participate productively in

American life‖ (Criniti 314). Also an important point is the fact that ―[p]laying on this northern sympathy and revealing the gruesome nature of plantation life [which are] the essential modes of the antebellum slave narrative,‖ are not to be found in the postbellum slave narrative (Criniti 312). However, although the main purpose of the postbellum slave narrative is different from the antebellum slave narrative, the postbellum slave narrative also includes examples of cruelties of slavery. Thus, even though ―Keckley […] spends little time on the brutality of her slave experience and focuses, rather, on her successes and her contribution to Washington D.C. society‖

(Criniti 314) the atrocities of slavery are displayed in her story, which makes her story suitable for the purpose of the analysis of the slave narrative genre in this thesis.

Thus, despite the fact that the diversity of the slave narrative genre is quite limited, the selection of the books for this thesis attempts to make most of this diversity, as is discussed on several occasions later in the text. The preceding

13 arguments show the basic characteristic of the slave narrative genre; they trace the origins of this genre and demonstrate what stands behind its creation as well as its expansion. As suggested earlier, the next point that is to be discussed in this thesis is the importance of the literacy and authorship for the slave narrative.

Literacy and Authorship

This subchapter deals with the problems of literacy that had to be encountered by slaves and it connects literacy to the question of authorship which constitutes quite an issue while dealing with the slave narrative genre. Literacy was a very important issue in the lives of American slaves. The inaccessibility of obtaining reading and writing skills made it very difficult, or almost impossible, for former slaves to give accounts of their life stories. Miller points out that to posses the abilities to read and write was very rare for slaves. Miller makes a general observation on literacy and connects it to Douglass and Jacobs. ―In the time when only ten percent of all slave could read or write, Douglass and Jacobs each received the gift of learning from sympathetic mistresses who were willing to break the law in order to educate their slaves‖ (Miller 32). This quotation shows that how lucky Douglass and Jacobs were and it also displays how a slave could learn. The learning process of a slave was very difficult, since in general there were not many white people who were willing to break the law in order to educate slaves. Thus, the result was that only a small portion of all slaves had reading and writings skills, which made the literacy quite an infrequent phenomenon in the lives of slaves‘. As it is apparent from Santamarina‘s comment, the concept of literacy can represents another point that sets Keckley‘s narrative apart form other slave narratives. Santamarina argues that ―Behind the Scenes diverges rather dramatically from the concerns expressed in these ‗classic‘ narratives [narratives of

Douglass and Jacobs] depicting literacy and the obstacles slavery mounted for black

14 women‖ (Santamarina 518). Keckley story does not refer to literacy or rather to problems of obtaining abilities to read and write. For Douglass, literacy plays a very important role, which is summarized by Santamarina as following, ―[m]ost often, modern readers of Douglass‘s [sic] compelling narrative focus on the former slave‘s descriptions of his subversive acquisition of literacy as a young boy and his courageous physical resistance to the slave ‗breaker,‘ Mr. Covey‖ (Santamarina 518). On the matter of importance of literacy Santamarina continues by saying that ―[f]or Douglass, learning to read and write helped him to recognize and dispel what he saw as the intellectually stunting tendencies of slavery, declaring that that ‗to make a contended slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one‘‖ (Santamarina 518). However, the concept of literacy is also quite important for the plot of Douglass‘ narrative since, as

Santamarina points out, ―linking of literacy to reason allowed Douglass to justify his fight with Covey and to highlight his dramatic transformation from ‗slave to man‘‖

(Santamarina 518). These arguments sufficiently demonstrate the general significance of literacy for the lives of slaves as well as for the text written by former slaves.

Having dealt with the issue of literacy, the analysis shifts the attention to the question of authorship of the slave narrative. It is probably the most heated issue concerning the slave narrative genre at the time of the publication of the majority of slave narratives. The authenticity of the slave narrative is very often denied by the pro- slavery part of the society as suggested by Phelan and Rabinowitz in their book A

Companion to Narrative Theory. ―Life narratives chronicling life in the slave system, at times produced with and circulated by abolitionists, were often challenged as fraudulent by defenders of slavery‖ (Phelan and Rabinowitz, eds. 359). Since prior to its abolition as well as afterwards slavery had a lot of defenders, it is no wonder that the authors of slave narratives had to face many obstacles in their attempts to publish their

15 narratives. Phelan and Rabinowitz explains what stands behind the negative attitude that was held towards the authors of slave narratives in the nineteenth century as they say that ―racist discourses and the slave system – even as that system was collapsing – located slaves and ex-slaves as fundamentally less-than-human, uneducable, and incapable of either free agency or narrative authority‖ (Phelan and Rabinowitz, eds.

360). As suggested in this quotation, the authors of slave narratives had to deal with racial prejudice; an obstacle that is very difficult to be overcome. Phelan and

Rabinowitz continue with the comments on the negative attitudes held towards the writings created by former slaves. ―Some apologists for slavery were dismissive of the narrative‘s content, some skeptical that an escaped slave could write so eloquently‖

(Phelan and Rabinowitz, eds. 360). The above mentioned quotations demonstrate the negative attitudes that were held by some members of the public towards slave narratives at the time of their publications. Thus, taking into consideration the lack of opportunities to learn read and write as well as the racial prejudice, it is quite an admirable achievement for a former slave to manage to publish his or her narrative.

However, the publication of the slave narrative would not be possible without some assistance. The role of abolitionists in the process of publication of the slave narrative was crucial. Phelan and Rabinowitz give account of abolitionists‘ reactions to the opinions expressed by the slavery-sympathizers. ―Abolitionists […] were concerned to provide authenticating prefaces to support the narrative‘s claim to authenticity. Thus, the sociopolitical context of production and reception rendered the narrative suspicious and made its external verification necessary‖ (Phelan and Rabinowitz, eds. 360). The importance of the abolitionists‘ patronage for the particular slave narrative is unquestionable. The most typical verification of the content of the particular narrative is in the form of introductory passage written by abolitionists and included in the

16 preface of the slave narrative, which is also the case with the all four slaves narratives analyzed in this thesis. Thus, the significant role of abolitionists was not present only in the fact that they helped to publish the slave narrative, but also in the fact that thanks to their influence the slave narrative was better received by the readerships. However, as apparent from the comments made by Jon Sterngass on the importance of abolitionists for the narrative of Frederick Douglass, the role of abolitionists is quite versatile.

―Abolitionists, especially Wendell Phillips, encouraged him [Douglass] to write his life story‖ (Sterngass 57). Thus, the assistance of abolitionist was also present in the support that they offered to former slaves during the actual process of writing their slave narratives. It could be argued that without the abolitionists‘ assistance the writings of many slave narratives would not have even been initiated. However, abolitionists could have even negative influence on the perception of the slave narrative. It is not an easy task to clarify how much of any slave narrative is written by its author, since every slave narrative is edited, usually by an abolitionist. To draw a clean unambiguous line between the contributions of the author and the editor of the same narrative is quite impossible. Thus, if the interference of abolitionist is too vivid in the narrative, abolitionists may be accused of telling the story instead of former slaves, which could initiate the questioning of the authorship with the possible outcome of poor acceptance of the particular slave narrative by the readership.

After this general introduction concerning by some held negative attitude towards the slave narrative and after the display of the significant role of abolitionists for the publication of the slave narrative, I now shift attention towards the issue of authorship in the narratives of Douglass, Brown, Jacobs and Keckley. These four authors had to face various obstacles such as problems with the publications of their narratives or accusations that they did not write their works themselves. The

17 demonstration of the importance of the authorship of the slave narrative prepares the field for the comparative analysis of the four slave narratives in question.

The patronage of the white abolitionists for the publication of the slave narrative is very important, which is also apparent in the case of Frederick Douglass. Douglass is very lucky as the publication of his narrative was assisted by two very famous and influential abolitionists as declared by Sterngass. In Douglass‘ narrative ―[t]here was a ten-page preface by Garrison and a four-page letter from Wendell Phillips. These two famous white abolitionists guaranteed that Douglass was not lying. They discussed his many sufferings and his great accomplishments. They showed tremendous enthusiasm for Douglass and for his story‖ (Sterngass 60). That abolitionists‘ patronage is important for the publication of the slave narrative and that it is appreciated by the authors of the slave narrative is also apparent from the following statement made by

Peter C. Myers. Myers states that ―in chapter eighteen of his last autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass‖ Douglass ―paid tribute to his own and the abolition movement‘s many benefactors, beginning with Garrison. Without altogether disclaiming the title of self-made man, he declared, ‗I owe my success in life‘ to those abolitionist friends‖ (Myers 13). Thus, Douglass even despite his determination and success to posses the control over his own writings understands the importance of white abolitionists for his career and his writings. However, probably one of the greatest achievements gained by Douglass is the fact that Douglass, unlike many other slave narratives authors, does not let his voice to be overwhelmed by white abolitionists and to be lost in the jumble of their thoughts and opinions. Douglass manages to present his perception of reality in his own specific and desired way. Douglass‘ narrative is interesting for yet another fact. Douglass‘ authorship is not as much questioned as is the case wit the majority of slave narratives. Sterngass explains why Douglass‘ narrative is

18 so well received and that the authorship is not being questioned. ―Many people‖

Sterngass says, ―had heard Douglass lecture. They knew that the language of the

Narrative was the same as Douglass‘ language when he told his story as a speaker‖

(Sterngass 58). Douglass had an advantage, since he published his book after he became a relatively well-known figure. Thus, the acceptance of his narrative was much easier, which differentiates Douglass from other authors of the slave narrative.

The crucial role of the authorship in the acceptance of the slave narrative by the readership can be best displayed on the case of Henry ―Box‖ Brown. Suzette A.

Spencer argues that ―Brown‘s slave narratives have not garnered much scholarly attention, perhaps because they were authored by amanuenses, and literacy/authorship has become an important focus of slave narratives‖ (Spencer 230). There is no doubt that the ―authorship‖ or written by himself/herself is an important part of the slave narrative, without which the narrative could not be well accepted. The case of Brown‘s authorship is complicated by the fact that there are two versions of his narrative. John

Ernest points out that ―the first narrative of Brown‘s escape [was] written by the white abolitionist Charles Stearns‖ (Ernest, Outside the Box). This version was published in

1849, the same year that Brown escaped, with the following title and comments,

―Narrative of Henry Box Brown, Who Escaped from Slavery Enclosed in a Box 3 Feet

Long and 2 Wide. Written from a Statement of Facts Made by Himself. With Remarks upon the Remedy for Slavery‖ (Ernest, Outside the Box). This version is criticized by

Spencer who states that ―the 1849 edition evinced heavy-handed editorship‖ (Spencer

230). The second version of Brown‘s narrative came two years later. Ernest points out that ―[i]n May, 1851, Brown, now living in England and well known both for his escape and his public performances, published in Manchester the second version of his narrative (and the ‗First English Edition‘): Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown,

19 Written by Him' self [sic]‖ (Ernest, Outside the Box). The fact that Brown first published his narrative as told by him but written by somebody else, undermines the authority of the second narrative that cannot be approached otherwise than with suspicion. Spencer for criticizing Brown‘s slave narrative uses quotations of James

Olney‘s who says that ―the facts have been dressed up in the exotic rhetorical garments provided by … Stearns, there is precious little of Box Brown (other than the representation of the box itself) that remains in the narrative. (1985, p.161)‖ (Spencer

230). A similar point of view is held by Ernest, who claims that, ―[a]s others have noted, Stearns's [sic] religious and political views, along with his elaborate rhetoric, overwhelm the 1849 version of Brown‘s story‖ (Ernest, Outside the Box). As presented here, the voice of Brown‘s is not so much present in the first version of his narrative.

However, the importance of the patronage of influential abolitionists, in this case of

Charles Stearns, that necessary for the publication of the book written by former slaves is displayed. Nonetheless, the complexity of Brown‘s authorship and the polemics over the differences between two versions of his narrative, serve as an argument for the importance of authorship for the slave narrative that is among the first factors that decide the acceptance of the book by the literary world and form the validity and credibility of the narrative.

The question of authorship plays an important role also in the publication of

Harriet Jacobs‘ narrative. Jacobs is at first accused of not writing her story as suggested by Phelan and Rabinowitz. ―The nineteenth-century slave narrative composed by

Harriet Jacobs and published as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in 1861 is an example of a life narrative thought to be a hoax but then later validated as authentic‖

(Phelan and Rabinowitz, eds. 359). Although, at the beginning Jacobs was accused of not writing her narrative, her authorship was later validated and her book is finally well

20 received by the readership. The influence of white abolitionists on the acceptance of

Jacobs‘ book as well as on the whole process of the writing is obvious. Jean Fagan

Yellin states several reasons for the questioning of Jacobs‘ authorship of Incidents.

―When Jacobs first agreed to a public account of her life‖ Yellin points out, ―she did not plan to write herself, but to enlist Stowe‘s [Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s] aid in helping her produce a dictated narrative‖ (Yellin 482). Thus, the initial idea held by Jacobs to tell the story but have it written by somebody else, is very similar to Brown. However,

Yellin later explains that this intention of Jacobs failed because Jacobs was not content with the intention of Stowe who wanted to use Jacobs‘ story only as a source for writing her own book. Even though finally ―Jacobs decided to write her story herself‖ it was not an easy task, since, as stated before, it was difficult for former slaves to publish their narratives (Yellin 483). Yellin, commenting on problems that Jacobs encountered during the process of writing her narrative, states that Jacobs ―spent years on the manuscript and, when it was finished, more years trying to get it published in England and America‖ (Yellin 483). However, after all the obstacles that she encountered,

Jacobs managed to publish her story especially thanks to support and help from Lydia

Maria Child who also edited Jacobs‘ writing and wrote the preface for the narrative.

Child‘s role in the publication of Jacobs‘ story displays the important role of white abolitions in the process of writing and publication of the slave narrative. However,

Child‘s importance is also presented in her confirmation and verification of Jacobs‘ ability to write the narrative that is obvious in the letter from Child to Jacobs which is included in Yellin‘s study. ―I [Child] have very little occasion to alter the language, which is wonderfully good, for one whose opportunities for education have been so limited. The events are interesting, and well told; the remarks are also good, and to the purpose‖ (Yellin 484). Child does not only praise Jacobs‘ writing, since that could be

21 perceived as one sided opinion by the opponents of anti-slavery movement. ―But I

[Child] am copying a great deal of it, for the purpose of transposing sentences and pages, so as to bring the story into continuous order, and the remarks into appropriate places‖ (Yellin 484, emphasis in original). These comments on Jacobs‘ writing are very important. Child presents positive as well as negative comments on Jacobs‘ writing that creates important balance which adds the credibility and authenticity to Jacobs‘ narrative. These examples show the importance of the patronage of an abolitionist for publication of the slave narrative as well as the significance of the authorship that is not being as much questioned in Jacobs‘ as in case of Brown, which enables Jacobs‘ story to be better received.

The narrative of Elizabeth Keckley did not have many problems in being published. Support for this assertion is in the fact that problems connected with publication are not discussed in essays and writings dealing with Keckley‘s narrative.

However, Keckley faced totally different problems – the lack of the readership, since her book was poorly received. Carolyn Sorisio declares that ―[d]espite Keckley‘s sincere intentions, Behind the Scenes [sic] was met with public ridicule and the media‘s wrath‖ (Sorisio). Sorisio mentions several critiques that were cast against Keckley in various media; ―The New York Times‖ Sorisio says ―questioned Keckley‘s authorship and said she would have been better off to ‗have stuck to her needle‘ as ‗the disclosures made in‘ her book were ‗gross violations of confidence‘‖ (Sorisio). Not only by media was Keckley‘s book poorly received as suggested by Sorisio. ―In Keckley‘s personal and social circles, the response to Behind the Scenes [sic] was not much better. Mary

Todd Lincoln read the book in early May and ‗thereafter renounced the ―colored historian‖ as friend and confident‘ (Baker 280)‖ (Sorisio). Sorisio continues that ―[f]or a combination of reasons, Foster notes that the book was eventually withdrawn from

22 stores, and Keckley was left to earn her living by sewing and from a small pension she received for her son‘s death in the Civil War‖ (Sorisio). Criniti comments on the very same thing and adds more details to the above-mentioned withdrawal. ―In the end‖

Criniti argues, ―due to the influence of Robert Lincoln, the book was ultimately suppressed—printing stopped, Keckley made little money from the publication and lost many of her dress-buying customers, and the figure of Elizabeth Keckley was soon forgotten‖ (Criniti 320). Thus, Keckley, unlike Douglass and Brown who became well- known and respected after the publications of their narratives, Keckley‘s life situation was rather complicated by the publication of her book. Nonetheless, disregarding the reception Behind the Scenes, Keckley managed to public her narrative and to tell her experience of slavery. In this way, Keckley contributes to the slave narrative genre of which her book is an important element. The above-mentioned arguments show that it was not an easy task for former slaves to publish their narratives, and that there was a need for assistance from white abolitionists. These arguments also show the importance of authorship for the slave narrative and that the polemics over the authorship can diminish the chance of the particular narrative to be well received by the readership.

The slave narrative genre is an interesting genre of literature. Even though the slave narrative genre may be sometimes rather neglected, since it might be perceived as not as much elaborated as some other genres of literature, in my opinion it deserves literary attention. Since the institution of slavery represents an important part of the history of the United States of America, the importance of slave narratives from the historical point of view is unquestionable. Slave narratives may serve as very useful sources for dealing with various aspects of the history as well as the development of the

United States of America as a nation. However, slave narratives are not important only from the historical but also from the literary point of view. Support for this assertion is

23 presented on the following pages and summarized in the conclusion of the whole thesis.

After these two introductory chapters I now shift attention to the comparative analysis of the slave narratives written by Frederick Douglass, Henry ―Box‖ Brown, Harriet

Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley. The following pages, which constitute the main part of this thesis, depict the crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

24 Chapter 3

Childhood and Disruption of Families in The Slave Narrative

As is the case with any biography or autobiography, the depiction of childhood creates the beginning of the story and it constitutes an important part of the book. This is not an exception in the case of the slave narrative. The basics characteristics of childhood in the slave narrative are presented in frequent unpleasant events which are predominantly displayed in circumstances concerning removal or death of family members. The disruption of families and family ties plays an important role in the slave narrative, since it helps to convey the main massage of the slave narrative – the atrocities of slavery. This chapter analyzes the depictions of childhood in the writings of the four authors who are approached chronologically according to dates of publications of their narratives – Frederick Douglass, Henry ―Box‖ Brown, Harriet

Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley. Jennie Miller comments on the depiction of childhood in the slave narrative as she compares the situations of Douglass and Jacobs. ―Each author,‖ by which Miller means Douglass and Jacobs, ―remembers happy times and carefree feelings until they reached the age of six or seven, at which time both

Douglass and Jacobs experienced the loss of their mother. At the same time, they both became aware of their condition as slaves‖ (Miller 32). This quotation sets the direction for the analysis of depiction of childhood in the writings of the particular author. The period of childhood in the slave narrative is rather peculiar. On one hand, this period may be considered a happy one, since slave children are spared of physical abuse and heavy duties which become inseparable parts of their lives after they grow up. It can be perceived happy also because slave children are often not aware of the fact that they are slaves or what this reality means for them. However, on the other hand, childhood represents very harsh circumstances that have to be encountered by the majority of

25 slave children. For example slave children do not know about their age or do not know much about their families. Disruption of families, however, stands out of these harsh circumstances and is, besides the depiction of childhood, the main focus of the analysis in this chapter. The disruption of families in the slave narrative happens mainly for two reasons. First reason is the early separation of the child form its mother, and thus practically from the whole family, since the mother is either sold away or is simply not allowed to spend time with her child. The second reason for the disruption of families is death of family members; a frequently occurring phenomenon in the slave narrative.

The following arguments show the presence of these realities in the writings of the four authors in question and point out the differences between these four texts. The chapter concludes with showing the significance of the depiction of childhood and disruption of families for the slave narrative genre.

The first author whose childhood is to be analyzed here is Frederick Douglass.

Douglass begins his narrative with the comments on slaves‘ ignorance on their ages and birthdays. ―I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs […] I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday‖ (Douglass 1). Douglass can only ―estimate‖ his age from what he hears from his master who says that ―some time during 1835 [Douglass] was about seventeen years old‖ (Douglass 1). After stating the ignorance of his own age, Douglass moves to depiction of his family situation. Except for the fact that he ―was a white man‖ as ―he was admitted to be such by all I [Douglass] ever heard speak of my parentage‖

Douglass does not know anything about his father (Douglass 1). The rumors telling that

Douglass‘ master is his father are never confirmed. Jon Sterngass depicts the significance of this to Douglass‘ life as he says that ―[i]t always frustrated Douglass not

26 to know his father‘s identity‖ (Sterngass 16). After depiction of the affairs concerning his father Douglass shifts the attention towards his mother. ―My mother and I‖ says

Douglass, ―were separated when I was but an infant – before I knew her as my mother‖

(Douglass 1). Douglass gives account of the relationship, or rather the lack of it, with his mother whom he sees no ―more than four or five times in [his] life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night‖ (Douglass 2). ―I do not recollect‖

Douglass continues ―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 I waked she was gone. Very little communication ever took place between us‖ (Douglass 2).

