Introduction
The book; Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas revolves around the life of Douglas during his early years as a poor, uneducated person to a more enlightened fellow. Douglas takes the roles of narrator and protagonist in the book. Douglas is able to deliver in these two roles in the book; he is able to dramatize the striking contrast between his early life in the slave world and his old, enlightened world.
The setting is around the early years of the 19th century towards the mid 19th century. During his early years, he overheard a conversation about the whites and slavery .He get to learn how the whites deny blacks education so that they can maintain a stern slavery command over them (Douglas, 1845 p.25). All throughout his life Douglas struggles to liberate himself from slavery both physically and emotionally. The only way to liberate him is through education. The narrator wears the tone of a philosophical treatise.
The major theme of the narrative is; Ignorance as the cause of slavery and education as a way to freedom.On the other hand, Native son, by Richard Wright is set in the 1930s .The book revolves around the life of Bigger .Bigger takes up the role of a protagonist in the book. Bigger is the focus in the novel and plays a key role in perpetuating the main theme of the book. The main theme is the effect of racism on the state of the blacks. Bigger is so bitter that he cannot further his education due to racism. He hates the whites and perceives them as the cause of the status of the blacks in the society.
He is also not happy with the poverty of his family, but also fears the whites. As his feelings devastate him, he decides to react, though, through violence. Bigger joins a violent gang, but surprisingly, the group attacks and robs their fellow blacks since they fear the whites.The major characters from these two books share common racial background. They are also depicted as victims of racism and the domineering character of the whites. In these two books, the blacks are rendered in to sheer poverty and destitution (Rampersad, 1993 p.12).
The blacks occupy the lowest social ranks. There is a big difference in the tones. The Native son has a very bitter tone while Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas has an ironical tone. The two also vary in the way they react towards whites’ superiority complex. Douglas reacts by working hard to liberate himself from slavery and white domination. Douglas does this through education. However, Bigger shows his resentment through anger which leads to violence (Rampersad 1993 p.34).
Throughout Douglass’ story he educate us numerous tutorials and decorations, there is a unvarying is his conviction in the fact that all men and women should be created one and the same, with equal civil liberties devoid of any restrictions to his or her own personage self-determination. Douglas brings into context of the various circumstances in which he worked under the various horrible circumstances as slaves. This is well illustrated in his autobiography.
Types of things other slaves had to endure during their experiences are also brought well in the context that brings and consequently highlights their plight. In his autobiography Douglas illustrates that even though times can get tremendously firm, there will still for all time be optimism still when you think there is none. One of the mainly imperative customs slaves were held in reserve in bondage was not only the peril of physical cruelty; to a certain extent, it was through unfathomable and unrelenting unawareness.
In the legitimate pinnacle of the plight of the refugees it shows that readers that Slaves were not authorized to read and write and generally were consequently in general not sentient of the proceedings exterior of the agricultural estate. Hence in this context the main channel of communication between the employees was hindered. This shows that the essence of provocation rebellion between the employees in the plantations was curbed (Rampersad, 1993 p.60).
The book further illustrates the context of slaves not being able to reach self-sufficiency and the effective pride that does come when an individual is educated. Literacy brought with it an indulgent of the generously proportioned world. This leads it to be opened up sooner than a slave the idea of righteousness and a considerate of times gone by. In this context appraisal of the Bible led to a truer intellectual capacity of Christianity.
Bigger Thomas is predestined, spellbound in a descending twirl that will show the way to arrest, prison, or death, driven by despondency, aggravation, scarcity, and lack of understanding. . As an adolescent black man in the Chicago in the 30 years bracket. This leads him to have no means out of the fortifications of poverty and racism that effectively encircle him (Rampersad, 1993 p.43). This antagonism leads him murdering a young white woman in a moment of panic; these walls begin to close in.
In the two books it well illustrates the various epics in the context of a human life which brings into the various categories of the sufferings that occurs. Hence issues such as poverty and the social despondency occur in the lives of the people in the context that people try to avoid the epics of racism and slavery.
Works cited
Rampersad, Arnold Introduction to Native Son 1993.
Fredrick Douglas, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas 1845
