Introduction
Slavery and the slave trade are timeworn practices and institutions in all continents of the world. Slavery and slave trade involved the sale of land, animals, people, etc. different scholars have given various reasons for slave trade, including the need for labor in agriculture, political reasons, commerce, among others, They claim that these reasons may have led to the rise of slavery.
There are two dimensions of slavery in pre-colonial Africa: Internal and external slave trade dimensions. The slave trade across the Sahara, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and the Arabian worlds was termed as the external dimension (Butler. 168). The internal slavery was practiced in Africa and included the trading of slaves between the western part of Africa and the northern part of Africa, and east, southern and central Africa.
The cruelties and horrors of the exploitation of Africans were written down in slave narratives which were told or published by the slaves themselves. This slave narrative was written as political documents to increase opposition to the trading of slaves during the 19th century. This led to the rise of popularity and the quantity of this fictional form. These slave narratives offered a very sharp insight into the truth about slavery appealing to the hearts of readers making them increase their sympathy towards slaves and emphasizing the cruelty of the slavery institution and its practitioners (Butler. 168).
The narratives spoke of equality among the African Americans and the whites in a didactic tone. This was because the blacks were treated as inferior people. They aimed at criticizing the religious hypocrisy of the white race. They referred to the blacks as the true worshippers. Also, a particular pattern is present in most of these narratives where the slave trade is increasing, resulting in separation from one's beloved family and friends, the longing for freedom and many years of cruel treatment and the last escape.
In both Narrative of the life of Frederick and The History of Mary Prince, the two narrators were born into slavery. They were separated from their families and treated as slaves. The two narratives contain sentimental, religious, didactic and violent characteristics. The two narrators attempted to overcome the community prejudices on the blacks and supported the struggle against slavery. The prince history narrative talked about the female. Hence, it emphasized emotions, domesticity, and faith while the Douglass Narrative talked about male influence which included characters such as manliness, courage, and education (Delgado. 2428).
The significant difference between the narratives becomes prevalent when the titles and subtitle of the Narration of the life of Douglass Frederick, who was an American slave who wrote it himself. The other narratives emphasized on the fast slavery literacy, which showed both his equality and inferiority to the white race regarding intelligence and education. Douglass managed to touch people's hearts due to his eloquence provoking sympathy for the slavery victims. On the prince narrative, the writers influence affected the narration such as the prince’s experience which did not impact innocent images. The write added other supporting stories and supplements to emphasize the genuineness of the text provoking integrity among white readers.
There exist differences in the book covers of these narrations. Prince appears in chains while kneeling down in a humbling and begging positions, whereas Douglass signifies education and self-confidence. There is on one hand a female slavery victim who is humble and on the other side, a learned confident male hero.
Naturally, the slave narrations begin with the childhood and the birth of the hero. The childhood is shown as a paradoxical state which sharpens with the protagonist’s rite to slavery. After childhood description, the slave narration shows loss of innocence. This was the confrontation of protagonists with the slavery cruelties (Butler. 168). The first cruel step is the separation of a slave from his family and friends. There is the emphasis on feelings when slaves are separated from their beloved. This is a dramatic and mean illustration as it seems to the whites describing the typical treatment and underlining the relentlessness of slaveholders against young children.
Separation of a slave from his/her family and friends is shown as the worst cruelest feature of slavery in Douglass’ narration. He was disjointed from his friends and relatives when he was still a kid as it was a common tradition to separate children from their parents while young. He makes it clear that his separation was a universal phenomenon and not just a mere incident in his life. He also states that slaves can do nothing about this malicious act since they do not have rights, but they depend on the white people who enslave them. This shows that the blacks are deprived of their human rights of freedom and the determination of their destiny. He clearly and explicitly underlined his family and friends’ separation for the pain is understood and is felt by the white readers. Separation seems to be the greatest fear throughout the narration.
Both narrations provoked sympathy and comprehension in the reader. Prince narrative achieved this through typical female emotions while Douglass achieved it through cruelty descriptions, arguments and facts, and heroism (Delgado. 2428). This signified the benefits of nobility and courage, a character which could be found in other slaves. Here, comparing whites and blacks become apparent where blacks were honest and noble while whites were characterized with insincerity.
Similarities between the narration result from prescribed formats that ruled the narrative publications. The freed, fugitive or ex-slave narrators gave accurate and precise data on their experiences in slavery emphasizing their suffering under slaveholders and their strength to free themselves from slavery. The literacy element was one of the most important feature established within the narration that enabled slaves to do something such as reading and writing that was seen as impossible.
Works cited
David Butler L. "Whitewashing plantations: The commodification of a slave-free Antebellum South." International journal of hospitality & tourism administration 2.3-4 (2001): 163-175.
Delgado, Richard. "Storytelling for Oppositionists and others: A plea for narrative." Michigan Law Review 87.8 (1989): 2411-2441.
