Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Interesting Connections/Relevations between this and another story from 1845
Muhaimin
(last edited
May 14, 2021 11:21AM
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May 14, 2021 11:18AM
The two stories (one of them is a novel) that I am talking about are: The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar and Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass.
What are these two stories about?
1. The Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography where the author, Frederick Douglass recounts his painful experiences as a slave and his eventual escape.
2. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar is about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at his moment of death.
How about the backgrounds on the authors?
1. As said on History.com, Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker
2. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar was written by Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer who was most known for his horror and mystery stories.
Other than the fact that they are both written in the same year of 1845, you can see a few similarities:
1. Both deal with people who are “tied down”. Namely, M. Valdemar is experimented on by the narrator while Douglass is owned by Mr. Covey
2. Both have extreme feels of mental and physical abuse by the victim/one being tied down. M. Valdemar keeps on being mesmerized by the narrator and twisted to be in different conditions until he rots physically while Douglass is beaten and tormented by Mr. Covey.
3. Both have this dynamic of ownership. Although it might be a bit too extreme, the relationship between M. Valdemar and the narrator can seem like that of slave and slave-master where one owns the other.
4. The characters in both might be the authors projecting themselves into the story
About Point #4:
It might be pretty farfetched, but Poe was known to:
1. Act as agent for his aunt, Maria Clemm, sold her 21-year-old slave, Edwin, to one Henry Ridgeway for $40
2. Not believe in abolition nor in the emancipation of slaves
3. Be intrigued with slaves saying that “the negro possesses a peculiar character even as he has a color of his own.”
The third point about being intrigued by slaves seems to show that Poe was more like the narrator who was interesting in inspecting M. Valdemar.
But yeah, overall, its interesting to see how texts within the same year have such similarity to one another. In the comments below, post down what you think about this connection and perhaps some other stories posted in the same year which have connections.
What are these two stories about?
1. The Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography where the author, Frederick Douglass recounts his painful experiences as a slave and his eventual escape.
2. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar is about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at his moment of death.
How about the backgrounds on the authors?
1. As said on History.com, Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker
2. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar was written by Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer who was most known for his horror and mystery stories.
Other than the fact that they are both written in the same year of 1845, you can see a few similarities:
1. Both deal with people who are “tied down”. Namely, M. Valdemar is experimented on by the narrator while Douglass is owned by Mr. Covey
2. Both have extreme feels of mental and physical abuse by the victim/one being tied down. M. Valdemar keeps on being mesmerized by the narrator and twisted to be in different conditions until he rots physically while Douglass is beaten and tormented by Mr. Covey.
3. Both have this dynamic of ownership. Although it might be a bit too extreme, the relationship between M. Valdemar and the narrator can seem like that of slave and slave-master where one owns the other.
4. The characters in both might be the authors projecting themselves into the story
About Point #4:
It might be pretty farfetched, but Poe was known to:
1. Act as agent for his aunt, Maria Clemm, sold her 21-year-old slave, Edwin, to one Henry Ridgeway for $40
2. Not believe in abolition nor in the emancipation of slaves
3. Be intrigued with slaves saying that “the negro possesses a peculiar character even as he has a color of his own.”
The third point about being intrigued by slaves seems to show that Poe was more like the narrator who was interesting in inspecting M. Valdemar.
But yeah, overall, its interesting to see how texts within the same year have such similarity to one another. In the comments below, post down what you think about this connection and perhaps some other stories posted in the same year which have connections.
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