Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Comparison of Douglass & Wang Ping

It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master" (Douglass, p. 36).

We see that Seaweed's family also tries to keep her from revealing an identity outside of the roles and boundaries they feel ar suitable for a Chinese girl. She has a mean spirited mother and her sisters are much more beautiful than her. Her mother constantly diminishes her thought of egotism worth and Seaweed describes her as accusatory with eyes that "?were akin a shiny kitchen knife that could chop me into shredded pork at any moment" (Ping, p. 11). Seaweed is similar to Douglass in that she has the heroism to overcome her oppressive environs and she is willing to sacrifice the likes of Douglass did in order to achieve success for herself. Along these lines, she has the bravery to leave her family and live in a small disgustful village for two years so she has the opportunity to expel herself. Both Seaweed and Douglass develop a greater scent out of self worth and identity through such qualities as courage and self-sacrifice. Short of food, Douglass (p. 40) is willing to provide bread to the white children in his town so they can help him learn to read, "As many of them as I could, I converted into t apieceers. With their companionable aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read."


The paper became my meat and drink. My soul was set on fire. Its reason for my brethren in bonds-its scathing denunciations of slaveholders-its faithful exposures of slavery-and its index numberful attacks upon the upholders of the institution-sent a guardianship of joy through my soul, such as I had never felt before! (p. 114).

en the development of Seaweed and Douglass is that two moldiness eventually leave their oppressive environments in order to fully develop. This happens to Douglass as he travels and gains greater exposure than his repressive environment permits an African American. This happens to Ping when she goes to New York.
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While she is often disjointed there from mainstream American culture, she also experiences a newfound sense of liberation that is similar to that of Douglass' joy at discovering the writings in the Liberator. As Douglass says of his first experiences in reading this publication whose issues and concerns colligate to his own:

Ping, Wang. American Visa: Short Stories. Saint Paul, MN: Coffee House Press, 1995.

In conclusion, we can see that both of these primary sources reveal the struggles of both Douglass and Ping as they demonstrable an identity outside of the rigid boundaries of their culture and society. While Ping's experiences revolve around on the limits of both family and culture compared to those of Douglass, which mainly stem from culture, each of them becomes a new individual in the process. For both, the limitations they experienced helped them develop strengths and a sense of identity based on their sure selves and not others impressions of what they should be or do. For each, the process of individuation include clinging to love of self in order to survive rough-cut environments and circumstances. As Douglass (p. 163) maintains, regarding his point in writing the book, "[I] sincerely and seriously hope that this little book may do something toward throwing short on the American slave system?faithfully relying upon the power of truth
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