Douglass‘ mother is not able to spend more time with her son as she lives on a different plantation, which demonstrates the early separation of the mother from its child.

However, this disruption of family in Douglass‘ case is not yet final. Another unpleasant event of Douglass‘ childhood takes place when ―[d]eath soon ended what little we [Douglass and his mother] could have while she lived‖ (Douglass 2). This event finalizes the disruption of Douglass‘ family in his narrative. The result of these circumstances is the fact that Douglass, as Sterngass points out, ―had almost no memory of‖ his mother (Sterngass 16). Thus, due to the lack of both parents there is no family structure present in his narrative, which in turn explains why the family does not play an important role in Douglass‘ writing. The focus of Douglass‘ writing is placed only on the life of Douglass and his achievements, which differentiates him from

Brown and Jacobs who both devote much more attention to family structure and disruption of family ties in their narratives.

Going back to Douglass‘ mother, it needs to be pointed out that, since the development of any kind of closer relationship with his mother is prevented from

Douglass, he reacts quite unemotionally to her death. ―When Frederick was about

27 seven‖ Sterngass declares, ―he heard that his mother had died from a long illness‖ and his reaction is as following (Sterngass 16). ―I received,‖ Douglass states, ―the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger‖ (Douglass 2). Even though it can be assumed that at this age Douglass comprehends the concept of death, he does not fully understand the significance of the death of his mother. This represents the fact that Douglass‘ relationship towards his mother is absolutely non-existent which is summarized by Miller who argues that

―Douglass lacked any emotional attachment toward his mother because of their forced separation‖ (Miller 33). As is obvious from the examples above, the disruption of the family that happens during Douglass‘ childhood presents an important part of his narrative. Miller continues on the role of the family in Douglass‘ writing; ―Douglass had little association with his family‖ which explains the little space that is devoted to family references in his writings and sets Douglass apart from Jacobs whose ―situation exemplified strong family ties‖ (Miller 33). However, a similar case occurs in the writing of Henry Brown, which could be perceived as the presentation of one of the distinctions between male and female slave narratives. From a different point of view, as apparent from Sterngass comments on Douglass sojourn in Baltimore, ―Frederick had very few responsibilities beyond running the occasional errand. He spent a good deal of time roaming through the growing port of Baltimore‖ (Sterngass 22). Thus,

Douglass does not mention any beatings or heavy duties that are inflicted upon him while still a child. This represents some positive features that are, even though very rarely, included in a slave‘s childhood, which also serves as another connecting point of between Douglass‘ writing and the writings of Brown and Jacobs. However, the unpleasant circumstances that are depicted in childhood period prevail in Douglass‘ narrative. Due to absence and consequent early death of his mother, Douglass does not

28 get a change to develop relation with his mother or any other family member. The above mentioned arguments demonstrate the fact that the atrocities of slavery, which are one of the central points of the slave narrative, are to be found already in the period of childhood in the narrative of Frederick Douglass, which shows the importance of this concept for the slave narrative genre.

Moving to depiction of childhood in the narrative of Henry ―Box‖ Brown, some resemblances to Douglass emerge, however, the conditions are relatively less harsh. ―It was not my fortune‖ Brown begins ―to be long under my mother‘s care; but I still possess a vivid recollection of her affectionate oversight‖ (Brown 374). Brown‘s case is different, since he remembers his mother quite well unlike Douglass. When Brown is

―15 years of age‖ his master dies and leaves Brown to his son, ―which division,‖ Brown continues, ―separated me from my father and mother, my sister and brother [which] was the most severe trial to my feelings which I had ever endured‖ (Brown 386). From this passage is quite obvious that Brown‘s conditions are different from Douglass mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Brown does not lose his mother in such an early age, and thus he has an opportunity to be under her care unlike Douglass. Secondly, Brown comprehends what the disruption of family means and he comments on it in quite a different manner than Douglass, which is mainly the outcome of the first reason mentioned above. Similarly to Douglass, in his early childhood, Brown is not subjected to cruel beatings or any extremely hard work as apparent from Brown‘s comments on this matter. ―While quite a lad‖ Brown asserts ―my principal employment was waiting upon my master and mistress, and at intervals taking lessons in the various kinds of work which was carried on on the plantation‖ (Brown 378). This quotation should not suggest that Brown‘s childhood was an easy one; it just shows that slave‘s childhood can have some positive features, considering the generally unfavorable circumstances.

29 However, these rarely occurring positive features are confronted and overwhelmed with atrocities of slave‘s childhood as is apparent from the statement of John Ernest. Ernest points out that, ―[a]ddressing his mother‘s separation from her youngest child, Brown offers a long statement on the trauma of enslavement and on the force of traumatic memory‖ (Ernest, Traumatic Theology 27-28). Brown does not fail to incorporate the loss of his mother into his writing, which helps to support the argument for the significance of this aspect for the slave narrative genre.

Although, the passages describing his childhood are not very long, Brown manages to depict the most crucial points of this period – the horrid of separation from his mother and non-functioning family due to the unfavorable circumstances and forced separation. Thus, depiction of Brown‘s childhood displays atrocities of slavery that are typical for the slave narrative genre. The disruption of the family, however, comes later in his life, which sets Brown apart from other authors of the slave narrative who lose their families at quite younger age; such as the case of Harriet Jacobs. Anne Bradford

Warner summarizes the role of the family in the male slave narrative and connects it to the female slave narrative. Warner argues that, ―[t]hough the attachment to family is sometimes remarkably strong in the more traditional male slave narratives, frequently the narrator‘s family is so undermined that the attachment is never formed, and rarely do these narratives depict a stable, highly organized folk culture as it exists in Edenton in Jacobs‘ narrative‖ (Warner 34). This statement well summarizes the role of family in the male slave narrative which bears less significance in the writing, and prepares the fields for moving on to the depiction of childhood in the female slave narrative.

Harriet Jacobs devotes a lot of space to her childhood and family in her book, much more than any other of the other three authors, which explains why Jacobs‘ passage in this part of the analysis is the longest one. Jacobs starts her narrative with

30 the words, ―I WAS BORN a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away.‖ (Jacobs 1, emphasis in original). From the very beginning, Jacobs‘ case is different from both Douglass and Brown, since Jacobs mentions first a positive memory of her childhood displayed in her ignorance of being a slave. Jacobs goes on explanation why her life was not generally so hard at this period. Jacobs describes her father as ―a carpenter‖ that is ―so intelligent and skillful in his trade‖ that his sent ―to be head workman‖ for important buildings in the vicinity (Jacobs 1). Jacobs‘ father is very competent that is apparent form the fact that he is ―allowed to work at his trade‖ after paying some money to his mistress. Thus, Jacobs‘ father manages more or less to take care of his family, which is not an easy task for a slave. Sterngass comments on the importance of hiring one‘s time as he argues that ―[s]laves […] liked the hiring-out system [since it] gave them undreamed of independence‖ (Sterngass 36). This ability of hiring out one‘s time is very important and it is quite a considerable achievement, as one may see in many other slave narratives. It usually provides a slave with an opportunity to either earn enough money to buy his or her freedom or to gather enough financial resources that enable that particular slave to escape from slavery. However, this does not happen in case of Jacobs‘ father who, despite the fact that his ―strongest wish was to purchase his children [and that] he several times offered his hard earnings for that purpose, […] never succeeded‖ (Jacobs 1). Thus, although Jacobs‘ father stands in charge of his family his competences are strongly limited, since he cannot take care of his family at the full extent. Nonetheless, even though his power is diminished, at least he can have some meaningful function in the life of his family. Such an example is not to be found in the other narratives analyzed in this thesis. Thus, in Jacobs‘ story, the role of the father is present and is emphasized accordingly. Another important point in Jacobs‘ narrative is the fact that Jacobs‘ family is complete for quite a long time

31 considering the circumstances. Jacobs lives with both her parents and her brother

―together in a comfortable home‖ (Jacobs 1). However, Jacobs is not lucky only because of the relative peace at home and because her nucleus family is complete.

Jacobs has even ―maternal grandmother [who is a] remarkable woman in many respects‖ (Jacobs 1). The grandmother resides nearby and has a positive influence on the run of the whole family. The grandmother is very capable and is described as ―an indispensable personage in the household‖ of her mistress (Jacobs 2). Even though her grandmother is not allowed to buy her time as Jacobs‘ father, she manages to obtain

―permission of her mistress to bake crackers at night‖ and to make quite a profitable business for herself (Jacobs 2). Besides helping to feed the rest of the family with the crackers the main goal of Jacobs‘ grandmother is to save money in order to buy freedom for her children. The grandmother partially fulfils her wishes as ―she succeeded in buying Phillip [one of her sons]. She paid eight hundred dollars, and came home with the precious document that secured his freedom‖ (Jacobs 26). Even though such a family structure is not very typical for the slave narrative, it helps to understand the great significance of the family in Jacobs‘ narrative. Miller states that ―Jacobs, in contrast‖ to the male slave narrative ―began and ended her life as a slave consumed with thoughts about her father, mother, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, as well as her children. She devotes the first section of her autobiography to explaining these relationships and their significance in her life‖ (Miller 33). Such a structure of well-working and functioning family is rather exceptional in the slave narrative, and it demonstrates the certain amount of diversity that is to be found in the slave narrative genre.

Nonetheless, after these fortunate circumstances presented above, an abrupt change takes place in Jacobs‘ life. ―When I was six years old‖ Jacobs states, ―my

32 mother died; and then, for the first time, I learned, by the talk around me, that I was a slave‖ (Jacobs 3). The death of Jacobs‘ mother is soon followed by the death of her father. Thus, Jacobs loses both her parents in a short interval. The death of parents is very important, as it sheds more light on the depiction of childhood in Jacobs‘ story.

Jacobs‘ childhood is, at least at the very beginning, pleasant if compared with

Douglass, who does not know the identity of his father and who sees his mother several times and only during night before she dies. However, Jacobs‘ childhood takes turn for the worse and the circumstances of losing both her parents relates Jacobs back to the more typical scenery of the slave narrative. Concerning the role of family in the slave narrative, Miller comments on the importance of family in Jacobs‘ narrative,

―Whether mourning the loss of her mother as a child, being overcome with guilt

because of her grandmother‘s disapproval of her sexual relationship with the

father of her children, becoming grief-stricken over her beloved great-aunt‘s

death, or being filled with anxiety after learning of her brother‘s alleged escape

to freedom, Jacobs always thought of her family.‖

(Miller 33)

Similar concern with a family is missing in any other narrative analyzed in this thesis and it ascribes Jacobs certain uniqueness. Such a devotion to the family may be ascribed to the gender issue. This, however, could explain only differences between

Jacobs‘ writings and the narratives of Douglass and Brown, but it would fail to explain differences between Jacobs and Keckley, since depiction of the family in Keckley‘s narrative is quite different as discussed below. Nonetheless, the above mentioned examples depict the conditions of childhood in Jacobs‘ text, which include some happy moments. But more importantly depiction of Jacobs‘ childhood shows, typically for the slave narrative, atrocities of slavery displayed in the death of parents.

33 The last childhood experience and family structure to be analyzed is in the narrative of Elizabeth Keckley. However, in order to approach Keckley‘s writing, it has to be emphasized that the part dealing with slavery constitutes only small portion of her book, which is one of the first things that sets Keckley apart from the other authors analyzed in this thesis. But even despite this fact, Keckley manages to give enough examples that can be used for the analysis of atrocities of slavery presented in her childhood. Keckley begins the recollection of her childhood in this way, ―as I sit alone in my room the brain is busy, and rapidly moving panorama brings scene after scene before me, some pleasant and others sad‖ (Keckley 17-18). It is important here that

Keckley uses the word ―pleasant‖ while talking about her childhood. Thus, similarly to other three authors, Keckley‘s depiction of childhood reveals some happy moments.

However, in case of Keckley‘s it is even more significant, as it sets the direction for the tone that is being developed in her writing. Thus, at the very beginning of her narrative, already on the second page, Keckley‘s attitude towards slavery is not as strictly negative as it is the case with the majority of other slave narratives.

Nonetheless, Keckley soon comments on the structure of her family in a manner that is more typical for the slave narrative. ―I did not know much of my father, for he was the slave of another man, and when Mr. Burwell moved from Dinwiddie he was separated from us, and only allowed to visit my mother twice a year—during the Easter holidays and Christmas‖ (Keckley 22). Similar to Jacobs, Keckley has an opportunity to enjoy some presence of her father. Thus, even though the role of the father is immensely limited, the father figure is present in Keckley‘s story unlike in the case of Douglass as

Douglass never knows who his father is. Nonetheless, even this limited operation of the whole family is soon brought to an end when Keckley‘s parents are separated due to removal of her father who is later not allowed to visit her family at all, as it is apparent

34 from Keckley‘s statements, ―[m]y father and mother never met again in this world‖

(Keckley 25). Keckley‘s family tries to fight with these unfavorable circumstances by managing to maintain some contact as Keckley‘s parents ―kept up a regular correspondence for years‖ (Keckley 25). Keckley could thus maintain, even though in very limited way, some contact with her father through the correspondence. The fact that both Keckley‘s parents could maintain correspondence is very lucky for them, since reading and writing skills were very scarcely mastered by slaves. In this, the strength of the family bonds, with the effort and determination to maintain them as much as possible, is displayed in Keckley‘s text and the importance of family in Behind the Scenes is thus determined. After the removal of her father, Keckley remains exclusively in the care of her mother whose role is thus emphasized. ―I was my mother‘s only child‖ Keckley starts the recollection of her mother, ―which made her love for me all the stronger‖ (Keckley 22). Having no relatives, and since the role of the father is practically non-existent, the importance of family bonds is shifted to the mother figure as it is typical for the slave narrative. However, what is not so typical is the nature of the relationship that Keckley manages to develop with her mother, which differentiates Keckley from the other three authors analyzed in this thesis. Keckley points out that because her mother, ―had so much work to do in making clothes, etc., for the family [of her master‘s], besides the slaves, I determined to render her all the assistance in my power‖ (Keckley 21). This state of affairs is worth being looked at more closely for mainly two reasons. Firstly, Keckley is allowed, since being engaged at work, to spent time in the presence of her mother, which in return enables them to develop closer and deeper relationship. Secondly, Keckley learns from her mother the skills of clothes making; the highly valued skills that enable Keckley, later in her life, to obtain freedom for herself and her son and to get along quite well afterwards. In this,

35 Keckley‘s mother functions as an influential role model; a role model that is not present in any other writings of the three authors, maybe only with the exception of Jacobs‘ grandmother who is a skilful baker, but who does not transfer her skills to Jacobs.

These circumstances demonstrate the importance of Keckley‘s mother in the story as well as the close relationship between the daughter and the mother.

In relation to duties and work responsibilities in childhood, Keckley‘s case is quite different from Douglass‘, Brown‘s and Jacobs‘. Keckley says that ―[t]o take care of [her mistress‘] baby was my first duty‖ (Keckley 19). ―True, I was but a child myself—only four years old—but then I had been raised in a hardy school—had been taught to rely upon myself, and to prepare myself to render assistance to others‖

(Keckley 19). However, this duty brings along also a positive change, since this ―duty transferred me [Keckley] from the rude cabin to the household of my master‖ (Keckley

20). That this task is quite a demanding one is apparent in the scene, where the baby accidentally falls out of the cradle, since Keckley, while looking after the baby, pushes the cradle too much. Keckley tries to rectify her fault as she, ―seized the fire-shovel in my perplexity, and was trying to shovel up my tender charge‖ (Keckley 20). As a result, Keckley is ―taken out and lashed for [her] carelessness‖ (Keckley 20). Thus, at a very early age, a difficult duty, a duty for which she is not quite ready to perform, is placed on Keckley‘s shoulders. This, as well as the different nature of Keckley‘s relation with her mother, serves as another point of differentiating Keckley from the other three authors analyzed in this thesis who do not have much responsibilities and duties in their childhoods. However, the above mentioned arguments analyze Keckley‘s childhood and the structure of her family, which demonstrates the importance of these concepts for her book. Depiction of Keckley‘s childhood reveals the atrocities of

36 slavery displayed in the separation of her father, which present the crucial feature of the slave narrative genre.

The lives of the four protagonists share certain resemblance as well as differences. As presented above, the childhood of a slave child is in general very difficult and even though it may include several positive moments, they remain very scarce. Concerning the structure of the family, Miller presents several reasons why the bonds between mother and children are stronger than those of between father and children in slavery. A lot of men become ―runaways between the ages of eighteen and forty,‖ they are ―commonly sold [by slaveholders] to other slaveholders,‖ and ―much of the fathering of slaves can be attributed to miscegenation, almost always resulting in a single parent situation‖ (Miller 38). Since the role of the father is practically non- existent it is no wonder that ―the relationship between mother and child became the strongest bond in the slave family, far more significant that that of fathers with their children‖ (Miller 38).The conclusion is that the crucial point in a life of a slave child is the separation from or the loss of its mother and the lack of a chance of forming or sustaining relationship with its mother. Thus, the disruption of family serves as one of the means of conveying the main massage of the slave narrative – the atrocities of slavery – that are presented already in the period of childhood. Even though the analysis of the childhood of the slave narrative is not very long, it manages to point out the main similarities and differences between the narratives of the four authors in question. This chapter shows the importance of childhood and especially its negative circumstances for the slave narrative. After depicting childhood and disruption of families as one of the main features of the slave narrative genre, the attention is shifted to next crucial aspects of this genre – depiction of abuse.

37 Chapter 4

Abuse in The Slave Narrative

The most crucial point that is to be found in every slave narrative is the depiction of atrocities of slavery and abuse. The issue of abuse is quite a complex one.

As one may correctly anticipate, physical abuse plays an important role in a life of practically any slave. However, it is not only physical, but also social and sexual forms of abuse that are present in every slave narrative and they are of no less significance.

Although the level of the particular form abuse and its mixture with the other types of abuse may vary from story to story, it needs to be stated that these forms of abuse are related and that they create a multilayered system of oppression; this multilayered system of oppression is one of the most crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

Even though the following analysis divides the forms of abuse into single categories, it needs to be stated that there can be no clear cut between the forms of abuse, since they are all too tightly interrelated. Thus, the division of this chapter into three subchapters – physical abuse, sexual abuse and social abuse – is made mainly for the purpose of better orientation within the text, which makes this important feature of the slave narrative genre easier to be approached and analyzed. Also with this division it can be more clearly demonstrated that in each text one form of abuse dominates the others and it can be set as the central abuse of the narrative.

Physical Abuse

The observation of abuse in the slave narrative genre begins with the analysis of physical abuse. For dealing with physical abuse, the narrative of Frederick Douglass can be perceived as a very useful material, since Douglass gives accounts of many scenes in which either he himself is being punished or some other slave is punished.

First thing to be pointed out is the fact that Douglass is a filed hand, which makes him

38 witness many more cruelties in comparison with house or city slaves. That is the reason why Douglass ―devotes much of his Narrative to describing the barbaric acts of his various masters, neighboring slaveholders, and over seers that he witnessed firsthand‖

(Miller 33-34). One of the reasons why there are so many beatings mentioned in

Douglass‘ writing is the fact that Douglass‘ ―earliest accounts of […] brutal beatings stretched back to his childhood‖ (Miller 34). Thus, atrocities of slavery are present in

Douglass‘ every day life since the very beginning. From all the beatings that Douglass receives the ones exercised by Mr. Covey deserve being looked at in more detail.

Sterngass points out that ―Frederick worked for Covey for a year. It was the city boy‘s first experience as a field slave. For six months, Covey regularly beat Frederick with sticks or cow skins‖ (Sterngass 29). Douglass comments on his experience with Mr.

Covey in the following manner, ―scarce a week passed without his whipping me. I was seldom free from a sore back‖ (Douglass 36). Douglass does not only mentions beatings that he undergoes, but he gives accounts of many other beatings that he either observes or hears about. Sterngass points out that Douglass ―cited many examples of whippings that he saw personally, as well as others that he had heard about. He even gave accounts of overseers who murdered their slaves and went unpunished. Many of the descriptions in Douglass‘ memoirs emphasized brutal attacks by masters on slave women‖ (Sterngass 20). One of the first accounts physical abuse that Douglass depicts in his narrative is the beating of his aunt Hester. Douglass first comments on the preparations done by the master who ―stripped her [Hester] from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked [and] after crossing her hands, he tied them […] to the hook‖ (Douglass 4). After Hester is standing on a stool and is ready

―for his infernal purpose, [her master] commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood […] came dripping to the floor‖ (Douglass 4-5). This is the

39 first of many ―bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation‖ which makes

Douglass ―terrified and horror-stricken at the sight‖ (Douglass 5).

