Early Short Fictions. the Significance of Stereotypes in The Heroic Slave by Frederick Douglass

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,8, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, language: English, abstract: This paper analyzes Frederick Douglass's African American novella and only work of fiction "The Heroic Slave", which was published in 1852. The story is based on a slave revolt on board the Creole and Douglass invents the prehistory for the leader Madison Washington, who sailed the ship to Nassau, where all the slaves were set free. His main goal was to evoke awareness of the socio-historical circumstances during the 19th century. As the story was originally intended for white readers Douglass features many stereotypes in his novella to make the main character and hero of the story, Madison Washington, more appealing to his white audience and their white ideal.