Injustice in Childhood: Jane Eyre and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Authors

Christian Barkman, College of the Holy CrossFollow

Abstract

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, are autobiographical novels narrated by the fictional Jane Eyre and the real Frederick Douglass. Both stories evoke an outpouring of pity for their respective narrator: Jane, for the unmerited abuses dealt against her by family and school administrators, but most of all Douglass, who reserves the greater portion of lament on account of his dreadful persecution under the evil of slavery. The environments Jane and Douglass inhabit throughout their childhood inflict an immense burden on their physical body and psyche. This essay specially examines the violent and alienating childhood trauma endured by Jane and Douglass. In this unlikely comparison, the rottenness of injustice remains universally palpable.

Recommended Citation

Barkman, Christian (2022) "Injustice in Childhood: Jane Eyre and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," The Criterion: Vol. 2022, Article 8.
Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/criterion/vol2022/iss1/8