When comparing the slave narratives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs one cannot not notice the obvious similarities and differences between them. The guidelines for both narratives are fairly obvious as well, and are presented in two central quotations; for Jacobs - "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women"(Jacobs IX ), and for Douglass - "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man"(Douglass 340). .
Slave narratives are testimonies of representatives who speak for those still enslaved and cannot tell his or her own stories. They are also meant to stir up a moral feeling for the slave, and if successful in doing so, to prove that slave laws are immoral and inhuman - this would "convince the people of the Free States what Slavery really is"(Jacobs XIV ), and would contribute to its abolishment. .
Humanity was denied from the black slaves in order to justify white ownership over them, and treating slaves inhumanly convinced the white owner that slaves were inhuman. To prove humanity meant to show literacy and an ability to reason, in other words to demonstrate logical thinking. Literacy, in its turn, was denied from slaves because it would have given them access to perspectives on their condition and the ability to articulate and spread them among the reading public of the North. However, literacy was acquired by both Douglass and Jacobs through their white mistresses, and in combination with reason or logic, allowed for the existence of their narratives.
The quest for identity is another prevalent theme of slave narratives, but there are differences in formation of identity between the two authors presented here. While Jacobs didn't consider herself to be a slave - "I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise"(Jacobs 3), Frederick Douglass had to re-learn to think of himself as a human being and a free man, rather than a property of someone or a slave.
