Her parents were both slaves, but her grandmother had been emancipated and owned her own home, earning a living as a baker. When Jacobs was six years old, her mother died, and she was sent to the home of her mother's mistress, Margaret Horniblow. Horniblow taught the young Jacobs to read, spell, and sew; she died when Jacobs was eleven or twelve and willed Jacobs to Mary Matilda Norcom, Horniblow's threeyear-old niece. While living in the Norcom household, Jacobs suffered the sexual harassment of Dr. James
Proud Shoes is an emotional account of Pauli Murray’s African-American family from mid-nineteenth through mid-twentieth century. Her American family was free blacks and enslaved blacks, poor whites and wealthy whites, all contributing to the family tree. This is an absolutely fascinating family history. The time is a few decades after the Civil War, in the early 1900's. It's mostly the story of Murray's grandmother, who had been a slave (and a mistress of the household at the same time), and her grandfather, a scholar and teacher and Civil War veteran who brought education to the newly freed slaves following the Civil War.
To him, the baby is tainted which makes his family and marriage impure. His conclusion is based on a “race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (66). He falls out of his passionate love just as fast as he had fallen into it, “as if struck by a pistol shot” (63), because the race he believes his wife and now baby belong to is beneath him. He sees the slaves as unequal, believes he is superior and he can do whatever he pleases because they belong to him. If Armand is superior over the slaves and he can treat them however he pleases, therefore, in his mind, the same is true for Désirée and the baby.
Even though Biography of a Runaway Slave was written much time later, way after the abolishment of slavery it’s intention was to give people a powerful descriptive story of what it was like to live in times that Esteban lived in our current times and it does a great job in telling a story of a runaway slave. Miguel’s style of writing shows true feelings of what Esteban felt about different types of slaves and what they meant to him. “Truth is that the blacks were honest.” (pg. 26) Many of the testimonials coming from Esteban are raw and he does not hold back. Every word is the truth and it gives a more sense of realness to the narrative.
“Culture for Sale” The book How to Rent a Negro by Damali Ayo is an instruction manual on how to use one’s culture, in this case black culture, as a means for income. Ayo contends that over many decades, black culture has been misappropriated by white individuals without permission, leaving blacks to feel exploited for their contributions to society. She points out that this practice, dating back to slavery, is still very much thriving in what is to be considered a post-racial society. Her solution to this problem is for blacks to start charging a fee for this misuse, also allowing whites to continue this behavior, as long as they are willing to foot the bill. She considers her concept of “renting” a person of color as a means to “bring these two groups together in the spirit of harmony and free enterprise” (Ayo 2).
The term “slavery” is used metaphorically and literally throughout the book. It all began with Ogbanje Ojebeta. Her family was well off and she was living a comfortable life until felenza struck. Both of her parents succumbed to the epidemic and the result was fatal. She was left with only her brother, Okolie.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, like most other slave narratives was written by a former slave himself, however Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by a white abolitionist and a woman. Both pieces of literature are very poignant, but it is interesting to look at either of them whilst knowing who wrote them. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom’s Cabin were both credited in helping fuel the abolitionist cause of the mid-nineteenth century and later the American Civil War. While both of these pieces of literature can be credited with giving the country a much needed push away from slavery, they
There are books about the past that allow people to realize the horrible times there have been in the United States. For example, slave narratives. Linda Brent’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a true slave narrative because in her novel, she talks about the hardships during slavery and rebellious experiences of several slaves. Olney states that a slave narrative must include examples of hardships people came across during slavery (Olney 1). In her novel, Brent states that many slaves, including herself, would have preferred to die then to keep living through slavery.
In the beginning of the story, Brother recounts the day Doodle was born, saying that he was a disappointment as soon as he entered the world. The narrator was not satisfied with his brother, which resulted in the horrible things he thought about him. Brother said that “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable…” As a result, the narrator enjoyed torturing Doodle, threatening to abandon him multiple times. He even took Doodle to see the casket that was built for him, and forced him to touch it. The narrator basked in the control he had over his brother.
Okonkwo was scared of people thinking he was just like his father so he worked hard since he was a child. This made him hate everything his father was made of, which is weakness and being lazy. ”Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness”. (13). when Okonkwo father died he had been in a lot of debt, Okonkwo became obsessed with the idea of manliness in order to get over his father weakness.