Just few pages later Douglass mentions several overseers and their cruel practices. First is Mr. Severe who ―seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his fiendish barbarity‖ (Douglass 7). Another account of beatings is connected with garden of

Colonel Lloyd. ―Scarcely a day passed, during the summer, but that some slave had to take the lash for stealing fruit‖ from ―a large and finely cultivated garden‖ of Colonel

Lloyd (Douglass 9). Later in the text, Douglass mentions cruel treatment of yet another barbaric overseer which results in a death of a slave. Mr. Gore, ―artful, cruel, and obdurate‖ overseer and ―the most dreaded by the slaves‖ shoots a slave who runs away while being punished and hides in a creek from which he refuses to retreat (Douglass

12-13). Mr. Gore calls upon the slave, but as he ―made no response‖ Mr. Gore ―raised his musket to his face, taking deadly aim at his standing victim, and in an instant poor

Demby was no more‖ (Douglass 14). Douglass also depicts cruelties exercised by white women, as in the case of Mrs. Hicks whose punishment of a slave results in death.

Douglass points out that Mrs. Hicks ―murdered [Douglass‘] wife‘s cousin, a young girl between fifteen and sixteen years of age‖ (Douglass 15). The whole scene is depicted in a following way, ―Mrs. Hicks, finding the girl slow to move, jumped from her bed, seized an oak stick of wood by the fireplace, and with it broke the girl‘s nose and breastbone, and thus ended her life‖ (Douglass 15). These are not the only cruelties that can be found in Douglass‘ writing, but they sufficiently support the argument that

Douglass, in comparison with the other three authors analyzed in this thesis, gives by far the most examples of physical abuse in his writing. Douglass depicts cruelties performed on slaves by male as well as by female slaveholders, and apart from whippings he includes several examples of murders. These above-mentioned examples

40 demonstrate the significant role of physical abuse in Douglass‘ writing, which is much more important than in the writings of the other three authors as discussed below.

Thus, it can be stated that physical abuse is the central form of abuse in Douglass‘ narrative.

Moving to the narrative of Henry ―Box‖ Brown, one may anticipate encountering some similarities with Douglass‘ story. Brown gives accounts of several whippings and beatings. Brown describes these scenes in similarly terrible manner as

Douglass. Brown starts with observation of conditions of slaves on a plantation in neighborhood. One of the slaves from this plantation says ―that not a day passed over their heads without some of them being brutally punished‖ (Brown 381). Later Brown continues with more specific depiction of whippings implemented by various overseers.

The first mentioned overseer is ―Stephen Bennett, who had a wooden leg; and who used to creep up behind the slaves to hear what they had to talk about in his absence‖

(Brown 389). Brown continues that Bennett ―was a very mean man in all his ways, and was very much disliked by the slaves. He used to whipped them, often, in shameful manner‖ such as ―Pinkey‖ who receives ―one hundred lashes on his bare back; and all this; because he lacked three pounds of his task, which was valued at six cents‖

(Brown 389-390). Such a description of an overseer and his practices very much resemble to Douglass‘ story. Another overseer in Brown‘s narrative is John F. Allen about whom Brown says is ―a thorough-going villain in all his modes of doing business; he was a savage looking sort of man; always apparently ready for any work of barbarity or cruelty to which the most depraved despot might call him‖ (Brown 391).

An example of cruelty of this overseer is described by Brown in the scene where one slave becomes sick, but is not attended by physician or given any medicine. The slave is presented to Mr. Allen who ―desired him to be stripped and his hands tied behind

41 him‖ and Mr. Allen states he is ―going to give him some medicine that would cure him,‖ which consists of ―two hundred lashes upon [slave‘s] bare back‖ (Brown 393).

This punishment, ―for no other crime than sickness,‖ could be even worse ―had not the poor man fainted away,‖ since ―only then the blood-thirsty fiend ceased to apply the lash‖ (Brown 393). The result of this is that the ―poor man was sick for four weeks afterwards, during which time the weekly allowance, of seventy cents, for the hands to board themselves with, was withheld‖ which much complicates the situation for this slave and his family (Brown 393). This scene of severe beating is probably the cruelest account of physical abuse in Brown‘s narrative.

One point that differentiates Brown form Douglass is the fact that Brown gives fewer accounts of beatings than Douglass. The reason for this may be due to the fact that Brown did not witness as many whippings as Douglass. Brown also, unlike

Douglass, does not mention beatings inflicted upon his person. Thus, one gets an idea that Brown is not physically punished as it is not presented in the text. Moreover, on one occasion Brown indirectly says that he is not beaten; while Brown visits one farm in the neighborhood he talks with some slaves who are often whipped and Brown declares that he is ―thankful that [he is] exempted from such treatment‖ (Brown 381).

Another support for the argument that physical abuse does not play an important part in

Brown‘s life is presented in the scene where Brown is introduced to the tobacco factory and his master tells ―the overseer that [Brown is] a smart boy and that he must never whip‖ him (Brown 387). From these examples it is quite obvious that physical punishments and whippings do not play crucial roles in Brown‘s life; thus physical abuse cannot be the central form abuse in Brown‘s narrative, which is different from

Douglass‘ case. However, the several scenes describing beatings and whippings of other slaves show that physical abuse finds its way into Brown‘s story. Even though

42 physical abuse may occur less frequently and it may be of lesser importance than in

Douglass‘ story, it is depicted and treated in similar manner as in Douglass‘ narrative and its importance for Brown‘s story as well as for the slave narrative genre is confirmed. The general depiction and treatment of physical abuse set both Douglass and Brown apart from the female authors; in female slave narratives physical abuse usually does not play such an important role, which can present one of the gender based differences between male and female slave narratives.

The narrative of Harriet Jacobs does not contain as many examples of physical abuse as two slave narratives analyzed above. However, it would be a wrong assumption to think that Incidents lacks this important feature of the slave narrative genre. The reason for less frequent occurrences of physical abuse in Jacobs‘ writing is merely due to the fact that Jacobs‘ circumstances under the slavery, in comparison for example with Douglass, are of a different character. Miller offers an explanation for the differences between the narratives of Douglass and Jacobs. ―Douglass‖ Miller points out ―was born into a line of plantation field hands while Jacobs‘ mother was a house servant‖ (Miller 33). Thus, from the very beginning Jacobs‘ situation is very different from Douglass. ―House servants‖ Miller continues ―were often protected from the more grotesque displays of physical violence associated with slavery, but fields hands such as Douglass were right in the midst of it‖ (Miller 33). Since Jacobs becomes a house servant herself, it can be presumed that she does not witness as many beatings as slaves working in fields. Moreover, Jacobs herself declares that her ―life in slavery was comparatively devoid of hardships,‖ which sets her apart from Douglass and Brown who experience various hardships quite regularly (Jacobs 129). First of all, it needs to be stated that Jacobs is never physically beaten, except for two occasions. Jacobs says about Dr. Flint that ―[h]e had never punished me [Jacobs] himself, and he would not

43 allow any body else to punish me‖ (Jacobs 32). This gives the reader the general idea of

Jacobs‘ position in slavery that is rather unique in comparison with the experiences of the main protagonists in the narratives written by Douglass, Brown and Keckley. The first occasion when Jacobs is beaten is when she informs Dr. Flint about her lover Mr.

Sands. Jacobs depicts Dr. Flint‘s reaction as following, ―[h]e sprang upon me like a tiger, and gave me a stunning blow. It was the first time he had ever struck me‖ (Jacobs

40). The second instance of Jacobs being physically abused is when Dr. Flint ―pitched me [Jacobs] down stairs in a fit of passion; and the injury I [Jacobs] received was so serious that I was unable to turn myself in bed fore many days‖ (Jacobs 85). These are the only two occasions in Incidents when Jacobs is physically abused. Even though these two scenes do not display such terrible beatings and whippings that happen to main protagonists in other slave narratives, the examples of physical abuse are present in Incidents and they are important for the narrative.

It is not suggested that Jacobs‘ life under slavery is unproblematic. It just declares that physical abuse does not play such an important role in Jacobs‘ life as one could see in Douglass‘ case. Thus, physical abuse is not the central form of abuse in

Jacobs‘ narrative, since it is overshadowed by sexual form of abuse as discussed later in the thesis. However, apart from the two instances of beatings that happen to Jacobs, there are examples of various physical hardships and abuse in Incidents. Quite at the beginning of the story Jacobs witnesses a whipping of a slave exercised by Dr. Flint.

Jacobs depicts the scene of this severe whipping in the following manner, ―[n]ever before, in my life, had I heard hundreds of blows fall; in succession, on a human being.

His piteous groans, and his ‗O, pray don‘t, mass,‘ rang in my ear for months afterwards‖ (Jacobs 11). Jacobs gives more accounts of cruel practices inflicted upon other slaves. After she states that it is not her case, Jacobs makes an observation on

44 general atrocities happening under the slavery, which can be seen as one of the main sources of the physical abuse in Jacobs‘ writing.

―I was never cruelly overworked; I was never lacerated with the whip from head

to foot; I was never so beaten and bruised that I could not turn from one side to

the other; I never had my heelstrings cut to prevent my running away; I was

never chained to a log and forced to drag it about, while I toiled in the fields

from morning till night; I was never branded with hot iron, or torn by

bloodhounds.‖

(Jacobs 129)

These two passages show the presence of various physical hardships in Jacobs‘ narrative and also how she deals with this topic. Thus, it can be stated that physical abuse finds its way into Incidents and its importance for Jacobs‘ writing is unquestionable. Incidents also includes examples of cruel behavior and violence exercised by white women as it is apparent from Jacobs‘ comments on Mrs. Flint.

―Mrs. Flint, like many southern women, was totally deficient in energy. She had not strength to superintend her household affairs; but her nerves were so strong, that she could sit in her easy chair and see a woman whipped, till the blood trickled from every stroke of the lash‖ (Jacobs 9). The given examples show that physical abuse can be found in Incidents. And although its relevance for the text may not be of the same level as in other slave narratives, it still creates an inseparable element, which demonstrates the importance of this feature for Jacobs‘ narrative as well as for the slave narrative genre.

Physical abuse is also present in Elizabeth Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes.

Commenting on depiction of abuse in Keckley‘s narrative, and also on its importance for the book, Santamarina argues that ―[a]lthough Keckley‘s three chapters on her life

45 as a slave constitute only a small portion of Behind the Scenes’s [sic] fifteen chapters, their rhetorical configuration of bondage, work, and freedom are clearly central to the text‘s laboring logic‖ (Santamarina 522). Santamarina explains why these three chapters, although they form only a small part of the book, are so relevant for the whole narrative. ―In these chapters Keckley portrays the inhumanity of slavery, particularly its severing of family ties and the injustice of its racialized division of labor‖ (Santamarina

522). From this quotation is apparent that depiction of abuse and cruelties of slavery plays a crucial role in Behind the Scenes, even though much less space is devoted to it in Keckley‘s narrative in comparison with the writings of the other three authors‘ analyzed in this thesis, Although Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes bears a lot of resemblance to Jacobs‘ narrative, the first thing that has to be declared is the fact that

Keckley is severely beaten on many occasions. In this sense, Keckley is set apart from

Jacobs and related more closely to Douglass. Moving to depiction of physical abuse in

Keckley‘s writing attention is shifted to the actual scenes where Keckley is beaten.

Keckley describes the circumstances of the first from a series of beatings executed by

Mr. Bingham in the following manner; ―It was Saturday evening, and while I was bending over the bed, watching the baby that I had just hushed into slumber, Mr.

Bingham came to the door and asked me to go with him to his study‖ (Keckley 32-33).

Thus, this peaceful setting is interrupted. Keckley continues, ―[w]ondering what he meant by his strange request, I followed him, and when he had entered the study he closed the door, and in his blunt way remarked: ‗Lizzie, I am going to flog you‘‖

(Keckley 33). Keckley is quite shocked as a relatively strange man just comes to her and wants to beat her, which depicts the horrid of physical abuse of the slave narrative.

―I was thunderstruck,‖ Keckley says, ―and tried to think if I had been remiss in anything‖ (Keckley 33). Keckley tries to fight Mr. Bingham‘s power that he tries to

46 exercise over her as she states, ―I could not recollect of doing anything to deserve punishment, and with surprise exclaimed: ‗Whip me, Mr. Bingham! what for?‘‖

(Keckley 33). To her question Keckley gets the following answer, ―‗[n]o matter […] I am going to whip you, so take down your dress this instant‘‖ (Keckley 33). In this passage the enormous power that his hold not only by slaveholders but by any white person over slaves is presented. Keckley continues with the vivid description of the whipping itself, ―[w]ith steady hand and practiced eye he [Mr. Bingham] would raise the instrument of torture, nerve himself for a blow, and with fearful force the rawhide descended upon the quivering flesh. It cut the skin, raised great welts, and the warm blood trickled down my back‖ (Keckley 34). This passage displays the actual horridness of physical abuse that is depicted in Behind the Scenes. Keckley is not punished this way only once. After several beatings executed by Mr. Bingham, the place of an oppressor is taken by Keckley‘s master. However, more attention to these beatings is devoted in the chapter on the forms of resistance against slavery analyzed later in this thesis, as these beatings play crucial roles in Keckley‘s determination to stand up against the oppression, and thus are analyzed in more detail. Nonetheless, these quotations display the presence and importance of physical abuse in Keckley‘s narrative and demonstrate that Keckley herself is a victim of cruel practices exercised by slaveholders.

Similarly to Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass, Keckley also gives account of cruel nature of white women. However, in Keckley‘s writing the cruelties exercised by women are bit different, since the white woman in Keckley‘s story does not execute the beatings herself but rather initiates them. ―She whom I called mistress seemed to be desirous to wreak vengeance on me for something, and Bingham became her ready tool‖ (Keckley 32). Here Keckley presents that the idea beatings of Keckley are

47 initiated by her mistress; the mistress is the one who employs ―Mr. Bingham, a hard, cruel man [and] the village schoolmaster,‖ to manifest her wrath, in which the cruel character of Keckley‘s mistress is displayed (Keckley 32). Keckley depicts physical abuse in a bit different manner; she does not, in order to express the horrid of slavery, dwell much on the details of the beatings. She rather presents the settings and the terror which is presented in the fact that she is punished while doing absolutely nothing wrong. Also, Keckley connects the experience of the beatings with sexual abuse, which is presented in the fact that she is forced to take off her clothes. Michael Berthold comments on the relatedness of these two forms of abuse, ―Keckley‘s most sustained account of her body, however, revolves around memories of being whipped.

Dramatizing slavery‘s perverse conflations of property, punishment, and sexuality, the incident significantly informs Keckley‘s subsequent authorial impersonality‖

(Berthold). Thus, here is demonstrated that sexual abuse is bigger concern for the female slave narrative than the physical abuse. Since Jacobs is not physically punished except for two occasions the role of physical abuse in her story is diminished by sexual abuse; in Keckley‘s story these two types of abuse are presented and are of similar importance. It cannot be decisively said which one of these two forms of abuse is more terrible, since they are happening simultaneously at the particular scene. However, this serves as a good example for displaying interconnection between the forms of abuse, which together create the multilayered system of oppression typical for the slave narrative. Nonetheless, the examples of Keckley‘s beatings demonstrate the presence as well as the importance of physical abuse in Keckley‘s story.

The preceding pages trace the presence of physical abuse in the narratives of

Douglass, Brown, Jacobs and Keckley. The differences between these four narratives are pointed out and analyzed in the respective writings. Although the level of its

48 significance for the particular text may vary, physical abuse plays an important role in each of the four mentioned narratives. The conclusion is the fact that physical abuse finds its way into every slave narrative, even though whippings and beatings are not the central points of that particular slave narrative. Also, it can be concluded, from the examples analyzed above, that physical abuse plays more important role in the male slave narrative; while in the female slave narrative its significance is rather subdued to sexual abuse, to which the attention is shortly shifted, since it is the next feature of the slave narrative genre that is analyzed in this chapter of the thesis. Nonetheless, because of its presence and frequent occurrences in the analyzed slave narratives, the physical abuse can be perceived as one of the crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse, as a part of the multilayered system of oppression included in the slave narrative, presents another form of abuse depicted in the slave narrative genre.

Similarly to physical abuse, sexual abuse is to be found in both male and female slave narratives, but its significance for each type of the narrative is a bit different. Since

Douglass and Brown are not themselves victimized by sexual oppression, it is quite obvious that sexual abuse is less significant for their writings. However, sexual abuse still finds its way into the male slave narrative as both Douglass and Brown give accounts of sexual abuse, mainly by presenting the general practices of slaveholders having children with slave women in order to increase their ―stock‖. Nonetheless, sexual abuse, quite unsurprisingly, plays much more significant role in the narratives of

Jacobs and Keckley. Thus, in their writings the sexual abuse is approached from different perspective and its depiction helps the reader to understand the horror and the concept of this form of abuse more properly. However, the circumstances of sexual abuse in Jacobs‘ and Keckley‘s writings are different; thus, the sexual abuse is depicted

49 and dealt with differently. For Jacobs, unlike for Keckley, sexual abuse is the crucial point of the whole narrative around which everything evolves. The following pages analyze the sexual abuse as depicted in the narratives of Douglass, Brown, Jacobs and

Keckley and demonstrate its significance for the slave narrative genre.

Depiction of sexual abuse in the narrative of Frederick Douglass consists mainly in the description of the practices exercised by slaveholders in having children with slave women in order to enlarge their ―stock‖ of slaves. Douglass comments on the law under which all children born to a slave mother, disregarding the conditions of the father, become slaves. Douglass states that ―slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers‖ (Douglass 2). Douglass incorporates the horror of sexual abuse into this by saying that this law is created ―too obviously to administer to their own

[slaveholders‘] lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable; for by this cunning arrangement, the slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slaves the double relation of master and father‖ (Douglass 2). Even though its depiction is rather general and in a less pronounced way in the comparison with the female slave narrative, sexual abuse with its wickedness is thus presented in

Douglass‘ narrative. However, sexual abuse is more complex and is related to the other forms of abuse. Miller comments on the conditions of sexually abused slave women.

―As if slave women‖ Miller points out ―were not sufficiently victimized by the horrors inflicted upon them by their masters, the wives of these licentious men showed no mercy toward the situation of those in bondage‖ (Miller 36). Thus, as suggested here, sexual abuse does not consist only of sexual exploitation from white men, but it also often brings wrath from mistresses in forms of physical violence. The negative impact of mistresses is not only apparent in lives of slave women, but it can be also connected

50 to lives of slave children who are born under such circumstances. Douglass states that

―such slaves invariably suffer greater hardships […] than others. They are, in the first place, a constant offence to their mistress [who] is never better pleased than when she sees them under the lash‖ (Douglass 3). Apart from the physical hardships that these children have to undergo, their sufferings are even deepened as they are separated from their mothers more often or earlier in comparison with other slave children. ―The master‖ Douglass continues, ―is frequently compelled to sell this class of his slaves, out of deference to the feelings of his white wife‖ (Douglass 3). In this sense the complexity and horror of sexual abuse for slave women is displayed. First slave women are sexually exploited; secondly they often have to endure physical punishments and other hardships from white mistresses. Finally, slave women have to witness extreme sufferings happening to their children as well as they usually have to mourn over the loss of their children who are more likely to be sold away in comparison with other slaves. This shows the interrelatedness of the forms of abuse, as in this example all forms of abuse – sexual, physical and social – are displayed. However, in the conclusion of the analysis of sexual abuse in Douglass‘ story, it needs to be stated that the presence of sexual abuse in Douglass‘ story is apparent from the above mentioned arguments and its importance for his narrative, and in turn for the slave narrative genre, is displayed.

Depiction of sexual abuse is also important in Henry ―Box‖ Brown‘s narrative.

The treatment of this topic by Brown is quite similar to Douglass, since Brown can also make only limited observation on the conditions of sexual abuse. Sterngass‘ general observation on the sexual abuse in the slave narrative can be perceived as a summary of the depiction of this form of abuse in Douglass‘ and Brown‘s narratives. ―Slave women had to endure sexual abuse and rape. They often bore the children of their masters and

51 overseers‖ (Sterngass 13). Thus, Brown, similarly to Douglass, manages to include examples of sexual abuse into his writing mainly in the form that is suggested by

Sterngass, which shows the importance of this feature – sexual abuse – for the slave narrative genre disregarding the gender of the author of the slave narrative.

