SOURCE: "Reconciling Public and Private in Frederick Douglass' Narrative," in American Literature, Vol. 57, No. 4, December, 1985, pp. 549-69.

In the following essay, Gibson investigates the intersection of Douglass's public and private personas in the Narrative, commenting on the qualities of balance and restraint that inform both.

By common consent Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845) is recognized as the best among the many slave narratives that appeared with increasing frequency during the years preceding the Civil War. There are many reasons why Douglass' narrative so clearly stands above the others, chief among them being that Douglass possesses talents, sensitivity, and intellectual capacity superior to those belonging to most people. His experience with written and spoken language by the time he wrote the autobiography has something to do with the quality of Douglass' work. Certainly he modified and polished his style as he improved the...