The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass



The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Year Published:

Genre:

Purpose:

Audience:

I. History of the slave narrative genre

A. Descendant of the Indian captivity narrative

• Religious expression relying on archetypal stories of escape

• Justification of westward expansion

• Popular literature

• Reinforcement of stereotypes

1. Spanish: Indians as brutish beasts 

2. French: Indians as souls needing redemption 

3. English in Virginia: Indians as innocent exotics 

4. Puritans: Indians as Satanic threat to religious utopia

B. Bildungsroman

• Work focusing on single character’s personal, moral, spiritual development

C. Picaresque novel

• Tells the story of a roguish hero (“picaro”)

• Hero is of low social class and must live by his wits amidst a corrupt society

• Novel is episodic

• Purpose is to satirize the corruption of the society in which the novel takes place

D. Western / American tradition of autobiography

• Rousseau – is autobiography trustworthy?

• Franklin – the self-made man

• Critic’s expectations

i. “The only truth is the whole truth”

ii. “The vast edifice of a life must be portrayed”

iii. The style must be as simple as possible

iv. The end of autobiography must be self-understanding

v. Egotism is the work’s dominant feature

vi. “Conscience” demands admissions of fault to cultivate humility

II. Rhetorical influences on Douglass’ language

A. Classical rhetoric

B. Evangelical Christianity

C. Abolitionist oratory

D. Sentimental romantic literature

III. Ethos of the slave narrative genre

A. Reader trust gained through display of intelligence, proof of common humanity

B. Early use of graphic detail serves as warning to reader

C. Frequently repeated motifs

• Exposes physical and emotional abuses of slavery: scenes of whipping, sexual abuse, starvation, especially of women or children

• Exposes white owners' hypocrisy

• Describes repeated raising and frustrating of narrator’s hopes

• Describes quest for literacy

• Describes quest for freedom

• Includes vignettes of other character types and the experience of slavery: those who succeed and those who fail

• Makes overt appeals to imagined audience

• Details loss of significant family member(s) and the destruction of family ties

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