Brown starts on this matter with saying that ―the greater part of slaveholders are licentious men, and the most respectable and kind masters keep some of these slaves as mistresses‖ (Brown 380). Here Brown acknowledges the presence of sexual exploitation in slavery and asserts that this phenomenon is quite wide spread. Later

Brown explains why these practices are so popular. ―It is for their [slaveholder‘s] pecuniary interest to do so, as their progeny is equal to so many dollars and cents in their pockets, instead of being a source of expense to them, as would be the case, if their slaves were free‖ (Brown 380). Similarly to Douglass, Brown presents that slaveholders do not commit sexual abuse only for satisfaction of their physical desires but that these practices are ―profitable as well as pleasurable‖ for them (Douglass 2), which, in this sense, adds up on the wickedness of sexual abuse. Unlike Douglass,

Brown gives more insights on the realties of slave families that are being negatively influenced by sexual abuse. ―It is a horrible idea, but it is no less true, that no slave husband has any certainty whatever of being able to retain his wife a single hour [since] their fondest affection may by utterly disregarded, and their devoted attachment cruelly ignored at any moment a brutal slave-holder may think fit‖ (Brown 380). Unlike

Douglass, Brown‘s depiction of sexual abuse reaches further. Brown does not comment on sexual abuse only in straightforwardly factual manner, but informs the reader of its impact on families, which helps the reader to comprehend the concept of this form of abuse more properly. This represents the main distinction between depiction of sexual abuse in Douglass‘ and Brown‘s writings. Yet another quotation from Miller brings

52 attention to the participation of mistress in sexual abuse and its atrocities. ―Plantation mistresses had valid reasons for being emotionally defeated and angry at the shameful behavior of their husbands, but it was the victims who often faced their wrath‖ (Miller

36). Another point that relates Brown to Douglass is the depiction of the unlimited power that is exercised by slaveholders. ―The relation of husband and wife, parent and child, only exists by the toleration of their master, who may insult the slave‘s wife, or violate her person at any moment, and there is no law to punish him for what he has done‖ (Brown 380). This power, however, can be extended to mistresses who can in this sense punish slave women according to their wills and to harden their life situations, which even more intensifies the horror of this form of abuse as depicted in the slave narrative. Thus, as presented above, sexual abuse is treated similarly in the writings of Douglass and Brown, as both writers display the complexity of sexual abuse in their narratives. Such examples of sexual abuse are not limited only to Douglass‘ and

Brown‘s writings, since they may be found practically in any slave narrative. Although both Douglass and Brown depict sexual abuse and ascribe it similarly important role in their narratives, sexual abuse is for obvious reasons not as elaborated in their writings as in the female slave narrative, to which the attention is now shifted.

Even though similar examples as that in Douglass‘ and Brown‘ cases can be found in the female slave narrative, they are not much dealt with here. Thus, the focus is now shifted beyond this general observation on the slaveholder‘s practices to the more detailed description of sexual abuse and its impact on individuals, which can be found exclusively in the female slave narrative. Miller ascribes sexual abuse a far- reaching negative impact as she argues that, ―[t]he plight of slave women, uniquely characterized by sexual exploitation and abuse, together with the perils of motherhood, resulted in lasting psychological terror for slavery‘s greatest victims‖ (Miller 38-39).

53 From this point of view, sexual abuse may be perceived as being the most terrifying from all the forms of abuse presented in the slave narrative genre. This is definitely true for the narrative of Harriet Jacobs as suggested by Santamarina. The ―sexual coercion‖ and ―obstacles slavery mounted for black women‖ can be related to the narrative of Harriet Jacobs, for which sexual harassment can be viewed as the most crucial factor of the narrative around which the whole story evolves (Santamarina 518).

Jacobs encounters the threat of sexual exploitation for the first time after the two years she spends in the household of Dr. Flint. Jacobs presents a scene where Dr. Flint, ―told me [Jacobs] that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in every thing; that

I was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his‖ (Jacobs 15, emphasis in original). Jacobs continues on the later development of her situation. ―I now entered on my fifteenth year—a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl. My master began to whisper foul words in my ear‖ (Jacobs 26). On more than one occasion Dr.

Flint tells Jacobs that she ―was his property; that [she] must be subject to his will in all things‖ (Jacobs 27). Jacobs understand the perils of sexual harassment which she has to fight against practically her whole life. ―Sexual exploitation and abuse,‖ Miller declares, ―simply characterized the daily reality of many females in bondage‖ (Miller

35). Thus, as apparent from the above mentioned quotations the depiction of the perils of sexual exploitation and the general circumstances of sexual abuse create a big part of

Incidents, which confirms the great significance of sexual abuse for Jacobs‘ narrative.

Jacobs also comments on the involvement of white women in sexual abuse. In the following passage, Jacobs points out the reaction of mistresses who find out that their husbands have children with slave women, ―[t]hey regard such children as property, as marketable as the pigs on the plantation; and it is seldom that they do not make them aware of this by passing them into the slave-trader‘s hands as soon as

54 possible, and thus getting them out of the sight‖ (Jacobs 37). With the depiction of this reality, Jacobs can be connected to Douglass and Brown who both give accounts of similar events. However, what makes Jacobs‘ argument even more valid is her own experience with her mistress. Even though Jacobs is not sexually involved with Mr.

Flint, his wife Mrs. Flint, becomes very jealous of Jacobs. Even despite Jacobs‘ endeavor to persuade Mrs. Flint that she is innocent, Mrs. Flint is still suspicious. Mrs.

Flint ―felt that her marriage vows were desecrated, her dignity insulted; but she had no compassion for the poor victim of her husband‘s perfidy‖ (Jacobs 33). Mrs. Flint seems at first that she wants to help Jacobs as she takes Jacobs ―to sleep in a room adjoining her own‖ (Jacobs 34). However, Jacobs says later in the book, it is rather an implement of vicious treachery. Jacobs says that ―[s]ometimes I woke up, and found her [Mrs.

Flint] bending over me. At other time she whispered in my ear, as though it was her husband who was speaking to me, and listened to hear what I would answer‖ (Jacobs

34). It is quite obvious that the pretended help is a part of the plan that is implemented by Mrs. Flint in order to reveal sexual involvement between Dr. Flint and Jacobs. The situation becomes so serious that Jacobs says ―[a]t last, I began to be fearful for my life‖ (Jacobs 34). Yet another terror is presented in Dr. Flint‘s threatening as he ―swore he would kill me, if I was not as silent as the grave‖ (Jacobs 28). Thus, the general circumstances of sexual abuse serve as the main means of conveying atrocities of slavery in Jacobs‘ narrative. Its importance is also apparent in the fact that sexual abuse stands behind Jacobs‘ determination to escape from slavery more than anything else.

Also because of the fear of sexual exploitation to which Jacobs tries to avoid, she is forced to endure quite terrible conditions in her hiding place. However, the details of

Jacobs‘ escape are dealt with in chapter on resistance. It needs to be stated that Jacobs cannot fully get rid of the perils of sexual exploitation even after her escape as Dr. Flint

55 makes several trips to North in order to find Jacobs and bring her back. In this, the seriousness as well as terror of sexual abuse is presented. Jacobs, unlike any other authors analyzed in this thesis, comments on beauty which impact she relates to lives of slave women, since the beauty usually stands behind the many instances of sexual exploitation. ―If God has bestowed beauty upon her [a slave woman], it will prove her greatest curse. That which commands admiration in the white woman only hastens the degradation of the female slave‖ (Jacobs 28). This demonstrates another example of atrocities that are being brought upon slave women by the institution of slavery.

Santamarina summarizes the goals that Jacobs achieves in her book; ―Jacobs manipulated norms of gender and sexual victimization to rewrite herself as an heroic slave mother committed to resisting her and her children‘s degradation‖ (Santamarina

518, emphasis in original). Santamarina continues and explains what stands behind the success of Jacobs‘ narrative; ―[b]ecause of her compelling treatment of these overtly gendered thematics of sexual abuse and resistance, Jacobs‘s [sic] now widely read autobiography is seen as the best exemplar of the black woman‘s slave narrative‖

(Santamarina 518). There is no doubt that Incidents is one of the best female slave narratives. Jacobs‘ narrative becomes ―exemplar‖ mainly due to the profound depiction of sexual abuse which significance for Incidents is sufficiently supported by the above- mentioned arguments. This in turn demonstrates that sexual abuse is one of the most important features of slave narrative genre without which the slave narrative would be perceived as incomplete. As to no other form of abuse is devoted as much space as to sexual abuse in Incidents, sexual abuse can be viewed as the central abuse in the narrative of Harriet Jacobs.

Sexual abuse is not missing in Elizabeth Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes. Even though Keckley is forced to undergo sexual abuse, the general circumstances are

56 different from Jacobs, which explains why this topic is depicted differently in Behind the Scenes. Santamarina explains the differences in depiction of sexual abuse in Jacobs‘ and Keckley‘s narratives. ―Although it is clear that Keckley shared many of Jacobs‘s

[sic] experiences as a slave woman-sexual violation, fears for her slave child, and so forth-in her narrative, she subordinates these overtly gendered concerns to the details of her work history‖ (Santamarina 518). The support for the previous argument is also apparent from the fact that Keckley devotes much less space to sexual abuse in her narrative than Jacobs. Keckley says about herself that ―I was regarded as fair-looking for one of my race, and for four years a white man—I spare the world his name—had base designs upon me‖ (Keckley 38-39). The first distinction from Jacobs is in

Keckley‘s secretiveness concerning the name of her persecutor. In this manner,

Keckley does not explore the conditions of sexual abuse to its full extent in her writing, since she takes rather a distant position to the whole matter. Thus, sexual abuse cannot play same role in Keckley‘s narrative as in Jacobs‘, which is also obvious from the following quotation. Concerning the depiction of sexual abuse Keckley continues by declaring that, ―I do no care to dwell upon this subject, for it is one that is fraught with pain. Suffice it to say, that he persecuted me for four years, and I—I—became a mother‖ (Keckley 39). Berthold comments on this very point by saying that ―[a]fter four years of persecution, the man violated her and fathered her only child. […] but

Keckley‘s relative silence about the entanglement with the white man and in fact her general taciturnity about being a mother are prime markers of the calculated impersonality of Behind the Scenes [sic]‖ (Berthold,). As suggested here, Keckley acknowledges sexual abuse by including it in her story, however, she does not ascribe it too much of significance. Keckley‘s attitude towards sexual abuse is very different from Jacobs‘, which is also obvious from the statement made by Carolyn Sorisio who

57 tries to explain what stands behind this dissimilarity. ―Keckley‘s concern over her financial status‖ Sorisio argues ―contrasts dramatically with Jacobs‘s narrative, as

Keckley is far more troubled about her economic reputation than her sexual one. At this point in Keckley‘s narrative, we have been told about her son, who was born out of wedlock and fathered by a white man‖ (Sorisio). It is true that in comparison with

Jacobs, Keckley does not provide her reader with much information concerning her sexual exploitation. However, one has to bear in mind that Keckley in general does not comment as much about atrocities of slavery, since only a smaller part of her narrative is devoted to her experience while still a slave. The reason for this is the fact that

Keckley‘s book is an example of the postbellum slave narrative, which depicts less atrocities of slavery in comparison with the slave narrative published before the Civil

War as discussed earlier in this thesis. Thus, certain level of distinction in depiction of sexual abuse, particularly the depiction in a less pronounced manner, should be anticipated while dealing with Behind the Scenes.

Nonetheless, the main distinction between Jacobs and Keckley is expressed by

Sorisio who argues that ―[u]nlike Jacobs, who dwells on her sexual choices at some length and asks readers to ‗pity‘ and ‗pardon‘ her for having children with a white man to escape the persecution of her owner (54), Keckley rejects any guilt or blame‖

(Sorisio). Keckley rejects the guilt in by stating that ―[i]f my poor boy ever suffered any humiliating pangs on account of his birth, he could not blame his mother, for God knows that she did not wish to give him life; he must blame the edicts of that society which deemed it no crime to undermine the virtue of girls in my then position‖

(Keckley 39). This quotation is also interesting because of Keckley‘s point of view towards children. Keckley boldly expresses here unwillingness towards having children, which sets her apart from Jacobs who mentions countless times how much she

58 loves her children and that they are the reason why it takes her so long to finally decide to run away from bondage. Interesting is the comparison of the fathers of Jacobs‘ and

Keckley‘s children; Jacobs, unlike Keckley, has children with a white man willingly.

However, Jacobs hopes that her sexual affair can bring an end to a long-going danger of sexual abuse from Dr. Flint, which after all does not happen. Thus, children of

Jacobs and Keckley are results of the dreaded sexual exploitation, but the reasons for

Jacobs‘ having her children are quite different form Keckley‘s case. Moving back to the importance of the children in Behind the Scenes, it would be wrong to assume that

Keckley has no positive feelings towards her son, as could be suggested from the quotation mentioned earlier. Keckley, later in the book, returns to the topic of children, and this time her attitude is somehow more positive, as she says about her son that

―[h]e came into the through no will of mine, and yet, God only knows how I loved him‖ (Keckley 47). At this point Keckley finally expresses her emotions towards her son, which relates her back to Jacobs. Keckley admits that she loves her son, even despite of the circumstances that preceded his birth – the sexual exploitation by a white man. Nonetheless, at the end Jacobs develops a warmer attitude towards her children, which is depicted in many comments on her children and in Jacobs‘ preoccupation with them; similar comments remain quite scarce in Behind the Scenes, which presents another difference between the narratives of Jacobs and Keckley. Sorisio comes back once again to Keckley‘s rejection of blame. ―Keckley not only rejects blame, but also, through her use of ‗my then‘ position, suggests that she simply cannot be held to a morality that did not apply during slavery‖ (Sorisio). The point of this thesis, however, is not to question the morality during the slavery or whether it is possible or not to hold up to moral standards. This argument merely serves as a foundation for making distinction between writings of Jacobs and Keckley. The conclusion is that sexual

59 abuse finds its way to Keckley‘s writing, even though it is depicted in a less pronounced way than in Jacobs‘ narrative. But the above-mentioned arguments sufficiently show the significance of sexual abuse in Keckley‘s writing. And since

Keckley‘s story is the last from the four authors dealt with in this thesis, the analysis of the significance of sexual abuse in the four slave narratives chosen for dealing with the slave narrative genre in this thesis is thus completed.

Even though neither Douglass nor Brown experiences sexual abuse, it is present in their stories as mentioned above. However, the role of sexual abuse is considerably of less significance in the stories of these two male authors‘ than in the writings of female writers of. As presented on the cases of Jacobs and Keckley, sexual abuse constitutes the most serious experience that slave woman are forced to encounter under the slavery. Miller summarizes the situation of women in slavery and connects the sexual abuse with the other forms of abuse. ―Slave women‖ Miller suggests, ―carried

‗double burden.‘ Like slave men, they were subjected to physical abuse, unfathomable labor requirements, and psychological belittlement, but many of these women also endured constant sexual advances from lustful white men‖ (Miller 39). As presented above, the situation of slave women is quite difficult due to sexual abuse that brings on its victims even more hardships and sexual abuse may be perceived as initiator of the other forms of abuse that come afterwards. Miller continues that following the sexual exploitation by white men, ―shameless blame being placed upon them for their own victimization by jealous white women, and countless trials centering around the natural desire to be a nurturing mother while being required to suppress that inner longing by the force of slavery‘s oppression‖(Miller 39). As stated here, the sexual exploitation of slave women is interrelated with physical beatings and also with social abuse, which are in many cases initiated by sexual abuse. Thus, sexual abuse is established as one of

60 the crucial aspects of the slave narrative genre and also as one of the omnipresent forms of oppression created by slavery. The social abuse, which is illustrated in the maternal duties of which natural execution is inhumanly prevented by slaveholders and to which the focus is now placed, is the last form of abuse that is analyzed in this chapter.

Social Abuse

Social abuse is the last of the forms of abuse present in the slave narrative that is analyzed in this thesis. The purpose of this part of the textual analysis is to trace the examples of social abuse in the writings of Frederick Douglass, Henry ―Box‖ Brown,

Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley and to demonstrate how these examples are depicted in these four slave narratives. Even though there may be many types of social abuse presented in the slave narrative, the focus is preliminary placed on two main areas. First is the disruption of families due to selling of slaves and prevention of having a family that are brought upon the slaves by the slaveholders. This concept has already been partially dealt with in the chapter on childhood earlier in the thesis.

Second is the inhumanity of slave auctions and selling of slaves in general, in which slaves are striped of the status of human beings and are related to animals. With the use of the textual examples, the goal of this subchapter is to depict social abuse as one of the crucial features of the slave narrative genre, and to relate it to the physical and sexual forms of abuse. In this way, the complexity and interrelatedness of these three forms of abuse will be demonstrated and the picture of multilayered oppression that is typical for slavery and consequently for slave narratives will be completed, which presents the conclusion of whole chapter.

The presence as well as importance of social abuse in the story of Frederick

Douglass is unquestionable. At the very beginning of this story Douglass comments on separation of slave families. ―It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from

61 which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth months, its mother is taken from it‖ (Douglass

1-2). This and the fact that Douglass himself is separated from his own mother at a very early age and basically does not even get a chance to know her, are the first examples of social abuse in his narrative. Another example of social abuse in Douglass‘ writing is presented in the cruel disruption of a slave family initiated by a slaveholder named

Colonel Lloyd. Douglass says about Colonel Lloyd that he ―was said to own a thousand slaves [and] did not know them when he saw them; nor did all the slaves of the out- farms know him‖ (Douglass 11). In one scene Colonel Lloyd meets one of his slaves and fter talking with him Colonel Lloyd learns that this slave is not happy, for which he is ―three weeks afterwards‖ punished (Douglass 11), which is described by Douglass in this way. ―The poor man‖ Douglass declares ―was then informed by his overseer that, for having found fault with his master, he was now to be sold to a Georgia trader. He was immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment‘s warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends‖ (Douglass 11).

Such a form of punishment is not uncommon in the slave narrative as it can be found not only in Douglass‘ writing but also in the writings of other slave narrative authors.

Another example of social abuse is present in Narrative when Douglass gives account of the property division that the slaves are part of, which takes places after the death of his master. ―We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine. There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination‖ (Douglass

27). In this segment Douglass describes degradation of slaves and the deprivation of their status of human beings. ―After the valuation‖ Douglass continues ―then came the

62 division‖ (Douglass 27). Its terror Douglass depicts in following manner. ―I have no language to express the high excitement and deep anxiety which were felt among us poor slaves at this time. Our fate for life was now to be decided. We had no more voice in that decision than the brutes among whom we were ranked‖ (Douglass 27). Douglass continues on unlimited power that is exercised by slaveholders as ―[a] single word from the white men was enough – against all our whishes, prayers, and entreaties – to sunder forever the dearest friends, dearest kindred, and strongest ties know to human beings‖

(Douglass 27). The above mentioned quotations declare the presence of social abuse in

Douglass‘ narrative. Even though the appearance of physical abuse in Douglass‘ writing is less frequent, it is of no less significance as its impact may be worse and more far-reaching in comparison with physical beatings. Thus, the social abuse helps to bring the attention to the main topic or legacy of Douglass‘ narrative – atrocities of slavery – in which social abuse plays quite an important role.

The case of Henry ―Box‖ Brown is very similar to Douglass, at least at the beginning. Brown also presents the disruption of his family when he is a child and he also gives account of the slave auction or more importantly, what follows after it – the departure of the sold slaves. Brown begins with the disruption of his family while he is a child. However, the circumstances of disruption of Brown‘s family are dealt with in detail in the chapter of childhood and disruption of families earlier in this thesis. Just brief recapitulation of the main facts it needs to be restated that Brown is separated from his family at the age of fifteen and he also comments on the disruption of his family in very emotional manner. The strong emotionality sets Brown apart from

Douglass and relates him more closely to authors of the female slave narrative for whom emotional expressions are more typical. On the seriousness of social abuse

Brown continues by comments on the far-reaching impacts of separation of families;

63 ―the pangs which lacerate the soul in consequence of the forcible disruption of parent and the dearest family ties, only grow deeper and more piercing, as memory fetches from a greater distance the horrid acts by which they have been produced‖ (Brown

387). Here the social abuse is presented as worse than physical beatings, since a victim of whipping can, more or less fully, recover and the recovery does not take such a long time, while the pain resulting from disruption of the family can only hardly be healed.

Another point that connects Brown to Douglass is the reference to reasons for social abuse that he attributes to the unlimited power executed by slaveholders. Brown declares that ―the tyrant slave-holder regards not the social, or domestic feelings of the slave, and makes his division according to the moneyed valued they posses, without giving the slightest consideration to the domestic or social ties by which the individuals are bound to each other‖ (Brown 387, emphasis in original). Thus, Brown in this instance uses the similar means to make the reader aware of the cruel realities involved in slavery as Douglass.

Circumstances of Brown‘s marriage are related to this unlimited power of slaveholders, which differentiates Brown from Douglass as well as Jacobs who both remain single while in slavery. Brown starts on the conditions of his marriage. ―We had made it up to get married, but it was necessary in the first place, to obtain our masters‘ permission, as we could do nothing without their consent‖ (Brown 401). Brown gets the consent from his master as well as his wife Nancy gets the consent from her master.

