Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Comparison Essay

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The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; An American Slave is the autobiography of the titular slave turned abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The novel chronicles his life from his childhood on a Maryland plantation to his eventual freedom as an adult. Douglass published the book in 1845, going into graphic detail when describing the horrors and injustice he witnessed in order to show the average American what slavery really was. Slave Girl in California is an article about an egyptian girl who was sold into servitude by her parents to pay off a debt. A girl named Shyima became the domestic servant of the Ibrahim family in Egypt when she was 8. Her mother sold her into servitude thinking that she would help the family and have a better life; she was wrong in so many ways. Shyima wound up in America against her family's wishes after the Ibrahims smuggled her over and made her continue serving as their maid. Eventually the Ibrahims were found out and Shyima was freed after 4 years of servitude. Abuse and separation are central themes that are similar in both the slave girl article and the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass; (which will from henceforth be abbreviated as NFD) however, there are opposing central …show more content…
The narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass displays the themes of abuse through the cruelty of slave drivers in the 1800s. Separation is also shown through the practice of separating mother from child, and separating slaves from society and entitled freedoms. The slave girl article also displays these themes through verbal,and emotional abuse and isolation from everyone respectively. However justice is served in the slave girl article by Shyima being freed, something that does not happen in N.F.D. In conclusion, separation and abuse are themes that the slave girl article and The narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass have in