Essay Comparing Equiano And Jacobs

American literature consists of many different kinds of narratives. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a new type of narrative emerged: the slave narrative. Though they both share similar experiences, Equiano and Jacobs feel very differently about their circumstances and society. Equiano holds a more charitable view of his masters, but Jacobs examines her owners' good traits and bad qualities. Both writers were valuable to their masters, but they proclaimed their value in different ways. The differences in these two narratives can be attributed to the different personalities of Jacobs and Equiano.
Equiano and Jacobs both held different views on buying their freedom. Jacobs believed she had a right to freedom and

should not have to pay for it. After Linda (Jacob's alter ego in her narrative) runs away, her master's family tries to bring her back. One of her former master's relations tells one of Jacob's friends to tell him where Jacobs is. Linda would then have the chance to buy her freedom. The friend replies, "I don't think it would be of any use, sir. I have heard her say she would go to the ends of the earth, rather than pay any man or woman for her freedom, because she thinks she has a right to it," (Jacobs, 108). Jacobs writes that she is "unwilling to buy what [she has] already a right to possess," (Jacobs, 84). This attitude is quite distinctive from Equiano's views on buying freedom.
Equiano was glad that he was able to buy his freedom.

Whenever he could, he "worked with redoubled alacrity, from the hope of getting money enough by these voyages to buy [his] freedom," (Equiano, 170). When he had saved enough money to buy his freedom, his master was reluctant to let him go. When Equiano asked his master to honor his promise and accept money for freedom, his master regretted the promise he had made. (Equiano, 189). His master was reluctant to give Equiano his freedom, but fortunately a kindhearted man was standing by. He persuaded Equiano's master to honor his word. "I know Gustavus (the name given to Equiano by his master) has earned you more than an hundred a-year, and he will still save you money, as he will not leave you," (Equiano, 190). The master grudgingly freed Equiano, who used his newfound freedom to help other

slaves.
Equiano comes across as very charitable and open-minded in his narrative.

He does not read into the actions or motives of his owners, he simply tries to narrate the facts of his captivity and survive. "Every body on board used me very kindly, quite contrary to what I had seen of any white people before," (Equiano, 76). He writes of being robbed by some white people and of being treated well by others, but he does not let his situation discourage him. "Rather than deplore his condition, Equiano opts to make the best of the situation and make the system that oppresses him pay him, too," (Bozeman, 9). He accepts the new name his master gives him and works hard. (Equiano, 77). Equiano even makes several friends during the course of his narrative: a boy his age named Richard Baker, and later a woman named Miss Guerin, who convinced him to be

baptized.
Perhaps Equiano's apparent conversion is the difference between Jacobs's and Equiano's narratives. Jacobs is more critical of her masters than Equiano, who simply tells the facts of his slavery without trying to influence his readers. "I was told that my home was now to be with her mistress; and I found it a happy one. No toilsome or disagreeable duties were imposed upon me," (Jacobs, 6). Her happiness did not last long, however. Her next master, Dr. Flint, was the complete opposite of her former owner. Everything Jacobs writes about Dr. Flint is unfavorable. "He tried his utmost to corrupt the pure principles my grandmother had instilled," (Jacobs, 17). Flint harassed Linda and wanted her to be his mistress, then made her life miserable when she refused. Jacobs was shrewd enough to realize that Flint had no good qualities besides his wealth.
In Jacob's narrative, she explores the moral qualities of everyone, understanding that both good and bad can be found. Her mistress teaches her to read and teaches her about the principle of the Golden Rule, or "Love your neighbor as yourself," but she also complains bitterly that her mistress did not follow the principles that she taught. "I was her slave, and I suppose she did not recognize me as her neighbor. I would give much to blot out from my memory that one great wrong," (Jacobs, 6). Even though she is upset with her mistress, Jacobs does not neglect to mention the good things her mistress did for her. Her benefits from her kind mistress included the ability to read and write. This enabled her to give slave women a voice through her narrative.
In Equiano's narrative, there is a sharp contrast between good and bad. His owners seem very black and white: they are either humane or cruel, but there is not much in between. His second owners, who are a rich African family, treat him like one of their own children. In fact, Equiano was treated so well that he thought he might be adopted into the family. (Equiano, 59). When he is taken to the West Indies, he is shocked at the cruelty of the overseers, who "cut and mangle the slaves in a shocking manner on the most trifling occasions, and altogether treat them in every respect like brutes," (Equiano, 142). He is mistreated several times throughout the narrative just because of the color of his skin. He is grateful that his owners seem to value him enough to take good care of him.
Equiano seemed proud of his worth as a slave. "He understands his position, while a slave, as transportable property. He knows that his worth during slavery is purely economic," (Bozeman, 5). He mentions the fact that he saved his master money, or made money for his master. "I became very useful to my master; and saved him, as he used to acknowledge, above a hundred pounds a year," (Equiano, 139). He goes on to mention how some slave owners never get their money's worth out of their slaves, but how many more earn the money back very quickly. Like Equiano, these slaves become very valuable to their masters.
Jacobs mentions that she is valuable, but she lets the facts of her narrative or other people in the narrative tell her value. After she runs away, Dr. Flint's family is determined to get Linda back. "Mrs. Flint openly declared that her daughter could not afford to lose so valuable a slave as I was," (Jacobs, 107). Linda finds the Bruces, a couple who protect her from her pursuers. The Bruces even enter into legal arguments on Linda's behalf. The Bruce's lawyer "proposed to pay three hundred dollars down" if Mr. Dodge would sell Jacobs. This was also the amount of money that Dr. Flint had offered to pay as a reward for Linda's recapture. (Jacobs, 55). Jacobs does not boast about herself in any way. In fact, she seems more proud of her family's accomplishments than she does of her own.
Jacobs and Equiano both share some common themes in their writings: "legal resistance to economic and sexual exploitation, rhetorical methods for claiming authority and personhood," (Warner, 6). Jacobs experiences sexual exploitation at the hand of Dr. Flint, so she is able to speak out of her eEquiano writes about the slave women who are abused by their masters, and the injustices that black men experience for falling in love with white women. (Equiano, 141). Both their narratives deal with the idea of being self-reliant even in slavery and earning money to buy their freedom. Jacobs' father was a carpenter who was allowed to support himself if he gave a certain amount of money to his owner each year. (Jacobs, 1) Equiano was able to earn money as well. He could read and write, and he knew how to dress hair.
Jacobs and Equiano both write about a side to slavery that is not seen often. They write of freedom and independence, something many slaves never experienced. Jacobs' narrative stems from the "unique combination of experiences that informed her story," (Warner, 1). This is also true for Equiano, who was enslaved in Africa, Britain, and America before earning his freedom. Some of their views and feelings about their masters and slavery in general clash, but they both present a well-thought out narrative. The uniqueness of their situations makes them stand out among other slave narratives.
"Equiano distinguishes himself as one who, via determination and hard work, as well as chance, overcomes the confines of slavery to propel himself to some of the upper echelons of British society," (Bozeman, 1).