Even though both masters agree not to sell them, they do not keep their promises. First

Brown‘s wife is sold several times in the vicinity, but later in the story Brown is

―informed that [his] wife and children were taken from their home, sent to the auction mart and sold, and then lay in prison ready to start away the next day for North

Carolina‖ (Brown 406). Thus, Brown‘s family is separated from him. The final

64 disruption of his family sets the tone for Brown‘s depiction of the scene where sold slaves, including his wife and children, are being taken away. At this scene, Brown has a chance to see his wife and children for the last time. Brown starts by saying that ―I stood in the midst of many who […] were mourning the loss of friends and relations and had come there to obtain one parting look at those whose company they […] had imagined they should always enjoy, but who were, without any regard to their own wills, now driven by the tyrant‘s voice and […] whip‖ far away (Brown 410). This passage expresses atrocities that are connected to inhuman selling of slave families, displays terrible impact that disruption of families has on lives of slaves and demonstrates the presence of social abuse in Brown‘s narrative. Also the depiction of this scene serves as the preparation for the climax of that particular chapter which is set into scene when Brown parts with his wife.

―I seized hold of her hand while my mind felt unutterable things, and my tongue

was only able to say, we shall meet in heaven! I went with her for about four

miles hand in hand, but both our hearts were so overpowered with feeling that

we could say nothing, and when at last we were obliged to part, the look of

mutual love which we exchanged was all the token which we could give each

other that we should yet meet in heaven.‖

(Brown 411)

The parting with his wife and the horror involved present the climax of social abuse in

Brown‘s writing. This point most differentiates Brown from Douglass. Douglass does not witness his wife and children to be taken away from him, since he has a wife and children only after he escapes from slavery. This makes Brown observation on disruption of families more realistic and also explains why Brown‘s depiction of social absue is different from Douglass‘. In Brown‘s narrative the space devoted to disruption

65 of families and the involved terror exceeds the attention given to physical punishments.

Brown also expresses himself very emotionally on this matter. Thus, social abuse can be set as the central form abuse in Brown‘s narrative, which stands in contrast to

Douglass, who subdues social as well as sexual abuse to the physical one that is the central point of his narrative. The above mentioned examples explain horrors involved in separation of families and friends that represent one of the main area of cruelties encountered by slaves under slavery. Thus, social abuse, as described above, presents one of the crucial aspects of Brown‘s writing as well as one of crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

The social abuse is generally depicted quite differently in female slave narratives, which can serve as another of the gender based differences between male and female slave narratives. The strongest form of social abuse in the lives of female slaves is the oppression present in the fact that they are prevented from taking care of their children. Miller sheds some light on the presence of the social abuse in the lives of female slaves. ―Beginning in infancy‖ Miller declares, ―slave mothers were commonly forced to neglect their children while meeting labor obligations imposed upon them by their masters and overseers‖ (Miller 38). Miller continues by pointing out that ―it was common practice to allow them [slave mothers] only one month after delivering a baby to be away from their domestic service or fieldwork‖ (Miller 38). These comments makes the reader familiar with commons circumstances in the lives of female slaves, which may be very useful in the process of approaching social abuse in slave narratives. Thus, the reader better understands to what to devote his or her attention.

The social abuse is also present in the narrative of Harriet Jacobs. Similarly to the cases of Douglass and Brown, Jacobs‘ family is disrupted while she is still a child as already discussed in the chapter on childhood and disruption of families analyzed

66 earlier in this thesis. Furthermore, Jacobs mentions several instances of social abuse such as selling of slaves or the negative attitude of slaveholders towards slaves having and taking care of their children. However, the most important display of social abuse concerns Jacobs‘ children, who are very important in her writing. For the most parts of her narrative, Jacobs is prevented from being with her children, which is the main display of social abuse in Incidents and on which the focus of this part of the analysis is mainly placed. Similarly to the writings of Douglass and Brown, Jacobs‘ narrative contains examples of social abuse displayed in the circumstances involved in selling of slaves. One scene in Incidents, even tough it does not describe the actual selling of slaves, depicts a slave trader who leaves with purchased slaves. Jacobs describes the consequences that follow the visit of that slave trader in the following manner; ―[a]nd now came the trying hour for that drove of human beings, driven away like cattle, to be sold they knew not where. Husbands were torn from wives, parents from children, never to look upon each other again this side the grave. There was wringing of hands and cries of despair‖ (Jacobs 119). In this passage, Jacobs depicts the inhumanity of slavery. Firstly, she declares that slaves are striped of the status of human beings since they are ―driven away like cattle‖ (Jacobs 119), which connects Jacobs to Douglass who states that slaves, during the slave auctions, are perceived as equals to ―horses, sheep, and swine‖ (Douglass 27). Secondly, Jacobs mentions the disruption of family ties, which are totally disregarded by slaveholders. These are among the first instances of social abuse that create a very important part of Jacobs‘ narrative.

Another example of social abuse in Incidents is apparent from Jacobs‘ comments on the general beliefs held by the slaveholding community. Jacobs declares that her ―mistress, like many others, seemed to think that slaves had no right to any family ties of their own; that they were created merely to wait upon the family of the

67 mistress‖ (Jacobs 38). This quotation shows the presence of another level of social abuse in the slave narrative and it also brings the roles of children into this form of abuse. As said before, the most crucial instance of social abuse in Incidents is the fact that Jacobs is prevented from participating in the lives of her children for considerably long period of time. For almost seven years, during which she hides in the attic of her grandmother‘s house, Jacobs cannot interact with her children what so ever. Any contact with them could abort the plans for Jacobs‘ escape. Jacobs sees her children only shortly before the actual escape. She cannot even visit them while they are taken to prison, which is one of Dr. Flint‘s attempts to find Jacobs. Jacobs expresses her concerns for her children in the following manner, ―[w]hen I heard that my little ones were in loathsome jail, my first impulse was to go to them. I was encountering dangers for the sake of freeing them, and must I be the cause of their death? The thought was agonizing‖ (Jacobs 113). This passage shows that it is not easy for Jacobs not to be able to be around her children. By imprisoning Jacobs‘ children Dr. Flint exercises his power as he hopes that by playing on Jacobs‘ maternal instincts he can force her to leave her hiding place, in which the social abuse is displayed. The importance of

Jacobs‘ children in her narrative, besides many other examples, is also apparent from the following quotation. ―I had often prayed for death; but now I did not want to die, unless my child could die too‖ (Jacobs 66). Jacobs expresses the horrid of slavery which causes her to be unable to enjoy the most precious thing she has – her children.

She rather wishes her and her children to be dead. This quotation depicts quite vividly the horror of social abuse in the slave narrative. The above mentioned arguments demonstrate the presence of the social abuse in Jacobs‘ narrative. As shown, social abuse plays quite an important role in Incidents; its role may be less significant than that of sexual abuse but it is more important than physical abuse. However, all of these

68 three forms of abuse are present in Jacobs‘ writing and they all together convey the main message of her narrative – atrocities of slavery. The conclusion of this part of the analysis is the fact that social abuse is present in the writing of Harriet Jacobs and it creates an important part of the narrative. Thus, the importance of social abuse for the slave narrative genre is displayed on another example.

The presence of social abuse in the narrative of Elizabeth Keckley is obvious.

As I have already pointed out, the part of the book depicting Keckley‘s life under slavery is smaller one, thus, not as much space is devoted to atrocities of slavery in

Behind the Scenes as in other slave narratives. Although one may argue that due to this fact social abuse is of less importance in Keckley‘s writing, it is not the case. The first instance of social abuse in Behind the Scenes is rather of a unique character in comparison with the stories of the other three authors analyzed in this thesis. Since the central point of Keckley‘s life as well as her narrative is the economical progress, the obstacles that are presented to her in her endeavor to advance her position in social circles can be perceived as the source of social abuse. At early stage of her life,

Keckley learns the craft of sewing dresses from her mother and later Keckley manages quite well as a seamstress. But her progress is for a long period of time slowed down by the oppression of slavery, since Keckley has to support the family of her master with her earnings. Thus, even though she has an income, for a long time Keckley is note able to save enough money to buy her freedom and improve her position within the society by becoming a free woman from a slave, which represents one of the areas of display of social abuse in Behind the Scenes. However, the circumstances of Keckley‘s employment as well as her inability to fully realize her potential at first is dealt with in more detail in the chapter on the forms of resistance analyzed later in this thesis. Thus, the attention is now shifted to the instances that can relate Keckley more closely to the

69 other three authors analyzed in this thesis; to the instances that seem to be more useful for the purpose of analyzing the depiction and role of social abuse in the slave narrative.

Depiction of social abuse that can relate Keckley to the other three authors analyzed in the stories is displayed in several cases. First of this cases is the fact that

Keckley‘s family is disrupted. Even though certain details of the separation of her family may vary a bit, this phenomenon connects Keckley to Douglass, Brown and

Jacobs. Santamarina points out that ―her [Keckley‘s] description of the sale of her father away from her family‖ is an important part of ―the injustices of what she

[Keckley] terms the ‗dark side‘ of slavery‖ (Santamarina 522). Since ―dark side‖ of slavery is the main area of the display of abuse in general in Behind the Scenes, the importance of social abuse involved in the selling of Keckley‘s father for the text is confirmed. Probably the best scene in Keckley‘s writing which displays social abuse is the selling of a slave named Joe. This scene is worth being looked at more closely for mainly two reasons; it contains the reality of making slaves equals to animals as well as the negative impact that disruption of family has on its members. These two points are typical for the slave narrative genre and they serve as another set of means by which

Keckley can be related to the other three authors analyzed in this thesis. ―When I was about seven years old‖ Keckley starts, ―I witnessed, for the first time, the sale of human being‖ (Keckley 28). Keckley explains the reasons for this selling as her ―master had just purchased his hogs for the winter, for which he was unable to pay in full. To escape from his embarrassment it was necessary to sell one of the slaves. Little Joe, the son of the cook, was selected as the victim‖ (Keckley 28). Thus, similarly to Douglass and

Jacobs, Keckley mentions in her story a scene where slaves are compared to animals.

From a certain point of view, the case in Keckley‘s writing may be perceived as even

70 more severe in the comparison with the stories of the other two before-mentioned authors‘; the slave in Keckley‘s narrative is not taken as equal to but as much inferior to animals, since Joe is less important to his master than the hogs. Keckley depicts the actual selling during which Joe‘s ―mother was ordered to dress him up in his Sunday clothes, and send him to the house. He came in with a bright face, was placed in the scales, and was sold, like the hogs, at so much per pound‖ (Keckley 28). This passage contains horrid of social abuse presented in Behind the Scenes. First, Joe‘s mother prepares him for selling without knowing about it, since she is ―kept in ignorance of the transaction‖ (Keckley 28). Secondly, Joe is counted as equal to animals, which relates

Keckley‘s writing to writings of Douglass and Jacobs as they both give accounts of very similar scenes; scenes typical for the slave narrative where slaves are deprived of the status of human beings while being treated and sold as equals to animals. Keckley mentions the consequences of the selling of Joe‘s on his mother who is told by her master that Joe ―was simply going to town with the wagon, and would be back in the morning. Morning came, but little Joe did not return to his mother. Morning after morning passed, and the mother went down to the grave without ever seeing her child again‖ (Keckley 29). This passage also shows the cruelty of slaveholders, since this particular slaveholder does not inform Joe‘s mother about the real fate of her son, but instead he lets her live in a false hope. Keckley continues with the impact of disruption of family on Joe‘s mother, which also displays the relation between different forms of abuse in Behind the Scenes, since both physical as well as social forms of abuse are present in the selling of Joe. ―One day she [Joes‘ mother] was whipped for grieving for her lost boy. Colonel Burwell never liked to see one of his slaves wear a sorrowful face, and those who offended in this particular way were always punished‖ (Keckley

29). The grieving which is caused by social abuse presented in the selling of her son,

71 initiates exercising of physical punishment brought on Joe‘s mother. Thus, the relatedness of the forms of abuse, which are, as stated before, separated in this thesis mainly for the easier orientation within the text, is presented in Keckley‘s narrative.

Even despite the limited space that is devoted to abuse and atrocities of slavery in general in Keckley‘s writing, social abuse does find its way into Keckley‘s narrative.

The instances of social abuse in Behind the Scenes are of similar character as in the narratives of Douglass, Brown and Jacobs, and thus social abuse in Keckley‘s narrative in analyzed in contrast with the writings of these three authors. As displayed above, the role of social abuse is present and quite important in Keckley‘s narrative, which also demonstrates the significance of this feature for the slave narrative genre.

In his book dealing with Frederick Douglass, Sterngass comments on the topic of social abuse presented in the separation of families. Even though the observations made by Sterngass are rather general, they may be useful for the final conclusion of social abuse in this part of the thesis. Sterngass states that ―[s]lave families were separated, and children were sold away from their parents‖ (Sterngass 12). From a bit different point of view, Sterngass connects the separation of families with growing of cotton. ―Growing cotton,‖ Sterngass continues, ―meant opportunity for white planters.

It did not mean opportunity for slaves. To slaves, cotton meant misery. Whites uprooted thousands of African Americans‖ (Sterngass 12). In this example, Sterngass ascribes the increasing number of separated families to the expansion of cotton growing areas. Disregarding what the cause is, the important point here is that the separation of families was happening. Sterngass provides some statistic so that one can understand on what scale this separation of families was taking place. ―About one out of every four

African-American families was broken up because of the slave trade. By 1860, almost one million American slaves had been moved against their will from the place of their

72 birth to the booming cotton states‖ (Sterngass 12). Thus, as present here, the disruption of families takes place on a large scale and it is very important issue in lives of many slave families. This insight of Sterngass complements the successive analysis of the writings of Douglass, Brown, Jacobs and Keckley. All the narratives written by these four authors show the presence of social abuse that is displayed predominantly in disruption of families and inhuman treatment of slaves who are regarded as equals to animals. Although the role of social abuse for these four slave narratives in question may vary in certain details, it can be concluded that for each of these four narratives social abuse presents an important and inseparable element. Thus, the goal of this subchapter is achieved; the goal of showing the terror involved in the form of social abuse in the early slave narratives analyzed in this thesis as well as the significance of this form of abuse for the slave narrative genre.

Social abuse, as displayed in disruption of families and in perception of slaves as equals to animals, may seem not to be so brutal at the first sight in comparison with physical abuse. Social abuse cannot be as easily imagined and visualized from the text as it can done with the examples of severe beatings and whippings. However, social abuse presents quite a different kind of terror; terror that is more far-reaching and long going in comparison with physical abuse. The connection between social abuse and sexual one is obvious, as the support for this argument is presented on several instances in the passages dealing with sexual abuse. As stated above, children born to slave women who were sexually exploited by white men are more likely to be sold as soon as possible so that they do not function as reminders of the sexual intercourse between masters and their slaves, which is offensive to mistresses. Thus, the terror that is presented in separation of a child from its mother is being executed even earlier. These arguments show the interrelatedness of abuse in slave narratives as no clear line can be

73 drawn to mark where one form of abuse begins and the other one ends. The division of different forms of abuse into subchapters is done, as stated before, merely to help to make the orientation within the text better and more comprehensible. Nonetheless, this division helps to clearly convey one very important fact – the fact that all of these forms of abuse are present in all four slave narratives, even though in each narrative one form of abuse relates to the other ones in different degree. Thus, as the observation from the above stated arguments shows, it may be suggested that different form abuse is central to each of the four narratives. The central abuse for Douglass is undoubtedly the physical one, for Brown the social one and for Jacobs‘ writing sexual abuse is central with social abuse being very closely behind it. The case of Keckley is totally different; even though she includes examples of all of these three forms of abuse in her narrative, depiction of abuse is less important in her writing in comparison with the other three authors. The reason for this is the fact that the central point of Keckley‘s narrative is economical progress rather than depiction of atrocities of slavery.

Nonetheless, physical form of abuse can be labeled as the central one in Behind the

Scenes since Keckley devotes more attention to it than to any other form of abuse.

However, the fact that for each of these four slave narratives different form of abuse can be labeled as the central one stands as evidence of making a right choice in the process of selecting slave narratives for this thesis, since these four books offer certain amount of diversity and are very suitable for the purpose of comparative analysis. The textual analysis of these four narratives in question sufficiently demonstrates, with the help of the arguments from the secondary sources, the importance of abuse in these four slave narratives and presents the differences in depictions by particular authors.

This chapter concludes by establishing abuse as one of the crucial and one of the most significant features of the slave narrative genre.

74 Chapter 5

The Forms of Resistance in The Slave Narrative

Having depicted abuse and its various forms as one of the crucial aspects of the slave narrative genre, I am now shifting attention to another very important feature of the slave narrative – resistance against the institution of slavery. There can be made a basic distinction between abuse and resistance in the slave narrative; the former is passive as it depicts what happens to slaves, while the later can be perceived as the active part of the slave narrative, since slaves are the ones who are acting on their own.

From this point of view, resistance bears a lot of importance, which explains why it represents the single longest chapter in this thesis. Resistance against slavery may have many different forms such as slaves destroying or losing tools or refusing to obey orders. However, the focus in this thesis is placed on more visible acts of resistance that are presented in the slave narrative in forms of physical confrontations with slaveholders and verbal abuse. The highest form of resistance that is to be found in the slave narrative is the actual escape of that particular slave. Generally, in lives of most slaves some form of resistance usually takes place, however, in larger scale, a successful escape is rarely part of it. Nonetheless, in the four slave narratives analyzed in this thesis the escape appears and it follows some acts of resistance in shorter or longer period of time. Resistance is not depicted in every slave narrative in a single clear form but rather in various less obvious forms. This means that acts of resistance cannot be easily ascertained in every narrative, which slightly complicates the analysis.

Escape has quite an interesting role of its own in the slave narrative. On one hand, it can be perceived as the most important part of the narrative. It may in fact be stated that for the majority of slave narratives published before the Civil War, the escape is the climax of the story. The escape bears a great importance also for the fact that without

75 gaining his or her freedom a former slave would not have a chance to write his or her life story. But from a different point of view, the depiction of escape does not serve the primary goal of most authors of the slave narrative; their goal is to help to abolish slavery. From this point of view, the role of abuse in the slave narrative retains its primacy. However, disregarding the different natures of roles possessed by abuse and escape in the writings, it needs to be asserted that escape creates an inseparable part of the slave narrative and its importance in the writing is unquestionable. The functions of various forms of resistance are analyzed in the writings of the four slave narrative authors who are lined again in the chronological order according to the dates of the publication of their stories – Frederick Douglass, Henry ―Box‖ Brown, Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckley. Conditions for escape from slavery are usually very different for male and female slaves. Thus, the general circumstances concerning the actual escapes are appropriately depicted in different manners in male and female slave narratives, which represents one of the many gender based differences in the slave narrative genre. Thus, this last chapter, prior to the conclusion of the whole thesis, analyzes the characteristics of resistance and escape in early slave narratives, it points out the differences in depiction of these two features between particular narratives, and it demonstrates significant roles of these two aspects for the slave narrative genre.

The first author to be analyzed in this chapter is Frederick Douglass. In

Douglass‘ case it could by said that the whole story evolves around Douglass‘ quest to become a free man. This is also suggested by Santamarina who argues that ―Douglass appealed to his audience by writing his way to manhood‖ (Santamarina 518). During his quest Douglass has to get rid of the restrictions cast upon him by the institution of slavery. Thus, in his ―way to manhood‖ Douglass‘ fight against the system of slavery plays the most important part. Douglass‘ acts of resistance against slavery happen on

76 several occasions; however, one of the events stands out – the fight with Mr. Covey.

The fight with Mr. Covey is undoubtedly worth being looked at in more detail, and it is used as the main example for the purpose of analyzing forms of resistance in Douglass‘ writing. Douglass is beaten by Mr. Covey on regular basis; however, on one occasion

Douglass decides it has been enough. ―I resolved to fight,‖ Douglass starts his description of the scene, ―and suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat; and as I did so, I rose‖ (Douglass 42). Douglass continues that Mr. Covey

―trembled like a leaf. This gave me assurance, and I held him uneasy, causing the blood to run where I touched him with the ends of my fingers‖ (Douglass 42). An important part of the fight is the indirect assistance that is given to Douglass by other slaves. Jon

Sterngass points out that ―[a] key element of the story occurs when Covey calls on two slaves to help him. Both slaves either pretend to misunderstand Covey or refuse to help him‖ (Sterngass 32). One of these slaves, Hughes, actually tries to help Mr. Covey as he ―attempted to tie [Douglass‘] right hand‖ but Douglass ―gave him a heavy kick close under the ribs [which] fairly sickened Hughes‖ (Douglass 42). It cannot be perceived as a straight fact, since it is not directly stated in the book, but one may get a feeling from the general description of the scene that Hughes does not try very hard to tie Douglass‘ hands. Thus, Hughes does not obey the command given by Mr. Covey very thoroughly, by which he expresses his unwillingness to participate in the persecution of his fellow bondman. Disregarding the ambiguity of this example, the acting of the other of these two slaves named Bill expresses clear support to Douglass. Bill gives quite a bold response when Mr. Covey ―called upon him for assistance‖ (Douglass 43). Bill states that ―his master hired him out to work, and not to help to whip‖ other slaves (Douglass

43). Even though Bill does not directly help Douglass, his reluctance to become part of the fight is an expression of a great support to Douglass as well as of Bill‘s resistance

77 towards the institution of slavery. By including these two slaves and their partial involvement in Douglass‘ resisting against the institution of slavery Douglass presents the slave community as a functioning community.

