one theme in the Heroic Slave

In the Heroic Slave, it is clear that Douglass is carefully developing an argument. Something which, I believe, is not true of Poe in Pym. In this novella, Douglass builds up the character of Madison Washington, embellishes the true history of the man, in order to inspire other slaves to rise against their bondage. An important theme in Douglass’ work is that of the necessity of solidarity among the slaves. He uses Madison as a figure head. In each case that Madison attempts to gain his own freedom with the help of another or attempts to aid in freeing others, the plan does not reach completion without the others completely giving themselves to the cause and trusting Madison. The old woodcutter, for example, lost site of the big picture, and “betrayed” Madison. While there were extenuating circumstances which lead to him having to make a decision he did not want to, I believe that had Madison, or Douglass himself, been in the same place they would have chosen silence and taken the punishment so that Madison’s character could avoid being caught and reach freedom. Douglass would have seen the benefits of one slave’s freedom as greatly outweighing the costs of the confrontation with the slave catchers. Each escaped slave paved the path for more. Indeed once Douglass was ‘free’, he worked on the underground railroad and petitioned for civil rights, helping other slaves do what he did. On the other hand, the mutiny on the Creole is an exemplar of the success the slaves could have when they worked, unfailingly, toward a single goal. By faithfully following Madison, without question, the slaves on the Creole were able to successful overtake the ship and execute their plan for gaining freedom. It is important to note here, however, the significance behind Douglass writing that a group of black soldiers was sent to guard the ‘property’ on the ship. The fact that he felt the need to make these men black, displayed a continuing mistrust he had of many white folks. While abolitionists were fighting for the rights of black men, many of them were still racists and thought less of blacks; a man like Listwell was an anomaly. Well after the end of slavery and the Civil War, the civil rights of blacks were not as well protected in practice as those of whites. Even men like Garrison, whom Douglass held great respect for, limited Douglass’ influence, and many couldn’t believe that a former slave could be so well-spoken. In the Heroic Slave, Douglass develops the character of Madison and the events that happen around and involving him in order to portray a strong picture of the need for blacks to help one another in the fight against slavery, as well as to dispel the notion that a black man could not be great.