Slavery Essay

In both Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and An American Slave by Fredrick Dougllas, these books appeal to ethos, pathos, and their audience are very similar. Dougllas establishes his credibility when a Caucasian author vouches for him in the preface of the book. “Every one who has heard you speak has felt, and, I am confident, every one who reads your book will feel…the whole truth” (Paragraph 5, Preface by Wendell Phillips). It can be inferred that Wendell Phillips vouches for Dougllas because he has heard one of his speeches and feels that he speaks the truth. Phillips agrees with Dougllas’ ideas and beliefs and supports his book. Jacobs establishes ethos when L. Maria Child, the editor of the book, states that “I willingly take the responsibility of presenting them with the veil withdrawn” (Paragraph 4, Introduction by the Editor). Chile was ready to take responsibility of what was being said because she strongly believed that people needed to hear Jacobs story.

The authors’ appeal to pathos was very strong. They both used vivid imagery and diction to get the audiences emotions tied into the stories. They described whipping and romantic scenes so well that it would touch the hearts of the readers. “He commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor” (Paragraph 11, An American Slave). In the last quote, Dougllas uses such distinct diction; it makes the audience feel exactly what the slave was going through and made them feel her pain and suffering. “I loved him with all ardor of a young girl’s first love. But when I reflected that I was a slave, and that the laws gave no sanction to the marriage of such, my heart sank within me” (Paragraph 2, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl). Jacobs made the audience feel her agony and sorrow towards how she felt. The authors wanted the audience to experience the life of a Negro slave.

Since the authors wanted the audience to have that experience, it can be safely assumed that the audience was steered more to Caucasians rather than African Americans. At the time only whites and probably freed slaves could be accessible to books, so they were the only ones who could read the novels. The authors are most likely writing to this particular audience because like stated before; they wanted to put them through the same experience. They wanted whites to see how much torture, humiliation, and anguish they put African Americans through.