Douglass summarizes the battle, which lasts ―for nearly two hours,‖ in the following way (Douglass 43). ―Covey at length let me go, puffing and blowing at a great rate, saying that if I had not resisted, he would not have whipped me half so much. The truth was, that he had not whipped me at all. I considered him as getting entirely the worst end of the bargain; for he had drawn no blood from me, but I had from him‖ (Douglass 43). Douglass draws attention to his courage and resistance which make him look as a heroic figure. This heroic aspect is very important for Douglass‘ writing and it also differentiates him from the other three authors analyzed in this thesis. Sterngass says that ―Douglass portrayed this fight as an epic battle between good and evil‖ (Sterngass 30). From the suggestion made by Sterngass, the fight between

Douglass and Mr. Covey can be ascribed almost a biblical notion, which in turn shows the importance of this event for the whole narrative. However, the most important part of Douglass‘ resistance in the book as well as for Douglass‘ life is the outcome of the fight with Mr. Covey. The first of the consequences that follow the fight is the fact that

Douglass is not beaten any more. Douglass states, ―[t]he whole six months afterwards, that I spent with Mr. Covey, he never laid the weight of his finger upon me in anger‖

(Douglass 43). This demonstrates the first victory achieved by Douglass, which also functions as another step on his way to freedom. However, this event has another more far-reaching impact on the future development of Douglass‘ life. ―This battle with Mr.

Covey‖ Douglass explains, ―was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a

78 determination to be free‖ (Douglass 43). As Sterngass points out, ―[g]radually, he

[Douglass] manages to restore his manhood […] by standing up to Edward Covey‖

(Sterngass 61). The fact that this fight forwards Douglass ahead in his determination to set himself on a quest for freedom can be perceived as the great victory that could not be gained without Douglass‘ standing up against Mr. Covey. Thus, the crucial role of

Douglass‘ resistance against Mr. Covey as well as against the institution of slavery as such is confirmed for the whole narrative. This heroic battle increases Douglass‘ determination to escape from slavery and functions as one of the major factors that initiate the final implementation of his escape.

The role of escape in Douglass‘ writing is quite different in comparison with the other three authors analyzed in this thesis. Douglass does not include any details describing his escape in the versions of his narrative published before the aboliton of slavery. Douglass gives two reasons for his ―intention not to state all the facts connected with‖ his escape (Douglass 59). ―First,‖ Douglass starts, ―were I to give a minute statement of all the facts, it is not only possible, but quite probable, that others would thereby be involved in the most embarrassing difficulties‖ (Douglass 59).

Douglass does not give any details of his escape so that the people are not put in danger for helping him. ―Secondly,‖ Douglass continues, ―such a statement would most undoubtedly induce greater vigilance on the part of slaveholders than has existed heretofore among them; which would, of course, be the means of guarding a door whereby some dear brother bondman might escape his galling chains‖ (Douglass 59).

This second reason is even of greater significance than the first one. As obvious here,

Douglass understands the perils of revealing the conditions of his escape. He does not want to prevent any other slave from using similar methods for his or her escape. The general endeavor not to make slaveholders familiar with the various practices which

79 could enable them to be more effective in their system of oppression differentiates

Douglass from Brown and Jacobs who both incorporate vivid depictions of their escapes, including the names of people who assist them, into their narratives published before the abolition of slavery. Thus, the role of the escape as depicted in Douglass‘ writing is different from the very beginning. Although, it is not present in the text of the first edition that is being analyzed in this thesis, it is included in the later works of

Douglass that were published after the Civil War. Since the later works of Douglass are not the focus of this thesis, the analysis of his escape is not done on the primary sources. However, several quotations from secondary sources, especially from

Sterngass‘ book Frederick Douglass, are included here. Sterngass presents Douglass‘ escape as a series of train journeys which Douglass takes disguised as a sailor. He prepares for his disguise quite well as Douglass ―also obtained papers from a free black sailor in Baltimore that showed the bearer to be a free man‖ (Sterngass 39). On the account of the journey itself Sterngass begins that Douglass ―had a friend drive him to the railroad station. He was dressed in a red shirt with a kerchief tied around his neck, and he had a sailor‘s flattopped, broad-brimmed hat on his head. He boarded a train to

Delaware just as it was departing‖ (Sterngass 39). Sterngass continues with the further comments on Douglass‘ journey; ―[a]t the Delaware border, Frederick boarded a ferry to cross the Susquehanna River. He then took a train to the city of Wilmington,

Delaware, and changed there for a ferry to Philadelphia, in the free state of

Pennsylvania. […] From Philadelphia, he traveled to New York as quickly as possible‖

(Sterngass 39). This description does not offer many details, and it is rather a mere stating of facts, however, Sterngass supplements it with some more insights. Typically the slave narrative there is some danger involved in the process of escape. In Douglass case there are two instances mentioned by Sterngass. First is ―when the conductor came

80 into the car reserved for blacks to take the passengers‘ tickets. Fortunately for

Frederick, the conductor did not look closely at the description in the papers Frederick carried. He never noticed that the sailor who stood before him was not the man in the freedom papers‖ (Sterngass 41). The second example of danger is in the fact that on his journey to freedom Douglass meets ―[t]hree times […] people who knew him. Each time, he just managed to avoid trouble‖ (Sterngass 41). Another interesting point concerning the escape is the fact that certain amount of luck is necessary for successful escape form slavery. The occurrence of this luck can be labeled as typical for the slave narrative. These two events, that Douglass is not revealed by the conductor nor is his escape interrupted by the people who recognize him, serve as examples of this luck.

Sterngass adds one more to these fortunate circumstances as he points out that

Douglass ―was lucky [since] [t]he railroad that ran north from Baltimore was only a year old, and security was not as tight as it would be in later years‖ (Sterngass 39). This description of Douglass‘ escape should not suggest that his escape is easy or that it is not quite an achievement. It is obvious that Douglass must be anxious for the whole journey; he knows that he could be caught any minute and he realizes that the effects of his capture would involve various forms of severe punishments. Douglass, similar to any other slave, understands this very well. These observations from secondary sources, which are done for the reasons stated above, cannot probably make the same impression as the analysis of the primary sources, but it suffices to make one familiar with the general methods of Douglass‘ escape. It sheds some light on Douglass‘ escape, which is done predominantly for the purpose of relating the escapes of other authors that are analyzed later in the thesis. It is obvious that without Douglass‘ escape the publication of Narrative would not be possible, or at least not till after the Civil War.

81 This demonstrates, even though maybe in a bit different light than in the narratives of the other three authors, the significance of escape for Douglass‘ Narrative.

The case of Henry ―Box‖ Brown stands in contrast to Frederick Douglass basically in two things. First, Brown does not mention forms of resistance displayed in a fight with a white man. His resistance against slavery happens in a less pronounced way, which suggests that its role is of less importance in Brown‘s writing. Secondly,

Brown focuses much more attention to the methods and circumstances of his escape, which can be perceived as the central point of his story around which everything else evolves. The first thing that needs to be stated is that Brown‘s conditions are different from that of Douglass as I have discussed in the previous chapter on abuse. Brown does not mention undergoing of physical abuse such as beatings and whippings. Thus, one necessarily gets an idea that such phenomenon is not important for Brown‘s life. In

Douglass‘ case the physical abuse stands behind his determination to stand up to himself. Since Brown is not provoked in this manner, such a form of resistance as in

Douglass‘ narrative is simple not needed in Brown‘s case. Since this element is missing in Brown‘s life, it is quite understandable that resistance does not find its way into his writing in the similar manner as in Douglass‘ book. However, from a certain point of view Brown‘s resistance against slavery may be perceived in the very act of his escape.

Brown‘s determination to escape from slavery is intensified by the loss of his family.

Cynthia Griffin Wolff comments on the impact of the disruption of Brown‘s family on

Brown‘s ―crafted […] life that seemed deceptively ‗free.‘ Yet the stubborn fact of chattel servitude inevitably asserted itself: one day, without warning, his wife and children were sold; within hours, they had disappeared into the irretrievable anonymity of the deep South, and Brown was left alone-desolate and helpless to save them‖

(Wolff). This abrupt change in Brown‘s life is important for his determination to escape

82 slavery – mainly for two reasons. The first reason is that he experiences severe blow from slaveholders presented in the separation of his family. Thus, his reaction to escape is an execution of resistance against the injustice of the system. Secondly, there is nothing that could make Brown to stay in slavery and bear its hardships any longer. It can be stated that for Brown‘s narrative the acts of resistance against slavery do not play such important roles as for Douglass‘ narrative. However, even though in a less pronounced manner, the forms of resistance find their ways into his writing in the very fact that Brown decides not to endure the injustices of slavery any longer after the disruption of his family. Thus, the importance of resistance for Brown‘s narrative and for the slave narrative genre is confirmed.

A comparison of escapes of Frederick Douglass and Henry ―Box‖ Brown, and especially the ways they depict them in their stories, is interesting, since what Douglass omits in his writing, Brown focuses on and transforms into a means of gaining popularity. Thus, the general role of the escape and its very detailed depiction in

Brown‘s writing is in total opposition to Douglass. Already the nickname that becomes part of Brown‘s name after his journey from bondage – Henry ―Box‖ Brown – suggests that the escape itself is the thing to which Brown focuses most of his attention. Brown begins his recollection of escape by saying that ―the idea suddenly flashed across my mind of shutting myself up in a box, and getting myself conveyed as dry goods to a free state‖ (Brown 415-16, emphasis in original). In the process of implementation of this idea Brown is assisted by his friend Dr. Smith and a storekeeper. There is lot of danger in an attempt to accomplish such a deed as it is apparent from storekeeper‘s opinion who ―did not think [Brown] could live in a box for so long a time as would be necessary to convey [Brown] to Philadelphia‖ (Brown 416). However, Brown, even though understands this great danger, disregards storekeeper‘s precautions and is

83 ―willing to dare even death itself rather than endure any longer the clanking of those galling chains‖ (Brown 416). This demonstrates strength of Brown determination that is an important aspect in practically any slave narrative, in which slaves express their opinion that it is better to be dead than to remain in bondage. Brown continues with the description of the box. ―The box which I had procured was three feet one inch wide, two feet six inches high, and two feet wide‖ (Brown 417). Brown makes ―three gimlet holes opposite [his] face, for air,‖ and provides himself ―with a bladder of water‖ and also the gimlet should he need more air-holes (Brown 417). ―Being thus equipped for the battle of liberty‖ the lid of the box is ―nailed down‖ and Brown sets on his journey

(Brown 471). These hard conditions of escape differentiates Brown from Douglass and at the same time they relate Brown closer to Jacobs who has to endure similar hardships due to the lack of space as discussed later. The journey itself is quite difficult for

Brown as the box is overturned several times, and he is placed with his head down. By these circumstances Brown represents problems and perils that a slave has to endure during his or her escape, which is typical for the slave narrative. Thus, Brown similar to

Douglass, even though Douglass perils are of different character, gives accounts of several problems that emerge during his journey to freedom. First time when the box is put upside down Brown says ―I felt my eyes swelling as if they would burst from their sockets; and the veins on my temples were dreadfully distended with pressure of blood upon my head‖ (Brown 417). Another occasion when the box is overturned Brown describes in following manner, ―I felt a cold sweat coming over me which seemed to be a warning that death was about to terminate my earthly miseries‖ (Brown 417). The problems that take place during Brown‘s quest for freedom are different from

Douglass, who mainly faces the problems with revelation. Brown‘s problems, besides the possible revelation, consist also in health problems or in perils of possible death due

84 to the harsh circumstances as mentioned above. However, after being shaken and put with the head upside down several times more Brown manages to get to his final destination. He spends ―twenty seven hours in the box‖ and on his quest for liberty he travels ―a distance of three hundred and fifty miles‖ (Brown 419). Upon the arrival of the box to the house of its recipient the gathered people ―managed to break the box, and then came my [Brown‘s] resurrection from the grave of slavery. I rose a freeman‖

(Brown 419). The depiction of this scene is quite epic and gives notion of heroism in

Brown‘s narrative, which relates him back to Douglass whose heroism is present in his fight with Mr. Covey. Similarly to Douglass, Brown‘s journey involves several fortunate circumstances; Brown‘s box does not get lost or delayed and it manages to get to the final destination, Brown is not revealed and caught, and he survives several dangerous incidents when the box is turned upside down. The fortunate circumstances during the implementation of successful escape are typical for the slave narrative.

The conditions of Brown‘s travel are very unfavorable as he has to undergo many physical hardships, unlike Douglass who is rather comfortably situated in a train.

Wolff makes a connection between Brown‘s box and the terrible conditions that slaves had to endure on ships during the Middle Passage from Africa to America. Wolff sheds more light on terrible conditions on slave ships, especially due to the lack of space, as

Wolff states that ―[e]very man was allowed a space six feet long by sixteen inches wide and usually about two feet, seven inches high‖ (Wolff). Wolff continues on ruthlessness and cruelties of slave traders; ―[n]o ingenious strategy of space-saving detail was neglected. If the hold was as high as five feet, a shelf or platform was built around its perimeter: When the bottom of the hold was completely covered with flesh, another row of slaves was packed on the platform‖ (Wolff). The conditions stated here are quite terrible and express great amount of horror, which can be said in very similar

85 manner about Brown‘s conditions for escape. Thus, in Brown‘s case, unlike in

Douglass‘, the atrocities of slavery are included in a strong form also into the circumstances of the actual escape. Wolff makes an interesting parallelism between

Brown and the Middle Passage. ―Like all slaves, Brown was painfully acquainted with the terms of the Middle Passage, even though he had not endured it himself. We knew the dimensions of its privations, understood the bitter paradox of its transformations; and at length, he devised a suitably ironic mode of escape‖ (Wolff). Wolff continues with showing what the incorporation of the notion of Middle Passage means for the

Brown‘s writing, especially for its significance. Brown ―would transform this text into its opposite by converting the very stringencies of an African slave ship into a blueprint for freedom. If his forebears had been transported from freedom into bondage as merchandise; as merchandise HE could be transported into freedom‖ (Wolff, emphasis in original). These quotations are quite interesting as they make the reader look on

Brown‘ escape from a different point of view. Brown, for escaping slavery, has to endure similar experiences as his ancestors who by these experiences were brought into slavery. However, Brown‘s conditions are much less harsh as he spends in the box

―only‖ twenty seven hours in comparison with several weeks that was a typical time span for the Middle Passage. The way Brown manages to connect this bigger picture of origins of American slavery to his writing is quite interesting; it displays the eloquence and literary achievement of Brown‘s writing, which highlights some aspects of the slave narrative genre. This demonstrates that this genre is worth closer exploration not only from the historical point of view, but also from the literary one. The incorporation of the Middle Passage draws even more attention to Brown‘s escape, and it helps to convey the importance and uniqueness of Brown‘s escape for his narrative.

86 The circumstances of Brown‘s escape and its depiction in his book, however, are not important only for his writing, but for Brown‘s life in general. The escape plays an important role in Brown‘s career as an abolitionist, which is enabled by his popularity. John Ernest points out that Brown‘s abolitionist career begins very soon as the narrative ―became almost immediately one of the most celebrated stories of liberation in the history of American enslavement‖ (Ernest, Outside the Box). This popularity, both of the narrative as well as of Brown himself, enabled Brown to be an active abolitionist. Brown‘s activity in abolitionist movement is apparent from the examples given by Suzette A. Spencer that include ―several public performances in

North America and Britain; two slave narratives […] songs and broadsides chronicling his feat [and] anonymously-authored illustrations of his escape that proliferated in various media‖ (Spencer 229). Although most of these things have to do more with

Brown‘s heroic escape rather then with presenting atrocities of slavery, the popularity thus gained enables Brown, as Spencer argues, ―to construct visual and political currents of transatlantic insurgency,‖ in which Brown‘s success in being an active abolitionist is displayed (Spencer 229). Brown‘s fame is asserted by Spencer‘s comments who suggests that Brown‘s ―escape makes him perhaps the most memorable and symbolic fugitive in American history‖ (Spencer 228). The role of popularity in his abolitionist‘s career represents another example of importance of escape in Brown‘s life as well as in his writing. In conclusion, such an importance of escape as in Brown‘s writing is not to be found in the writing of any other author analyzed in this thesis, which also ascribes Brown certain uniqueness. Brown‘s resistance against slavery is displayed predominantly in the circumstances of his escape. The numerous arguments mentioned above show the importance of resistance against the institution of slavery in

Brown‘s writing. Thus, resistance against slavery is depicted as one of the crucial

87 features of the slave narrative genre. The role of family in the matter of escape also differentiates Brown from Douglass. But when Brown loses his family his conditions as well as opportunity for escape are similar with Douglass, which also shows that to escape from slavery was relatively easier for males than females. The presence of the family and concerns for its well being prevent Brown from escaping slavery earlier, which relates him to female slaves for whom the family is the reason why they may be at first rather reluctant to escape from slavery as it is demonstrated on the case of

Harriet Jacobs.

Various forms of resistance against the institution of slavery, together with the highest form of resistance presented in an escape from slavery, play important roles in the narrative of Harriet Jacobs. Her comparison with Frederick Douglass and Henry

―Box‖ Brown is quite interesting, since Jacobs can be related to these two male authors on some occasions, but differentiated from them on the others. As already discussed in the previous chapter on abuse, Jacobs does not experience physical punishments, except for very rare occasions. The lack of physical abuse means that for Jacobs physical confrontation is not very likely to take place in her writing, which is similar to

Brown‘s case as discussed before. Thus, the resistance against slavery in Incidents does not take the form of physical conformation as in Douglass‘ story, which differentiates both Jacobs and Brown from Douglass. However, Jacobs does not fight slavery in such a less noticeable way as Brown. Jacobs expresses her contempt against Dr. Flint as she stands up to him and his oppression many times and her determination to do so is apparent at the very beginning of her story. When Dr. Flint makes the first of a long series of implications that Jacobs has to succumb to his wishes since she belongs to him she immediately decides to revolt. Jacobs states, ―[t]he war of my life had begun; and though one of God‘s most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered‖

88 (Jacobs 17). The rebellious spirit of Jacobs is asserted by her own words as she says about Dr. Flint that ―[s]ometimes I so openly expressed my contempt for him that he would become violently enraged, and I wondered why he did not strike me‖ (Jacobs

31). The great courage as well as daring are also confirmed by Jennie Miller who argues that Jacobs ―defied his [Dr. Flint‘s] pursuits by taking risks that most slave girls would not have attempted. On more than one occasion she lashed out at her master verbally‖ (Miller 34). Thus, as suggested from these examples, there is no doubt concerning the presence as well as the importance of the forms of resistance in Jacobs‘ narrative.

One of the biggest displays of resistance in Incidents is Jacobs‘ sexual affair with Mr. Sands, on which Miller comments. ―Her relationships with Sawyer [the real name of Mr. Sands] was not motivated by love or sexual pleasure, but rather by her ability to make a conscious choice regarding who could be the father of her children and which man would haves access to her body‖ (Miller 36). This matter of choice is of a great importance, and it shows Jacobs‘ endeavor to do whatever she can to take control of herself. Trying to have a control over her own body as well as sexuality was not an easy task for any woman under slavery and the possibility to posses this control remained denied to the majority of slave women. By the fact that she chooses whom to be sexually involved with and that the chosen person is a white man other then her master, Jacobs stands up for herself, which can be perceived as an act of resistance against the institution of slavery. However, the affair with Mr. Sands bears double significance in Jacobs‘ performance of resistance as it also causes the burst of her greatest anger against Dr. Flint, which could be perceived as the climax of her resistance prior to her escape. The scene that depicts the biggest confrontation between

Jacobs and Dr. Flint happens when Jacobs informs Dr. Flint about Mr. Sands and the

89 fact that she is going to have a baby with him. Dr. Flint is so angered that he strikes

Jacobs for the first time, which is discussed in the previous chapter on abuse. Jacobs reflects on this scene by saying that ―when I had recovered a little from the effects, I exclaimed, ‗You have struck me for answering you honestly. How I despise you!‘‖

(Jacobs 40). Jacobs does not stop at this verbal assault, but she stands up for herself even more. Dr. Flint tries to discourage Jacobs by saying ―‘Do you know what you have said?‘‖ (Jacobs 41). Dr. Flint continues on making Jacobs aware that her behavior is not appropriate, when measured by customs of slavery, as he asks Jacobs‘ ―‘Do you know that I have a right to do as I like with you,– that I can kill you, if I please?‘‖

(Jacobs 41). But to first of these two questions Jacobs gives answer in following manners, ―‘[y]es, sir; but you your treatment drove me to it‘‖ (Jacobs 41). To the second question raised by Dr. Flint Jacobs replies, ―‘[y]ou have tried to kill me, and I wish you had; but you have no right to do as you like with me‘‖ (Jacobs 41). This represents the climax of Jacobs‘ resistance against Dr. Flint. Not only does she tell Dr.

