African-American Literature -- Compare and Contrast the Essay

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African-American Literature -- Compare and Contrast

The two stories selected for this first comparison, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and the short letter from Jourdon Anderson, "To My Old Master," are both extremely touching, honest, enlightening and historically precious pieces of literature.

To begin with, Anderson's letter to Colonel P.H. Anderson reveals a number of key things about the life of a male slave during the Civil War. It comes as an almost shocking irony when Jourdon writes to a man who kept him as a slave and tried to kill him. The reader knows that Jourdon is a practicing Christian even before he writes that he would be interested in coming back to work for the colonel. "Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living…" But the reader also knows that the former slave is trying to be compensated for the years of hard labor he put in for free.

Think about that for a moment. Here's a slave master who tried to kill Jourdon as he ran away, and here is his former slave hoping he is doing okay. Jourdon goes on to ask what kind of wages the colonel would offer if Jourdon were to return. Again, the reader knows that Jourdon is a Christian, and Jourdon does report in the second paragraph that he attends church on a regular basis, but clearly he believes in the Christian doctrine because it is obvious he has at least partially forgiven the colonel: "Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master," he writes. Or is it a case that Jourdon just would like to be paid for the hard work he put in all those years? Christian attitude or not, this is a powerful letter, packed with intelligence and a reserved kind of respectfulness toward the colonel.

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It is also clear that Jourdon is shrewd and has learned economic lessons along the way, because while he says he believes he would consider going back to Tennessee to work for the colonel, he wants to witness some sincerity first. Jourdon doesn't say it himself, he lets his wife say it for him, when he writes, "Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly… [and to test your sincerity we ask] you to send out wages for the time we served you," which was 32 years. Mandy served for 20 years.

Does he really think this slave master is going to pay him back wages for 32 years at $25 a month, adding up to $11,680? Probably not, but getting those thoughts off his chest must have been something of a relief if not actual liberation. Of course he suggests deducting for clothing and doctor visits, but truly, this letter is absolutely a wonderful missive for several reasons: a) it explains that former slaves are now interested in getting an education for their children; b) it spells out the hurt that has been done to slaves; c) it links the way slaves were treated the same as "horses and cows"; and d) it comes to terms with the sexual assaults that female slaves were subjected to.

In Harriet Ann Jacobs' story, Chapter V, she uses her narrative every bit as economically as Jourdon did albeit Jacobs has over 300 pages to tell her story. There are many passages in the book that bring the reader to near tears. While Jourdon was a free man when he wrote the letter, giving him the flexibility to state what was on his mind -- especially his last sentence where he asks….....

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