A reader might feel fatigued by the endless descriptions of inhumanity that Prince endures throughout her narrative. Soon enough, it becomes a blur of violent, cruel sequences that are only very rarely interspersed with moments of tense reprieve. Indeed, the account is fashioned around Prince's torment.
Like other slave narratives of the time, History is meant as propaganda in service of the abolition. Its purpose is not the purpose of other literary texts. Its only intent is to sway the reader into joining the abolitionist cause, or, at the very least, to bring the inhumanity of the slave trade to light. Prince's account differs from other slave narratives in certain respects (location for one), but like Frederick Douglass' Narrative, the heart and message of History remains the same as in any other account.
Like in Cowper's "Sweet Meat", Prince's narrative (as well as other slave narratives) is meant to show not just the savageness of slavery but the dehumanization that instigates such cruelty, as well as the obliviousness on the part of the greater population that allows the slave trade to continue as it is. Prince, on being sold, is compared to a chicken being sold at market (589), and likened to cattle at an auction (590). Furthermore, she laments that "The people of England, I am sure, have never found out what is carried on there" (594). This implies that if it were known to the greater populace what slavery actually looks like, then such an institution would never be allowed to continue. Thus, the publication of Prince's account is meant solely to bring such firsthand knowledge to the public's attention for the sake of the abolitionist movement.
I also found this interesting, because I feel like there's kind of a rift between the meaning of the text (which is to sway the reader; the narrative can't help but be propagandistic), and the savagery that it recounted. I felt very uncomfortable reading this piece, and the scenes of torture were particularly difficult for me to read. I imagine people at the time also felt uncomfortable, and I wonder if this would have stopped them from reading it. The disparity here is that people who should be influenced by this text might be unable to handle the intensity of it.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that the cause for writing this was not purely to bring light to the abolitionist cause, especially considering the manner in which it was written. It seems as if there's a huge part of the text that is just cathartic for Prince, because it's allowing her to air the grievances that she previously didn't have a way of airing. This might be one of the first times, and certainly the most productive time, that she might have had to air the horrors that have happened to her. This is also probably the first time she had an actual opportunity to change the situation for more than just herself, so she took that opportunity to do so by making the most emotional argument possible.
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