Flint that she despises him, an act of a great courage considering the circumstances, but

Jacobs does not become afraid or discouraged after Dr. Flint states what terrible consequences she could bring upon herself by such behavior. During her confrontation with Dr. Flint Jacobs boldly states that she would rather be dead than to be in his power. This demonstrates Jacobs‘ courage as well as her understanding of the misery of her condition. Again the role of death plays an important part as Jacobs expresses her opinion that death seems to be better than to endure the injustices and hardships of slavery; an opinion that is commonly expressed in the slave narrative as I have already shown for example on Brown‘s case.

Similarly to Douglass, Jacobs‘ acts of resistance are successful as Dr. Flint does not punish Jacobs for her standing up to him. Thus, the outcome of her confrontation

90 with her master is a victory for Jacobs, even though not a total one. She hopes that by telling him about the affair Dr. Flint may lose interest in her and that she can in this way get rid of sexual abuse, which unfortunately does not happen. However, the notion of victory is present in the fact that Dr. Flint does not punish Jacobs and that he is willing to forgive her if she does what he requires. Such disobedience from a slave would not be normally tolerated by a slaveholder. Thus, Jacobs learns that she has certain power and that she can stand up against the oppression, which presents invaluable experience for the later development of her life – especially for her escape.

This final confrontation with Dr. Flint is the climax of Jacobs‘ resistance against slavery prior to her escape as she openly confronts her master and she does not cease but continues to stand up for herself even when she realizes the possible consequences.

In this very point Jacobs can be related to Douglass. Even though, the scene describing

Jacobs‘ confrontation with Dr. Flint does not take much of the space in the book, its importance is unquestionable. Thus, Jacobs can be placed somewhere in the middle between these two male authors; she does not fight slavery as violently and openly as

Douglass, but her behavior displays more vivid acts of resistance against the institution of slavery than in Brown‘s case. The presence of resistance in Incidents is shown here and its significance for the whole text, and in turn for the slave narrative genre, is thus confirmed. Another importance of Jacobs‘ confrontation with Dr. Flint is the fact that, as is in the case of the majority of slave narratives, it forwards Jacobs ahead in her quest for freedom and helps her to accomplish the final escape from slavery, which presents the highest act of resistance.

Moving to analysis of escape in the narrative of Harriet Jacobs it first needs to be pointed out that the conditions for escaping slavery were usually quite different for male and female slaves. Apart from their own fates, female slaves usually had to take

91 into consideration the fates of their children. The fact that children play more significant roles in escapes carried out by female slaves than by male ones serves as another point of view for differentiating slave narratives on gender basis. Even though

Brown has a family, the escape in Brown‘s story takes place only after the disruption of his family; at this point Brown does not have to take into consideration the fate of anybody else and is left totally on is own. The case of Jacobs is quite different from

Brown, since she remains near her children all the time while she is preparing for her escape. Miller brings role of children into Jacobs‘ escape; ―[e]ven as Jacobs fled [from slavery] with the aid of an uncle and several close friends, her journey was not her own.

All of her decisions along the way centered first on securing freedom for her children, then achieving her own freedom‖ (Miller 37). Thus, there are no doubts that her children are the reason why the decision to implement the final escape takes Jacobs such a long time. Totally different attitude is taken by Douglass who, when he ―decided to flee from slavery, […] did just that‖ (Miller 37). An interesting point of view concerning the roles of children in one‘s escape from slavery emerges from yet another comparison of Douglass and Jacobs. Miller compares these two authors by saying that

Douglass ―left his master and never looked back. Jacobs, on the other hand, spent nearly seven years in hiding which left her both physically and emotionally scarred‖

(Miller 37). Thus, as demonstrated here, to escape from slavery is more difficult for female than for male slaves; females slave have to take into consideration their children and it is not an easy task for them to save themselves while to leave their children in bondage. These examples just demonstrate what keeps Jacobs in slavery for such a long time, since the presence of her children in her life postpone the determination to escape from slavery and save only herself.

92 The conditions that Jacobs has to endure during her hiding in the house of her grandmother connect her to Brown. Jacobs describes her hiding place in the following way, ―[t]he garret was only nine feet long and seven wide. The highest part was three feet high, and sloped down abruptly to the loose board floor. There was no admission for either the light or air‖ (Jacobs 128). Even though these dimensions are bigger than in Brown‘s case, Jacobs does not spend in this space only twenty seven hours, but considerably longer period of time. ―I lived‖ Jacobs declares ―in that little dismal hole, almost deprived of light and air, and with no space to move my limbs, for nearly seven years‖ (Jacobs 166). It is understandable that such circumstances represent great physical hardships; thus there is no wonder that Robin Miskolcze relates Jacobs‘ conditions to sufferings of slaves during the Middle Passage. ―The dimensions and experiences in the attic allude slaves‘ experiences aboard slave ships‖ (Miskolcze 288).

―Aside from the space,‖ Miskolcze continues, ―it is obvious that Jacobs suffers similar deprivations that slaves on ships endured: no light or fresh air, excessive heat, rodents running over her body, and her food passed up into her hold, the garret, much as food was passed down a hatch to the slaves in a ship‘s hold‖ (Miskolcze 289). Thus, Jacobs can be, similarly to Brown, related to the Middle Passage. However, her conditions are much worse in comparison with Brown, since Jacobs does not suffer only from the lack of space but also from heat and cold, presence of rodents and insufficient food. Also what makes Jacobs‘ case even more difficult is the fact that she is forced to endure all these hardships for incomparable longer period of time than Brown. This intense connection to the Middle Passage gives Jacobs‘ escape a new level of significance in her narrative as it happens in the case of Brown as discussed above.

However, after Jacobs hides for nearly seven years the actual escape takes place. By this time, Jacobs‘ daughter does not reside in the vicinity as she has been sent

93 to the North by Mr. Sands. Thus, Jacobs has one fewer children to worry about and she can finally resolutely proceed with her escape. The escape is initiated with the help of

Jacobs‘ uncle Phillip and her friend Peter who manage to secure a place on a steam boat that takes Jacobs to the North, and thus carries her out of the slavery. The circumstances of Jacobs‘ escape are not as harsh as her seven-year-long sojourn in the attic of her grandmother‘s house or as Brown‘s travels in the box. Jacobs is rather comfortably situated on a steam boat to Philadelphia and later she takes a train to New

York. During the whole journey to freedom Jacobs is assisted by others as she presents in the chapter ―Northward Bound.‖ Peter takes Jacobs to a steam boat on a wharf while

Phillip watches out for the danger. During the voyage the captain of the ship takes care of Jacobs and her friend Fanny, who is also running away, accompanies Jacobs for the whole time. Jacobs praises the character of the captain of the steam boat as she says about him that ―[h]e assured us that we might sleep through the night without fear; that he would take care we were not left unprotected‖ and that ―he could not have treated us more respectfully‖ (Jacobs 179). Another example of a kind treatment during the process of Jacobs‘ escape takes place in Philadelphia where great assistance is performed by Rev. Durham who accommodates Jacobs in his house and attends to her necessities for several days. He also assists Jacobs in getting into a train to New York.

The circumstances of Jacobs‘ escape bear a lot of similarities to Douglass. However, the difference is that Jacobs mentions names of some people who helped her and also that she reveals a lot of other details of her quest for freedom, even though her story is published prior to the abolition of slavery. Such a phenomenon is missing in Douglass‘ accounts of his life in bondage which are published prior to the end of the Civil War. In

Incidents the actual escape does not take so much space of the book as the conditions prior to the escape which also seem to be more interesting and more suitable target of

94 the analysis. This explains why this thesis devotes more attention to Jacobs‘ sojourn in the attic than to the actual escape.

To conclude the dealing with Jacobs‘ escape from the bondage it needs to be stated that the role played by her children is very important, since the presence of the children prevents Jacobs from escaping slavery much earlier. This differentiates her from Douglass and Brown. Jacobs is simply not able to make a selfish attempt to escape slavery while leaving her children behind. But what relates her to Brown is the relation to the Middle Passage as well as the physical sufferings that Jacobs has to endure during her quest for freedom. Nonetheless, even if the comparison with the male counterparts is disregarded, the significance of escape in Jacobs‘ life as well as in her narrative is displayed, which presents another point that displays escape as one of the crucial features of the slave narrative. Unlike in the narratives of Douglass and Brown, there is certain balance in Incidents as Jacobs devotes similar amount of space to the depiction of her confrontation with Dr. Flint and conditions of her escape. Jacobs ascribes similar significance in her writing to both of these concepts. It cannot be said that one diminishes the occurrence of the other as it could be seen in the writings of her male counterparts; Douglass focuses most attention to his fight with Mr. Covey, while

Brown draws all the attention to the methods and circumstances of his escape. This balance makes Jacobs unique in comparison with all the other authors analyzed in this thesis, since such a balance is not to be found in Keckley‘s book either. Nonetheless, the above mentioned arguments sufficiently demonstrate the important roles of the resistance and escape in Incidents, which in turn confirms the significance of these two aspects for the slave narrative genre.

Analysis of the forms of resistance in the story of Elizabeth Keckley reveals some interesting points. The comparison of the circumstances of the resistance in

95 Behind the Scenes with the other stories analyzed in this thesis shows certain uniqueness of Keckley‘s writing, which also shows diversity of the slave narrative genre; the diversity for which Keckley‘s book is included in this thesis. In her story, there are several acts of resistance that are worth closer exploration. First Keckley stands up against Mr. Bingham and later against her own master. However, the confrontation against Mr. Bingham bears more relevance for several reasons and that is why it is chosen as the main source for the purpose of analyzing acts of resistance in

Behind the Scenes. The beatings of Mr. Bingham happen prior to the beatings exercised by Keckley‘s master and they take place on several occasions. But, especially, the depictions of fights with Mr. Bingham in the book display the gradual progress of

Keckley‘s determination to resist the oppression as well as the advancement in each stage of her acts of resistance, which makes it more suitable for the analysis. The scene where Mr. Bingham approaches Keckley in order to whip her for the first time is sufficiently dealt with in the previous chapter on abuse, thus the attention here moves to the actual act of resistance. Mr. Bingham orders Keckley to remove her clothes to which she replies, ―‘[n]o, Mr. Bingham, I shall not take down my dress before you.

Moreover, you shall not whip me unless you prove the stronger. Nobody has a right to whip me but my own master, and nobody shall do so if I can prevent it‘‖ (Keckley 33).

This shows Keckley‘s courage and determination that are present in her acts of resistance from the very beginning. This passage is very important for several reasons.

First, it brings attention to the presence of different types of abuse – sexual one as well as physical one. Keckley does not want to reveal her naked body to a strange man.

Keckley realizes her womanhood and the perils of sexual violation of her body as she writes, ―[r]ecollect, I was eighteen years of age, was a woman fully developed, and yet this man coolly bade me take down my dress‖ (Keckley 33). Keckley is fully aware of

96 the danger and she knows that she has to fight to defend herself. Michael Berthold connects the reasons for Keckley‘s fight with Mr. Bingham with the perils of sexual abuse. ―In the combat with her assailants,‖ Berthold declares, ―it is the order to undress that clearly precipitates Keckley‘s resistance. The rest of the text works to prevent such brutal exposure of herself, and her subsequent textual disembodiment bears the traces of her first literal, proud refusals to be uncovered and violated‖ (Berthold). Thus, what outrages Keckley the most is not the upcoming whipping, but the request for exposing her body. The perils of sexual abuse that function as motivating factors for the resistance connect Keckley to Jacobs who stands up to Dr. Flint in order to get rid of sexual oppression inflicted upon her person.

However, disregarding what the main motivating factors in the writings of

Jacobs and Keckley are, the forms of resistance that take place in their stories differentiate Jacobs and Keckley. While Jacobs remains on the level of verbal abuse,

Keckley chooses physical resistance against her oppressor, which is rather surprising for the female slave narrative. Keckley‘s resistance against Mr. Bingham has several stages as he tries to whip her on three occasions. At the beginning Mr. Bingham overwhelms Keckley and manages to undress her and whip her. Keckley comments on her first attempt to defend herself, ―I resisted with all my strength, but he was the stronger of the two, and after a hard struggle succeeded in binding my hands and tearing my dress from my back. Then he picked up a rawhide, and began to ply it freely over my shoulders‖ (Keckley 34). Although Keckley is being whipped by Mr. Bingham on this occasion she is not totally overwhelmed. Keckley bears her punishment in a very brave way; ―I did not scream,‖ Keckley declares, ―I was too proud to let my tormentor know what I was suffering. I closed my lips firmly, that not even a groan might escape from them, and I stood like a statue while the keen lash cut deep into my

97 flesh‖ (Keckley 34). In this sense, Keckley gains a small victory by bearing the injustices of slavery very bravely without making any sings of weakness. Keckley is at this point determined to succeed in her acts of resistance, and even though she has to go through several more stages filled with cruelness, the first step has been taken. Nearly one week later Keckley gets another opportunity to execute another step in her resistance. Keckley informs the reader that ―Mr. Bingham again directed me to come to his study. I went, but with the determination to offer resistance should he attempt to flog me again. On entering the room I found him prepared with a new rope and a new cowhide. I told him that I was ready to die, but that he could not conquer me‖ (Keckley

36). At this point Keckley expresses an opinion typical for the slave narrative that death is better than to remain in bondage and to obediently endure the injustices of slavery; this opinion is also present in Brown‘s and Jacobs‘ writings and it has already been discussed in the analyses devoted to these two authors. Keckley‘s rebellious spirit grows with every attempt of Mr. Bingham to beat her. And although from the second physical confrontation Keckley again leaves ―sore and bleeding,‖ this time she takes with her ―pride as strong and defiant as ever‖ as she manages to bite Mr. Bingham‘s

―finger severely, when he seized a heavy stick and beat [her] with it in a shameful manner‖ (Keckley 36-37). Thus, she prepares her way for her victorious battle which takes places during the third and final attempt of Mr. Bingham to beat Keckley. ―We struggled, and he struck me many savage blows. As I stood bleeding before him, nearly exhausted with his efforts, he burst into tears, and declared that it would be a sin to beat me any more. My suffering at last subdued his hard heart‖ (Keckley 37). These examples summarize the circumstances of Keckley‘s acts of resistance, which end up successfully for her, as she leaves, similarly to Douglass and Jacobs, her battles

98 victoriously. The outcome of Keckley‘s successful fight with Mr. Bingham is very important for her life as well as for her narrative.

The physical resistance that is exercised by Keckley deserves more attention, especially because of its outcome. ―Keckley,‖ Berthold points out,‖ remarkably for a female slave, physically defies her tormentors to secure some autonomy for herself‖

(Berthold). As suggested here, occurrence of physical resistance towards the slaveholders exercised by slave women is a rare phenomenon in the slave narrative; given on a concrete example it is completely missing in Jacobs‘ story. In this sense,

Keckley can be related rather to the male slave narrative. However, from a certain point of view the forms of resistance in Keckley‘s narrative can be perceived as even more powerful than in the writings of Douglass and Brown. Since Keckley is a female, the physical form of resistance may be less anticipated from her. Comparing Keckley with

Brown, it needs to be stated that in Brown‘s resistance does not take form of physical confrontation at all. The resistance in Douglass‘ writing takes the form of physical confrontation, and even though Douglass‘ fight is successful as he gets rid of the physical oppression, his acting does not help other slaves as it happens in Keckley‘s story. However, the fact that both Douglass and Keckley wake some repentance in their tormentors, presents a connecting point between these two writers. Keckley commenting on the alternation in behavior of her oppressor says that Mr. Bingham

―asked my forgiveness, and afterwards was an altered man. He was never known to strike one of his servants from that day forward‖ (Keckley 37). This final outcome is very important as on this very basis Keckley can be compared to Douglass. After he wins his struggle with Mr. Covey Douglass is no longer whipped by Mr. Covey.

However, this achievement remains to be limited only to one person as the incident is never made public by Mr. Covey and the reader does not learn whether Mr. Covey

99 stops beating even other slaves beside Douglass. Thus, Douglass‘ acts of resistance do not have such a far reaching impact as in Keckley‘s case. After Keckley wins her confrontation with her oppressor, all the slaves that belong to Mr. Bingham are spared of whippings and beatings. Thus, Berthold while comparing Keckley and Douglass argues that the impact of Keckley‘s resistance overpasses that of Douglass; ―as if out- distancing Douglass, she [Keckley] actually effects the conversion of both of her abusers, who are afterwards steadily penitent‖ (Berthold). Thus, Keckley‘s uniqueness is displayed. Keckley does not only employ a physical confrontation as a form of her resistance against the institution of slavery, which is on its own quite an achievement considering that she is female, she also gains two enormous achievements. First achievement is the fact that Keckley is not physically beaten by Mr. Bingham any more. The second, and also more remarkable achievement, is the fact that she manages to rectify some of the flaws in the character of her tormentor as Mr. Bingham stops whipping all of his slaves by which Keckley proves to be beneficial to the slave community.

The important role of the resistance in Keckley‘s story is also suggested by

Steve Criniti who argues that ―Keckley is able to retain her pride and self-respect in the face of the beatings and other self-denying mistreatment associated with the institution of slavery‖ (Criniti 313). The above-mentioned arguments display the importance of resistance in Behind the Scenes, which consequently shows the significance of this aspect for the slave narrative genre. Similarly to other authors analyzed in this thesis, the acts of resistance move Keckley forward in her quest for freedom. In her writing,

Keckley does not maintain the balance between the escape and other forms of resistance as one could have seen in Jacobs‘ case. In Behind the Scenes there is more attention devoted to Keckley‘s physical confrontation than to her escape. It could be

100 said that her fights with Mr. Bingham bear somehow more significance, since they are also more relevant to the overall mood of the book that consists in economical progress, in which Keckley starts as a slave, manages to buy her freedom and becomes a modiste of the first lady. However, escape itself is also important for Keckley‘s narrative as it is the case with any other slave narrative.

The circumstances of escape in Elizabeth Keckley‘s narrative are different from all the other three authors analyzed in this thesis, which again displays certain diversity established by the choice of the analyzed material. The method of escape in Behind the

Scenes – buying one‘s freedom – presents another way how to obtain one‘s liberty which enriches the slave narrative genre. Keckley asks her master to let her purchase her freedom on several occasions, but at the beginning this possibility is always denied to her. On one such occasion, Keckley‘s master is irritated by Keckley‘s inquiry for the possibility to buy her and her son‘s freedom as he says to Keckley, ―[i]f you really wish to leave me, take this [money]: it will pay the passage of yourself and boy on the ferry- boat, and when you are on the other side of the river you will be free‖ (Keckley 48).

Whether Keckley‘s master means his offer seriously or not is not relevant; what is important here is Keckley‘s reply, ―‘[n]o, master, I do not wish to be free in such a manner. If such had been my wish, I should never have troubled you about obtaining your consent to my purchasing myself‖ (Keckley 48). Keckley does not even want to consider running away as a valid method for escaping from slavery; she wants to gain her freedom in a different manner. She does not merely want to run away from slavery, she wants to escape from slavery in what she considers to be a right way. Thus,

Keckley credits escape with a very different status than Douglass, Brown and Jacobs who all run away from slavery; a method that is also available to Keckley, but it is condemned by her. Even though the circumstances of her escape are very different in

101 Keckley‘s narrative, during her escape Keckley is helped by other people, which connects her back to the three authors analyzed in this thesis. After Keckley‘s master consents to Keckley‘s request to buy freedom for herself and her son, Keckley needs twelve hundred dollars to accomplish the transaction. Keckley intends to earn the needed money by working as a dress-maker. Keckley declares that she ―acquired something of a reputation as a seamstress and dress-maker. The best ladies in St. Louis were my patrons, and when my reputation was once established I never lacked for orders. With my needle I kept bread in the mouths of seventeen persons for two years and five months‖ (Keckley 45). However, despite her diligent work it is not an easy task for Keckley to earn the needed sum of money, since she also has to attend to the needs of her master‘s family. Keckley expresses her inability to earn twelve hundred dollars, ―I went to work in earnest to purchase my freedom, but the years passed, and I was still a slave. Mr. Garland‘s family claimed so much of my attention—in fact, I supported them—that I was not able to accumulate anything‖ (Keckley 50). As obvious here, Keckley, similarly to the other three authors analyzed in this thesis, is not able to gain her freedom on her own. Thus, Keckley is assisted by ―one of [her] kind patrons‖

– Mrs. Le Bourgois, who tells Keckley, ―[y]ou have many friends in St. Louis, and I am going to raise the twelve hundred dollars required among them‖ (Keckley 54). Mrs. Le

Bourgois helps Keckley in this cause as she helps to gather money owed by Keckley‘s customers as well as to raise some extra money. Only with the help of this kind lady comes the long-time desired freedom; ―[t]he twelve hundred dollars were raised, and at last my son and myself were free‖ (Keckley 55). Such a depiction of obtaining freedom is quite different from heroic escapes of Douglass and Brown. What sets Keckley apart from Jacobs is the role of the children in the escape, Keckley, unlike Jacobs, does not have to consider the fate of her son as she simply secures freedom for him too, which

102 remains unavailable to Jacobs. Also another differentianing point is the fact that during her ―escape‖ from slavery Keckley does not have to endure any hardships or perils of revelation as one could see in the writings of Douglass, Brown and Jacobs.

