Public Perception/ Impact of Broken Circle and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Both Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Broken Circle are narratives that focus on issues in North American society –though in different time periods- that have taken years to be recognized to their full extent. Harriet Jacobs (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl) and Theodore Fontaine (Broken Circle) recount their tragic stories in the form of a narrative as a way of expressing the traumatic events they endured in a personal way. The public perception begins with the history of both narratives. The cruel events have such an extensive history and past that leave preconceived ideas in the minds of potential readers, before even reading the narratives. Public perception is also a ‘majority’ concept which does not contrast well with such serious topics.
Public perception begins with the history of the –what we now know as- terrible events. The history of what occurred can be seen from different points of view, generally from either the side of the minority or the side of the majority. In these narratives, the abusers are what would be considered the majorities and although not everyone committed acts of genocide and enslaving, for the remainder of this essay, the abusers will be referred to as the ‘majority.’ Both narratives are written by people of minorities who were persecuted based on their race by people of power. People of power in these recollections begin with people of economic wealth and power, authoritative power such as religious figures or government. The perception of the majority during the time of these atrocities was that they were not in fact, atrocities. In both works, the majority justified their actions largely due to religion. Slavery was justified because of what the bible said and residential schools were just helping young Native peoples learn tasks to help them succeed in life (obviously implemented by the church). Regarding historical perception and the ‘majority’ being in favor of these systems, these works would not have been appreciated. Furthermore, though it is not specified when Jacobs wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, it was published in 1861. Jacobs narrative was published two years before the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and four years before ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865 which effectively ended slavery on a legal scale. Similarly, Fontaines Broken Circle was published in 1941 and the last Residential school did not effectively close until 1984, 43 years later. Context is very important when looking at public perception and the dates provide great example. Public Perception has adapted since the times of publication for both of these narratives. Around the times of the publications, mindsets regarding these issues were adapting, the implementation of laws against these systems were beginning and the ‘majority’ was becoming smaller. Since publication and changes on perception of the human rights implications, perceptions of the works have changed also.
Public perception is described as an interpretation or an impression, or an opinion or belief, which are largely imposed by power. As I previously mentioned, both narratives are written by people of minorities whom were discriminated against and persecuted for reasons that can only be linked to their race by people of power. Although being published 155 and 75 years ago, provide context for how perception has evolved. None of the ‘majority’ or what we would call today, simply the human rights abusers, were held responsible for their actions in enslaving people and acts of genocide. The evolution of how we as people care about human rights is what influences our perception of these narratives and the fact that we simply have access to these narratives is what shapes our thoughts on human rights and the prevalence. Exploring the idea of their impact is essential when critiquing how they are perceived by the public, but it is important to make notice that Jacobs and Fontaines impact is not fully recognized. It is clear from the narratives that these systems were in place, and awful things happened to these two individuals but discrimination and racism still occurs. Legal systems may be in place to help control such atrocities from happening, but the affects from what both of these storytellers endured are still frequent. After 155 and 75 years, we are still witnessing the affects from government and church made systems that promoted discrimination against people whom do not have European descent.
The impact of both works is that of a different scale. Impact is described as having a strong effect on someone or something, but that is measured on a personal level. Both of these narratives, as written by people of minority automatically have great significance. Few stories are ever told and recounted on such a scale that they are published. Fontaine and Jacobs both have their stories published within the society that their abuses occurred. Relating back to the dates of publication, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was published in 1861 and Fontaines Broken Circle was published in 1941 which both occurred previously to the legal abolishment of what they were writing about. Furthering from the point of both being published within the society that their abuses occurred in, each narrative was published in the geographic location in which the abuses happened also. It is important to recount these stories and ones similar to them especially in these cases where no one was held responsible for their actions in enslaving people and forcing the systematic extermination of a people/culture. Because of the growing popularity on the topic of human rights, more people are aware of what travesties happened and empathize on a personal level. The realization that such violations were being committed not only once, but several times, continues the growth of knowledge and understanding on these topics.
Upon investigating the scale of the two works we analyzed based on public perception and impact, clearly they both hold a great amount of responsibility. Their recollections tell us in detail the horrors that happened to thousands of people exactly like them. Examining the two and making correlations between the interactions with the public, it is clear that both Jacobs and Fontaine were the storytellers of a history that needs to be recapped until we can fully understand what happened to allow such abuses. Great tragedies occurred within the two works but because of their stories and because they were published, we are able to examine them now. This is crucial as human rights are increasingly popular and it has taken some time for these human rights abuses to be fully realized. The ‘majority’ in which I still refer to the people of power in these systems (people of economic wealth and power, authoritative power such as religious figures or government) have admitted that these acts occurred but the discrimination and racism lives on today. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Broken Circle act as perfect examples/gateways to understanding human rights. These narratives aid us in the continuous growth of our knowledge and understanding on these topics. They exemplify why we need to understand human rights and how they are directly linked in our extensive past of hatred and Eurocentric views in North America.
