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Romanticism In Fredrick Douglass

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Critics struggle to fit Douglass’s narrative into a literary genre, some believe it fits within the realm of Romanticism while others argue his narrative belongs under Realism. In nineteen century America, the African American voice was missing from literature. Slave narratives were not taken seriously and most slaves were not taught how to read or write. Douglass’s was a self-taught slave his narrative was a game changer Douglass was considered an intellectual and respected by most as a reputable author. Douglass’s narrative is difficult to place within genre because it has aspects of both realism and romanticism. It is realistic to have a narrative explaining the horrors of slavery: some of the horrors so terrible it is hard for someone …show more content…

This means, that Douglass’s work does not need to have actually happened to be considered a realistic narrative, it just needs to seem like it could have happened and is a normal occurrence for slaves. After considering this, there are reasons that this narrative became so popular. Douglass’s narrative does not portray an everyday occurrence of American slavery it is about one man who, with luck on his side, made it to freedom. Every slave did suffer, slaves were beaten, raped, whipped, and worked to death this narrative does catch the sorrow of slave life but it goes out of the ordinary. The famous line “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man." (Douglass, 73) is a chasm used to exemplify this. Overcoming oppression in the scene where Douglass takes on Mr. Covey the “slave breaker” (Douglass, 66) would not be a normal occurrence, Douglass triumphs and becomes the embodiment of a romantic hero. To overcome Covey, “Douglas creates a need to invent a self outside of the active oppression around him.” (Wessel). Instead of being realistic, this narrative is an example of propaganda, Douglass romanticises the fight to get his readers attention, to give slaves hope, and to grasp Northerners’ following in joining the abolitionists.
“While the reality of Douglass’s experiences is anything but a

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