Fredrick Douglas vs. Huckleberry Finn
Maribelle Assaad Boutros
Mrs. Hong
AP Language
14 August 2014
Fredrick Douglas Essay In the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, and in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both authors portray a similar view on slavery and the people in the South. In both pieces of literature, the main characters had no parental guidance, and both began as being slaves to cruel slave owners. One difference that occurs between the two is that in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the people who do bad things are punished, while in the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, many cruel people get away with their crimes. In Mark Twain’s novel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s childhood is lonesome. He has no parental figures to assist him in making good choices in his life. His mother was dead and he was never able to meet her, while his father was a drunk. His father was away most of the time and rarely paid any attention to him. This lack of appreciation could easily make a young child feel unwanted and make it worse in the life of a slave, especially since he was mistreated by his slave-owner as well. In the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, Douglas was forced to grow up with no identity and not knowing who his father is. This is difficult for a young child to comprehend, especially since he was surrounded by white neighbors and friends who were all aware of their fathers’ identities. More importantly, Douglas was forced to grow up without the nourishment of a caring mother because they were separated when Douglas was still a very young boy. Both these authors are trying to show the audience the hardships that African Americans were forced to go through. Also, they are attempting to portray how cruel the white people were and how unequal the two human beings were. The character Huck, from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was enslaved to a harsh woman named Miss Watson. She was an extremely mean and ignorant slave owner who forced them to
Mrs. Hong
AP Language
14 August 2014
Fredrick Douglas Essay In the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, and in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both authors portray a similar view on slavery and the people in the South. In both pieces of literature, the main characters had no parental guidance, and both began as being slaves to cruel slave owners. One difference that occurs between the two is that in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the people who do bad things are punished, while in the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, many cruel people get away with their crimes. In Mark Twain’s novel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck’s childhood is lonesome. He has no parental figures to assist him in making good choices in his life. His mother was dead and he was never able to meet her, while his father was a drunk. His father was away most of the time and rarely paid any attention to him. This lack of appreciation could easily make a young child feel unwanted and make it worse in the life of a slave, especially since he was mistreated by his slave-owner as well. In the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, Douglas was forced to grow up with no identity and not knowing who his father is. This is difficult for a young child to comprehend, especially since he was surrounded by white neighbors and friends who were all aware of their fathers’ identities. More importantly, Douglas was forced to grow up without the nourishment of a caring mother because they were separated when Douglas was still a very young boy. Both these authors are trying to show the audience the hardships that African Americans were forced to go through. Also, they are attempting to portray how cruel the white people were and how unequal the two human beings were. The character Huck, from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was enslaved to a harsh woman named Miss Watson. She was an extremely mean and ignorant slave owner who forced them to