Comparison between Two Narratives

The narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, narrates the story of Linda. It narrates the early life of Linda before she knows she was living as a slave. Her brother William was sold as a slave at the age of ten. Her father is a carpenter who had many privileges because of his extraordinary skills in carpentry. Linda had a grandmother, Aunt Martha, a name that the white community used. Her grandmother was an ingenious and strong willed woman who had a bakery that helped her earn a living. Later, Linda’s mother and mistress die and she is sold to the mistress’ sister at the age of twelve (Jacobs & Child, 2008).

The narrative of Douglas narrates the life story of Douglas. He observes his own people receive brutal treatment from white masters. He is later enslaved and also receives cruel treatment from his masters. He tries to learn how to read and write while still enslaved, and his master is not happy about it. He says when slaves get educated; they will never be slaves again. Douglas later saves the other slaves and involves himself in the anti-corruption convention (Douglass, 2011).

In these two narratives, both writers tackle the issue of discrimination of the black people by the white community. In the Douglas’ narrative, Douglas sees how the white enslave the African-American community. His aunt is whipped in front of him and forced to work for them. The African-Americans are treated brutally by the whites. In Harriet’s narrative, Linda works in the white community in Philadelphia. She is treated like a property by her mistress. The community does not allow marriage between white father and a black mother. In such situations, these infants are killed (Jacobs & Child, 2008).

These two narratives are memoirs since they both narrate a story of someone from childhood. Harriet narrates Linda’s life from childhood and shows how she is enslaved at a tender age. Douglas also narrates his story from childhood, how he saw his people being enslaved. He sees her aunt whipped by the slave holders. He is also enslaved at a tender age, and while there, he receives brutal treatment from the master.

However, the stories also contrast whereby, in Harriet’s narrative, Linda finds herself enslaves. She knows about enslavement when she is six after the death of her mother. She is sold to a mistress where she receives brutal treatment. On the other, Douglas’ narrative, Douglas knows about enslavement at his tender age. When young, he sees how his relatives are enslaved by the white, and he knows he will soon be a slave (Douglass, 2011).

In conclusion, it is evident that these two stories are closely related whereby they both talk about enslavement of the black by the white masters. The slaves receive brutal treatment but later get their freedom and live happily.