Symbolism In My Bondage And My Freedom

The 19th century was a time in American history, bustling with the energy of rising social reform movements. Throughout this time, politically themed literature became a popular tool for change, whether the message was outrightly progressive, or concealed beneath the use of symbolism. A prime example of this politically charged writing, is the hugely influential biography by Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, written to reveal the brutality of slavery in the South. On a similar note is the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain to bring to light the paternalistic nature of post-Reconstruction in the South. Finally, The Woman’s Bible and Declaration of Sentiments, both written by women’s rights activist,
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn starts as an innocent, picaresque novel, depicting the journeys of a young white boy and a runaway slave. However, towards the end of the book, many scholars believe that Twain switches genres to allegory. Jim’s enslavement, beginning at the Phelps farm, becomes a microcosm of post-Reconstruction in the south. To begin with, Jim himself represents free African Americans during this period. Enslaved and kept in shed, Twain shows us how these free citizens are actually being held in slavery yet again, just in a different form. Tom, Huck’s peer, is believed to symbolize the power yielding, upper class white people. When Tom explains to Jim, his idiotic plan to break him free, Jim simply agrees, even though he “...could see no sense in it, but allowed white folks knew better than him and was satisfied” (Twain #). This is the way that black people during post-Reconstruction were forced to go along with whatever powerful whites told them, in order to maintain their freedom. A part of Tom’s plan to break Jim out includes infesting his shed with snakes, mice, and insects, to make the escape more difficult, and therefore more exciting for Tom. These rodents and insects can be interpreted as representing the Jim Crow laws put in place in the South. During post-Reconstruction, these laws seemed
To do this, Stanton calls upon two hugely influential pieces of literature, and rewrites them from a feminist eye to create the Woman’s Bible and the Declaration of Sentiments. In the Woman’s Bible, Stanton starts off by explaining how the Bible has disparaged and misrepresented women. Perhaps the most relevant, is the Bible’s teaching that “...woman brought sin and death into the world” (Stanton Bible 7). With religion being held in such high regard, women and girls grow up with a deeply ingrained sense of inferiority. Stanton explains how hard these feelings can be to eradicate, due to the respect that women are supposed to maintain for the Bible. She recalls seeing a mother use a copy of the Bible as a high chair for her child and deeming it a desecration, even after her “...reason had repudiated its divine authority” (12). Bringing up occurrence such as these, force women and men alike to reevaluate their understanding and respect for what religion has taught them in regards to gender. Overall, Stanton uses the Woman’s Bible to draw attention to women’s internalized misogyny, and unveil the role it plays in women’s second class status. Stanton’s other work, the Declaration of Sentiments, focuses more on the oppression of women in the government, educational institutes, and the workforce. The speech is modeled after the Declaration of Independence