Slave Narratives

In the Narrative, Douglass distinguishes between two types of Christianity – one that is true and one that uses it as a justification for their right to own slaves; however, that does not make Douglass to turn away from religion. On the contrary, he believes that since there is God, he will help him to become free. The slave holidays are also used to manage the slaves by allowing them to release their rebellious spirit. Usually, the slaves have a holiday from Christmas until New Year’s during which they are encouraged to spend it drinking and gambling rather then using this time to work for themselves.
The character of Linda’s maternal grandmother is crucial in the narrative. After the death of the mother, she became a second mother figure for Linda. She was a positive force in her live – she was loving and family-oriented and represented a warm domestic life and maternal love. She plays an important role not just as a loving maternal figure for Linda, but she is also the only black woman in the narrative who owns a home. She is a female figure who encourages Linda to stand by her children and is ready to risk her own life to protect Linda and her children; however, she also does not approve of Linda’s initial plan to escape. The grandmother represents the struggle between the desire of freedom for her children and fear of losing them. The male slave-masters often fathered children with the enslaved women. It was done to increase the numbers of their slaves who could be sold later. …