Combining Fact and Fiction in the Writing of Frederick Douglass’ The He

Combining Fact and Fiction in the Writing of Frederick Douglass’ The Heroic Slave After the successful publication of his autobiography, escaped slave Frederick Douglass decided to tell the story of a fellow ex-slave, Madison Washington, and his rebellion aboard the Creole slave ship. Rather than writing a purely historical account of the events, Douglass chose to embellish and alter the truth, creating The Heroic Slave, one of the first historical novellas and the first known piece of African-American fictional literature (Andrews 11). Douglass' choice to write the story as a fiction made the novella easier for readers to relate to and, therefore, more appealing to their sympathies. The Heroic Slave is based on the historical 1841 slave rebellion led by Madison Washington aboard the New Orleans-bound slave ship, the Creole. In his telling of the story, Douglass includes embellishments on, alterations to, and omissions of certain historical facts. By comparing his novella to other documents citing the actual occurrences, we can analyze the changes Douglass' made t o the story and why he chose to make them. Douglass' does not immediately discuss the Creole slave ship rebellion. Instead, the first three parts of The Heroic Slave concern the life of Madison Washington, the slave who would eventually become leader of that rebellion. In Part I, Douglass introduces us readers and Mr. Listwell, a white traveler, to Madison Washington. We overhear his soliloquy on the suffering he must endure as a slave. In this speech we are given the reason for his upcoming flight from slavery: "I am galled with irons; but even these are more tolerable than the consciousness, the galling consciousness of cowardice and indecision. Can it be that I... ...dom to make many authorial choices that made the story of Madison Washington's rebellion aboard the Creole a more effective case for the abolitionist cause. Through embellishments, alterations, and omissions, Douglass molded the history of the revolt to better serve his purposes. A simple, utterly accurate telling of the story would not have been nearly as powerful to the abolitionist movement. Works Cited Andrews, William L. Introduction. Three Classic African-American Novels. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York, Penguin Books, 2003. 7-21. Douglass, Frederick. The Heroic Slave. New York, Penguin Books, 2003. Jones, Howard. "The Peculiar Institution and National Honor: The Case of the Creole Slave Revolt." Civil War History. Volume 21. Mar. 1975. 20-50. MacDonald, Robin. "'The Heroic Slave': Frederick Douglass' Revolutionary Revision." 1996. 20 Apr 2004.