Once again the attention is brought to the method by which Keckley manages to secure her and her son‘s freedom. Carolyn Sorisio relates the method of obtaining freedom that is present in Keckley‘s narrative to other writers of slave narratives, to

Harriet Jacobs in particular. ―The contrast of Keckley‘s postbellum position on slavery and commodity with an antebellum work such as Harriet Jacobs‘s 1861 Incidents in the

Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, [sic] demonstrates the extent of Keckley's optimistic embrace of capitalism‖ (Sorisio). Sorisio continues that ―[u]nlike Jacobs, who objects to her friends buying her out of slavery because ‗to pay money to those who had so grievously oppressed‘ her ‗seemed like taking from‘ her ‗sufferings the glory of triumph‘ (Jacobs 199), Keckley enlists the financial help of several white people in order to secure freedom legally for herself and her son‖ (Sorisio). It needs to be pointed out that the central point of Behind the Scenes is the depiction of the gradual economical progress. This economical progress becomes successful as Keckley manages to establish herself quite well in the society which is also suggested by

Berthold who argues that ―Keckley certainly derives considerable standing from serving as modiste for two nineteenth-century first ladies, Mrs. Davis and Mrs.

Lincoln‖ (Berthold). Thus, it could be stated, after taking into consideration the logic as well as the general notion of Keckley‘s narrative, that any other alternative how to obtain the freedom than to buy it would seem unnatural in Behind the Scenes. However, it should not be suggested that Keckley‘s escape from slavery was too easy or without any obstacles in comparison with the other slave narratives. Criniti declares that

Keckley ―is able to buy her own freedom and that of her son because she gains the

103 emotional and monetary support of the St. Louis community who are able to read her internal character and agree to serve as her patrons‖ (Criniti 313). Even though in the obtaining of the actual freedom she is significantly assisted by other people, it is

Keckley‘s hard and diligent work that enables her to have around herself people who can help her and especially are willing to do so. In conclusion of the analysis of the forms of resistance and escape in Behind the Scenes it needs to be pointed out that the significance of these two concepts for the narrative is unquestionable. It can be said that the physical confrontations with Mr. Bingham bear more significance in the text than the actual escape. Also the circumstances of Keckley‘s confrontations against her oppressor can relate Keckley more closely to Douglass and Jacobs. The method of escape, as well as the different status that is given to it by Keckley, differentiates

Keckley from the other authors analyzed in this thesis. Nonetheless, disregarding the differences of escape and other forms of resistance in Keckley‘s narrative the above mentioned arguments make it clear that resistance against the institution of slavery is significant for Behind the Scenes, and in turn it is significant for the slave narrative genre.

The goal that this chapter sets for itself at the very beginning is to trace various forms of resistance and methods of escapes in early slave narratives. Also the aim of this chapter is to point out the differences between the four slave narratives in question and to show the importance of these two concepts for the slave narrative genre. In

Douglass‘ narrative resistance takes a form of physical confrontation that is displayed in the fight with Mr. Covey. The significance of this fight in the writing is obvious, since because of this victorious battle Douglass is not beaten anymore and he also learns about his great potential that he fully realizes by his final escape and by his consequent career as an abolitionist. Since the general conditions that Brown has to

104 endure under the slavery are depicted in his narrative in relatively less harsh way, acts of resistance against slavery in Brown‘s writing are not as easy to be spotted as in the cases of the other three authors analyzed in this thesis. However, Brown‘s resistance, as discussed in the appropriate part of the analysis, is predominantly displayed in his final escape from slavery. Although Jacobs does not choose a physical confrontation as a form of resistance in her narrative, the actions that she takes require quite a lot of courage. Jacobs verbally attacks Dr. Flint and confronts him in a bold manner by expressing the contempt that she has for him quite freely. The success of Jacobs‘ resistance is apparent from the fact that by standing up to Dr. Flint, Jacobs is not beten or sexually violated by him. The acts of resistance in Behind the Scenes bear resemblance to Douglass‘ narrative, since Keckley also exercises physical confrontation as a form of her resistance against slavery. Keckley, quite surprisingly for the female slave narrative, enters in the fight with Mr. Bingham and she, similarly to

Douglass, wins her battle and prevents the future possible physical punishments from the side of this particular tormentor. In each of these four slave narratives there are some motivating factors that initiate the acts of resistance and usually later in the text help the protagonist to go on with his or her plan for an escape. In Douglass‘ writing, the motivating factor is the physical abuse presented in many beatings that most motivates Douglass to run away; in Brown‘s narrative it is the selling of his family that makes him escape from slavery. In the narratives of female authors the motivating factors are very often connected with sexual abuse and injustices linked with it. Thus,

Jacobs gathers courage to defend herself and stand up against Dr. Flint because of the perils of sexual exploitation. The case of Keckley is more complex, since the mixture of sexual as well as physical forms of abuse stand behind her determination to defend herself and physically confront Mr. Bingham.

105 In all of these four slave narratives the motivating factors for resistance against the slavery as well as the acts of resistance themselves forward the protagonists ahead in their quests for freedom; the protagonist are more determined to implement the highest form of resistance against the institution of slavery that is represented by escapes. The most typical method of escape depicted in the slave narrative is running away as I have shown in the analysis of the narratives of Douglass, Brown and Jacobs.

Even though the circumstances of the actual escapes of these three authors may vary in certain details, the escapes have similar characteristics. The method of escape in

Keckley‘s case – buying one‘s freedom – is quite different from the methods applied by

Douglass, Brown and Jacobs. However, what connects Keckley to these three authors is the fact that she also needs help to finalize her quest for freedom. As displayed above, not a single one of these four authors can escape from slavery on his or her own; some assistance from other people in the matter of implementing the actual escape of the protagonist is present in all four stories. Thus, it can be stated that the assistance of other people during the execution of the plans for escapes is an important part of the slave narrative. After analyzing the roles of various forms of resistance and depicting escapes as the highest form of resistance in the writings of Douglass, Brown, Jacobs and Keckley, this chapter ends with a conclusion that resistance against the institution of slavery is one of the crucial features of early slave narratives written in United States of America in the nineteenth century.

106 Chapter 6

Conclusion

The goal of this thesis as is stated in its title as well as in its introduction is to explore early slave narratives written in the United States of America. The analysis is done on the four nineteenth century slave narratives; Frederick Douglass‘s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Himself, Henry ―Box‖ Brown‘s Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, Harriet Jacob‘s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Elizabeth Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and

Four Years in the White House. According to its intentions, as stated in the introduction, the thesis goes through several stages in order to explore the slave narrative genre. In the second chapter, I have demonstrated the basic facts concerning the slave narrative genre, such as what the slave narrative is and what the characteristic of the origins and early developments of this genre is. Quite an important element of the second chapter is the devotion of attention to the diversity of the slave narrative genre. As stated in that particular chapter, diversity of the slave narrative is rather limited, since the majority of slave narratives deal with very similar issues. However, for the purpose of the analysis in this thesis I have chosen slave narratives that offer at least some diversity. The selection includes narratives written by male and female authors as well as examples of antebellum slave narrative and postbellum slave narrative. Thus, the four selected slave narratives make a good foundation for the purpose of the comparative analysis of the slave narrative genre.

After the depiction of these basics facts, the focus of this thesis is placed on the slaves‘ literacy. As stated above, to publish a narrative for the former slave is not an easy task. Apart from not having access to proper education, since even the possession of basics skills such as reading and writing remained a very scarce phenomenon among

107 the slaves, there were many other obstacles that former slaves had to encounter. They had to fight the racial prejudice from the pro-slavery advocates who tried to undermine the authorities of former slaves as well as their narratives. Thus, the crucial roles for the publication as well as for the process of writing of the narratives are held by white abolitionists, since without their assistance the publication of any slave narrative would not be possible. The problems with literacy, negative attitudes towards the slave narrative held by pro-slavery advocates and the interference of abolitionists in the publication of the slave narrative are closely link to one of the very important aspects of the slave narrative – its authorship. The question of the authorship of the slave narrative is very important, since it greatly influences whether the book is well received or condemned by scholars and readership in broader sense. The question of authorship is first dealt with in general way, however, the observations are presently applied to the four narratives in question and the role of authorship on each of the four stories is displayed with a conclusion that authorship is very important for the slave narrative genre.

After the first two introductory chapters the main body of this thesis – the comparative analysis of the slave narratives written by Douglass, Brown, Jacobs nd

Keckley – is presented in three chapters. The main body of this thesis traces in each narrative the whole development of the story; it starts with description of the childhood, continues with conditions under the slavery in adulthood displayed in various forms of abuse and concludes with the final acquisition of freedom. The chapter named

―Childhood and Disruption of Families in The Slave Narrative‖ depicts the general conditions for a child under the slavery, which are quite harsh. Even though, the childhood of a slave child can have several happy moments, these are totally overwhelmed by the negative circumstances from which the disruption of families

108 plays the most important role. Douglass‘ narrative shows the reality of separating mothers from children from the very early age, as it is also the case of Douglass who does not know his mother, since he gets a chance to see her only several times and only during the night. Disruption of Brown‘s family happens not as early as in Douglass‘ narrative, however, Brown depicts quite much more emotionally the horrid presented in this separation. The case of Jacobs is quite different since she has a complete and well functioning family at first, which sets her apart from Douglass. However, her parents die in a short period of time, and Jacobs‘ till then relatively happy childhood gets worse. Also as stated in the particular chapter, these three just mentioned authors are spared of physical hardships presented in physical punishments or heavy duties that are placed on them as children, since their occurrences are not mentioned in their writings.

Quite a different case is presented in the narrative of Keckley, since Keckley, while still a child, has to execute difficult duties and is beaten for not executing them properly.

However, a point that connects Keckley to the other three authors is the fact that her narrative also contains disruption of family as Keckley‘s father is separated from the family. The conclusion that is made at the end of the chapter dealing with childhood is the fact that the atrocities of the slavery are to be found already in the period of childhood. Thus, the circumstances of the childhood as described in the slave narrative, helps to convey the main message of the slave narrative – depiction of the atrocities of slavery. Thus, since childhood and disruption of families serve the primary purpose of the slave narrative, they are labeled as one of the crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

Similarly to the chapter dealing with childhood, the chapter describing the depiction of various forms of abuse in the slave narrative deals with the passive aspects of the slave narrative. In accounts of abuse the authors of the narratives depict the

109 realities that happen either to them or to other slaves, since slaves function as mere receivers of injustices inflicted upon them by the institution of slavery. The chapter dealing with abuse is divided into three subchapters – physical abuse, sexual abuse and social abuse. However, as stated earlier, this division is done merely for the purpose of easier orientation within the text and it remains a fact that no clear cut between individual forms of abuse can be made, since they are all closely related. Each of the four narratives in question includes examples of all the forms of abuse, even though the level of significance of certain form of abuse in relation to the other forms of abuse may vary in each text. Thus, even though all forms of abuse are present in these four slave narratives in question, usually one form of abuse can be labeled as central one. In

Douglass‘ narrative the central abuse is the physical one, as Douglass devotes most of his attention to it. In Brown‘s writing social abuse has its superiority over the other forms of abuse, since it is elaborated the most. There is no other possibility that to state that the central abuse in the narrative of Jacobs is sexual abuse, since it represents a central point of the whole narrative around which everything else in the text evolves.

The case of Keckley‘s story is quite different. Since the primary purpose of the

Keckley‘s story is not to convey the atrocities of slavery, as stated in the introduction to the thesis, the role of abuse is not so significant. However, if one has to choose which form of abuse in Keckley‘s story is the central one, one can only come to a conclusion that physical as well as sexual abuse are of same importance, since they are both present in the maltreatment that Keckley is exposed to at the same time, and it cannot be said which one is more relevant at that point. Thus, that chapter concludes by depicting abuse as one the crucial features of the slave narrative, since it serves the primary goal of the majority of slave narratives – attempt to present the atrocities of slavery. Since various forms of abuse that create the multilayered system of oppression

110 serve as the best means for conveying the main message of the slave narrative, the importance of the depiction of the forms of abuse for the slave narrative genre is unquestionable.

The last chapter prior to the conclusion of the whole thesis deals with the depiction of various forms of resistance in the slave narrative. The acts of resistance represent very important part of the narratives, and its relevance can be compared to the depiction of abuse. However, as said before, there is one main distinction between these two crucial features of the slave narrative. The acts of resistance represent active part of the slave narrative, since at these instances the protagonist are acting on their own and they take responsibilities for their actions. By these actions, the main protagonists of the narratives often differentiate themselves from the other slaves who are just obediently enduring the injustices of slavery without any attempt to fight against the system. Each of the four slave narratives in question includes many instances of various forms of resistance. However, the focus of this thesis is placed on the most notable examples. Thus, in Douglass‘ narrative the focus is placed on his victorious fight with Mr. Covey. The resistance in Brown‘s story is depicted in a less pronounced way and because minor forms of resistance are difficult to be spotted in his story, the focus is placed mainly on the manifestation of resistance displayed in

Brown‘s escape from slavery. Jacobs‘ narrative reveals acts of resistance depicted in the scenes where Jacobs‘ verbally assaults her master and expresses her bitter contempt for his person. The main area of the depiction of resistance in Keckley‘s book is displayed in her physical confrontation with Mr. Bingham. Even though not every slave manages to escape slavery after manifestation of minor acts of resistance, a successful escape, or rather successful quest for freedom is implemented by each of the four authors in question. From the analysis of this concept, it is apparent that these various

111 forms of resistance push the protagonist in each of these four stories closer to the implementation of the highest act of resistance – obtaining the freedom. Gaining ones freedom typically presents the climax of the slave narrative. However, there are certain differences between these four stories. Douglass, Brown and Jacobs choose running away as a way for obtaining their freedom. Since each of these three authors implements his or her plan according to his or her possibilities, there are certain differences presented in the depiction of the actual escape. Douglass is quite comfortably situated in a train, while Brown has to suffer due to the lack of space as well as air. Jacobs has to endure similar hardships as Brown during the preparation for her escape while she is hiding in the attic of her grandmother‘s house. However, escapes of all of these three authors have one important connecting point; during each escape there is a danger of being revealed involved and the consequences of the potential revelation would be quite terrible. This notion of fear and danger is depicted in the narratives of Douglass, Brown and Jacobs. The circumstances of obtaining freedom in Keckley‘s writing are totally different. Since Keckley buys her freedom, there is no danger involved as is the case with escapes of the other three authors.

However, disregarding the differences of obtaining the freedom, it needs to be stated that the depiction of obtaining one‘s freedom create an important part in of the slave narrative, which determines the importance of this aspect for the slave narrative genre.

Thus, the chapter dealing with resistance traces the various forms of resistance, compares and contrast them between the four slave narratives in question and concludes with the depiction of resistance as on of the most crucial features of the slave narrative genre.

At the beginning of the thesis, there is a statement that the slave narrative is worth being explored not only from the historical point of view but also from the

112 literary one. The following page explains that this statement is valid. One may argue that the slave narrative does not deserve much scholarly attention, since the slave narrative is not as complex and elaborate as works of other literary genres or that because no slave narrative has been written in more than hundred years. However, the legacy of the slave narrative is to be found even in the genres of these days and its important influence on the development of these literary genres is apparent. One genre, which has evolved from slave narratives in the twentieth century, mainly during second half of that century, is that of the neo-slave narrative (a term used today by scholars, e.g. Rushdy, Ashraf H. A.). Compared to the original slave narrative, the neo-slave narrative is fictional, not adhering to the immediate first-person narrative technique; the neo-slave narrative is only loosely based on actual events or lives of slaves. What this genre brings to the table is the addition of new, often post-modern themes, which are incorporated to the original narrative structure and typical characters of the nineteenth century slave narrative. Focuses on sexuality, gender issues, and psychology are in the forefront here. In sum, the new approach to the slave narrative genre in broader sense brings more complexity, more dimensions and layers to the already very compelling life stories. Among the best examples of neo-slave narratives one may find Toni

Morison‘s Beloved, Alice Walker‘s The Color Purple and Richard Wright‘s Native

Son. However, the focus of this thesis remains completely on early slave narratives.

The neo-slave narratives are here only briefly mentioned as a means to demonstrate the importance of the early slave narrative in the scope of literature as it presents the origin and the forming power for the development of the neo-slave narrative genre – an elaborate genre that is well recognized and is entitled with a lot of achievements in the literary field. Because of its legacy and influence on the other literary genres, especially on the neo-slave narrative, the importance of the slave narrative as a literary genre is

113 confirmed. From this point, this comparative analysis, or any other analysis dealing with the slave narrative, compares and contrasts an important genre of literature.

Having summarized the main arguments pointed out in the respective chapters of this thesis, the conclusion of this thesis sways slowly to its end. This thesis fulfills its main goals that are presented in its introductory chapter. The thesis traces the crucial features of the slave narrative with a conclusion that the main purpose of the slave narrative is to convey the message of atrocities of slavery that are predominantly displayed in the depiction of childhood experiences, circumstances of various forms of abuse and finally in the acts of resistance. The thesis sufficiently compares and contrasts these crucial features on the four chosen texts – narratives of Douglass,

Brown Jacobs and Keckley. Thus, the comparative analysis of the slave narrative genre with the above-mentioned conclusions is completed.

114 Works cited

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117 Resume of the thesis – Early Slave Narratives and its Crucial Features

The thesis ―Early Slave Narratives and its Crucial Features‖ deals with the slave narrative genre. For the purpose of the analysis of this genre, I have chosen four representative texts of nineteenth century slave narratives written in United States of

America. The slave narratives are as following: Frederick Douglass‘s Narrative of the

Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Himself, Henry ―Box‖ Brown‘s Narrative of the

Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself, Harriet Jacob‘s Incidents in the Life of a

Slave Girl and Elizabeth Keckley‘s Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and

Four Years in the White House. These four stories present the source of the comparative analysis of the slave narrative genre, which is done with the help of quotation from various secondary sources dealing with the slave narrative genre. The thesis explores the slave narrative in the six chapters out of which four chapters represent the main body of the thesis. At the beginning, the thesis explores what the slave narrative is and shows its basic characteristics. Later the thesis devotes to depiction of childhood, which includes many instances of atrocities of slavery. Next chapter deals with the depiction of various forms of abuse. The last chapter prior to the conclusion of the thesis deals with the depiction of various acts of resistance and methods of escape from slavery that represent an important part of the slave narrative.

The thesis traces and analyzes crucial features of the slave narrative. The thesis concludes with stating that the main purpose of the slave narrative is to convey the message of atrocities of slavery. Thus, the crucial features of the slave narrative are displayed in disruption of families mainly in period of childhood, various injustices and abuse inflicted upon slaves by slaveholders and the acts of resistance carried out by slaves against the institution of slavery.

118 Resumé teze s názvem “Early Slave Narratives and its Crucial Features”

Tato dizertační práce s názvem ―Early Slave Narratives and its Crucial Features‖ se zabývá literárním žánrem otrokářských povídek. Pro záměr analýzy v této tezi byly vybrány čtyři texty, které dle mého názoru, nejlépe reprezentují otrokářské povídky psané v devatenáctém století ve Spojených státech amerických. Jedná se o tyto čtyři povídky: Frederick Douglass‘s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by

Himself, Henry ―Box‖ Brown‘s Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by

Himself, Harriet Jacob‘s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Elizabeth Keckley‘s

Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.

Tyto čtyři texty představují zdroj pro komparativní analýzu žánru otrokářských povídek, která je prováděna za pomocí citací ze sekundárních zdrojů, které se zabývají problematikou žánru otrokářských povídek. Na svém začátku se tato teze zabývá otázkou základní charakteristiky žánru otrokářských povídek. Později se tato teze věnuje zobrazení období dětství, které zahrnuje mnohé příklady krutosti otroctví.

Následující kapitola pojednává o zachycení různých forem zneužívání otroků ze stran otrokářů. Předposlední kapitola zobrazuje různé druhy odporu a různé způsoby útěků z otroctví, které tvoří důležitou část otrokářských povídek. Teze je uzavřena prohlášením, že hlavním účelem otrokářských povídek je zobrazeni krutosti otroctví.

Tímto způsobem jsou v tezi zobrazeny základní charakteristiky otrokářských povídek, které zahrnují rozpad rodin především v období raného dětství, zobrazení nespravedlností , jež se otrokům dostává ze stran otrokářů a v poslední řadě projevů odporu, který je vykonán otroky vůči instituci otroctví.

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