A Literary Journey

After class today I went back to look at Douglass' Narrative of the Life to reassess how it could be seen as literary, because it has so many historic roots. Beyond the reasons that we discussed in class I realized that one overarching possibility that we hadn't touched on is that Douglass' story is, in its nature, a journey, and this seems extremely literary to me. Any good story needs a journey, a change, or a development within it, and that is extremely present in Douglass' writing. There is a beginning, a middle and an end, but I also think there's something literary to note about the fact that his recount is absolutely true. That he could so clearly remove himself enough from his own life experience to put it on paper is not necessarily a classical type of literature, but I believe it is literary to be able to provide the public with a great story/journey. In the Preface by William Lloyd Garrison, he says "Considering how long and dark was the career he had to run as a slave,--how few have been his opportunities to improve his mind since he broke his iron fetters,--it is, in my judgement, highly creditable to his head and his heart...I am confident that it is essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice, nothing exaggerated, nothing drawn from the imagination; that it comes short of the reality, rather than overstates a single fact in regard to slavery as it is" (1177). I pulled out this quote because I think that it's a good expression of Douglass' honesty and his candor in writing his own story. In today's world it is absolutely seen as literary, specifically in journalism (possibly more journalistic--however I see journalism as being literary) to write a piece exposing an unfortunate truth through a story. I realize it is a very sweeping statement to just say that Douglass' story is literary because it involves a true journey, but my point is to say that even if his narrative is used as a historical text, the way in which he moves his readers through his own journey, with honesty and perspective, makes his writing literary.