Frederick Douglass Reflection On Beloved
Paul Clarke
Mrs. McDonald
American Literature
17 December 2015
Title
Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave has a legitimate look and feel that describes a life in captivity like no other narrative. It’s harsh tones and themes paint a dark and powerful picture of the necessary change in society. It manages to keep a calm pace so that Douglass can communicate with both sides of slavery and spread his ideas. Toni Morrison’s Beloved tells the story of a woman, Sethe, who has recently escaped slavery. Morrison uses a modern touch to describe the feelings between all characters and does not hold back in any way to portray darkness, even after slavery was seemingly over. While Douglass’ narrative and Morrison’s …show more content…
Morrison is trying to raise a point about modern racism as apposed to Douglass’ goal of ending slavery in general. At the time, Beloved was acting as a rememory in itself: a look to the past to help the present. Rose Lucas, a poet, author, and professor at Lexington University, writes that “The legacies of these past experiences cannot be eradicated by Sethe, Paul D and Denver, however hard they try; for each of them, in both interconnected and separate ways, such seeds have taken root in the hidden places of the self, and will inevitably grow until such time as they can be ignored no longer but must be delivered up by memory into the harsh light of the present day.” (Lucas 39) Like slavery itself is in need to pass on just as Sethe, Paul D and Denver’s histories do. Beloved was released in 1987 with no significance to the current times. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was released in 1845, 16 years before the American Civil War. Douglass’ Narrative had to account for the readers who disagreed with his ideas. Douglass had to tone down the kind of grit and reality that Beloved …show more content…
“Gender Analysis in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Sula.” Idosi. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Caesar, Terry. “Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” Jstor. 1994. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gales, Jr. New York: Signet, 2002. Print.
Hamilton, Cynthia. “Revisions, Rememories and Exorcisms: Toni Morrison and the Slave Narrative.” Jstor. Dec. 1996. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
Harriet Jacobs. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Seven Years Concealed.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gales, Jr. New York: Signet, 2002. Print.
Humann, Heather. “Bigotry, Breast Milk, Bric-a-Brac, a Baby, and a Bit in Beloved: Toni
Lucas, Rose. “The Parturition of Memory: Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” Jstor. Jul. 1991. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Morgan, Winifred. “Gender-Related Difference in the Slave Narratives of Harriet Jacobs and
Frederick Douglass.” Jstor. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage International, 1987.
Mrs. McDonald
American Literature
17 December 2015
Title
Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave has a legitimate look and feel that describes a life in captivity like no other narrative. It’s harsh tones and themes paint a dark and powerful picture of the necessary change in society. It manages to keep a calm pace so that Douglass can communicate with both sides of slavery and spread his ideas. Toni Morrison’s Beloved tells the story of a woman, Sethe, who has recently escaped slavery. Morrison uses a modern touch to describe the feelings between all characters and does not hold back in any way to portray darkness, even after slavery was seemingly over. While Douglass’ narrative and Morrison’s …show more content…
Morrison is trying to raise a point about modern racism as apposed to Douglass’ goal of ending slavery in general. At the time, Beloved was acting as a rememory in itself: a look to the past to help the present. Rose Lucas, a poet, author, and professor at Lexington University, writes that “The legacies of these past experiences cannot be eradicated by Sethe, Paul D and Denver, however hard they try; for each of them, in both interconnected and separate ways, such seeds have taken root in the hidden places of the self, and will inevitably grow until such time as they can be ignored no longer but must be delivered up by memory into the harsh light of the present day.” (Lucas 39) Like slavery itself is in need to pass on just as Sethe, Paul D and Denver’s histories do. Beloved was released in 1987 with no significance to the current times. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was released in 1845, 16 years before the American Civil War. Douglass’ Narrative had to account for the readers who disagreed with his ideas. Douglass had to tone down the kind of grit and reality that Beloved …show more content…
“Gender Analysis in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Sula.” Idosi. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Caesar, Terry. “Slavery and Motherhood in Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” Jstor. 1994. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gales, Jr. New York: Signet, 2002. Print.
Hamilton, Cynthia. “Revisions, Rememories and Exorcisms: Toni Morrison and the Slave Narrative.” Jstor. Dec. 1996. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
Harriet Jacobs. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Seven Years Concealed.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gales, Jr. New York: Signet, 2002. Print.
Humann, Heather. “Bigotry, Breast Milk, Bric-a-Brac, a Baby, and a Bit in Beloved: Toni
Lucas, Rose. “The Parturition of Memory: Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” Jstor. Jul. 1991. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Morgan, Winifred. “Gender-Related Difference in the Slave Narratives of Harriet Jacobs and
Frederick Douglass.” Jstor. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Vintage International, 1987.