Jacobs vs. Equiano

           Even though Olaudah Equiano and Harriet Jacobs were both slaves, their narratives are different in many ways.  While Equiano's story is still very emotional, the physical pain and torture that he went through can't compare with the sexual abuse that Jacobs had to endure for years.  Both of their stories are heartbreaking, but Jacobs' is more so, both because of what she went through and because she had no way to get out of it.  Unlike Equiano, Jacobs was unable to earn her freedom, and she was not even allowed to be bought by someone else.   

  

 

       

          The tone of the narratives is also a main difference.  Equiano's narrative comes across with the satisfaction of a self-made man.  His tone is one of triumph; he made it through all the challenges that he had to face, and he was successful in the end.  His story, in a way, details not so much the horrors of slavery as it does his own victory.

"the crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should     leap into the water; and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do to, and hourly whipped for not eating.  This indeed was often the case with myself" (393).

 

          On the other hand, Jacobs' narrative comes across from a mother's viewpoint.  Jacobs details the horrors that she experienced and her fight to finally get away, but instead of portraying it as her own personal triumph, she credits her children as giving her the strength to succeed.  For "nothing less than the freedom of my children" (1740), Jacobs attempts what she could never do before: she runs away.  Thus her final triumph is not only her own, but also her whole family's.  

          Jacobs and Equiano were both skilled writers, and both of their stories are one of unimaginable horror, heartbreak, and finally, success.  However, I think that Jacobs' narrative is more powerful.  The ideas that Jacobs embodies - her love for her children, her strength, and her determination - appeal to the heart in a way that Equiano never could.     

Works Cited 
Perkins, George, and Barbara Perkins.  The American Tradition in Literature.  12th ed. Vol. 1. Boston.  McGraw-Hill, 2009.  Print.