The narratives of Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs inform the historian to the differences experienced by male versus female slaves. While Douglas molds his experience to his own will (learning to read, fighting his master directly) we see that these opportunities to resist come from issues of agency, not desire. The female slave faces a strange situation; while having to care for her family, she must also remove her family from the situation that enslaves them. Furthermore, removing her family, or surrogate family, from enslavement the mother figure risks exposing her family to more severe violence. Harriet Jacobs, in her escape attempt, demonstrates that escaping for the quasi-domesticated slave implicates more than just him or herself. We see the doctor use the children as a form of currency. He states to the grandmother, "if she comes back she can live with her children". When Jacob's becomes pregnant with her master's child, she assumes that she will be sold. Suddenly, for the slave-parent, her own life, and thereby freedom, is eclipsed by the responsibilities of parenthood. Douglas is more concerned in his narrative with the acquisition of manhood and, thereby, freedom. For the male slave this freedom can be attained temporarily by fighting with the master, or permanently with escape. In this way Douglas's character very much foreshadows the future ideal American: no responsibilities to anybody, self made, independent) . A modern feminist reading of Harriet Jacobs would say that these goals are unattainable for the female of the 1800's; though Jacobs may have traded one type of sexual exploitation for another; a southern sexual slave becoming a northern housekeeper.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Sugrue: Jacobs and Douglas
The narratives of Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs inform the historian to the differences experienced by male versus female slaves. While Douglas molds his experience to his own will (learning to read, fighting his master directly) we see that these opportunities to resist come from issues of agency, not desire. The female slave faces a strange situation; while having to care for her family, she must also remove her family from the situation that enslaves them. Furthermore, removing her family, or surrogate family, from enslavement the mother figure risks exposing her family to more severe violence. Harriet Jacobs, in her escape attempt, demonstrates that escaping for the quasi-domesticated slave implicates more than just him or herself. We see the doctor use the children as a form of currency. He states to the grandmother, "if she comes back she can live with her children". When Jacob's becomes pregnant with her master's child, she assumes that she will be sold. Suddenly, for the slave-parent, her own life, and thereby freedom, is eclipsed by the responsibilities of parenthood. Douglas is more concerned in his narrative with the acquisition of manhood and, thereby, freedom. For the male slave this freedom can be attained temporarily by fighting with the master, or permanently with escape. In this way Douglas's character very much foreshadows the future ideal American: no responsibilities to anybody, self made, independent) . A modern feminist reading of Harriet Jacobs would say that these goals are unattainable for the female of the 1800's; though Jacobs may have traded one type of sexual exploitation for another; a southern sexual slave becoming a northern housekeeper.
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very good points about Douglas. The male slave, once free, is able to create a self that often eludes the female slave. See also Uncle Tom's Cabin.
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