In general, I find Douglass’ The Heroic Slave even more difficult to believe than Poe’s Pym. Although the situations in which Madison Washington finds himself are certainly more plausible than Pym’s ridiculous encounters with ghosts and mysterious-appearing Newfoundlands, I am certain that Poe wrote Pym expecting an air of ludicrousness to surround the novel. Douglass, on the other hand, seems to have a more direct purpose to his novella. The coincidences that Madison Washington finds himself lucky enough to come across, as well as the flawless characters of Mr. and Mrs. Listwell, leave me frowning and thinking, “Really, Fred, really?”
Nevertheless, the coincidences in no way detract from the purpose and theme of The Heroic Slave. On the contrary, with the lack of information the novella’s readers likely had on just how aiding and abetting fugitive slaves worked, the luck that Washington and Listwell encounter may even seem probably to its intended audience. With Douglass’ flowery descriptions of just how morally-conscious and courageous the Listwells are, as well as how easy it seems to get a slave to freedom without getting caught, the novella probably acted to some of its initial readers as a push in the right direction. Surely if he can do the right thing, we can too, right?
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The whole believability debate in class the other day had me all wound up. You speak of the fact that Douglass had a 'direct purpose to his novella, and I agree he did have an explicit purpose. What seems to be largely overlooked in class however, is the face that the purpose Douglass had in writing this story was to sell copies of an abolitionist anthology. This piece was designed not to be a persuasive tale for pro-slavery readers, rather it's function was to rev up the already existent group of abolitionists. What Joe Shmoe pro-slavery guy is going to buy an anthology of abolitionist stories? While parts of "The Heroic Slave" are unbelievable coincidences, they serve the purpose of making the reader feel more just in their cause. These readers don't want to be reading about the harsh realities of slavery, they want to immerse themselves in a world where the white man can be the savior of the blacks. Thus, you see Listwell playing the crucial role a number of times in helping Madison (taking him in, providing the files). Ultimately, I believe that Douglass had to include these coincidences in order to pursue his goal of leaving the white reader feeling empowered.
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