Before the Harlem Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Before the Harlem Renaissance - Essay Example In another one of Harry Bloom’s books he reports on another famous black writer, Fredrick Douglass (â€Å"Major Black American Writers through the Harlem Renaissance† 34-35). Fredrick Douglass, like Phillis Wheatley, was born a slave. Unlike Phillis Wheatley, Fredrick Douglass’ owners treated him brutally. His owner shipped him from home to home working for cruel men. One of the mistresses he worked for taught him to read and write until she was ordered to stop by her husband. Fredrick wrote about what he knew about, slavery. His autobiography and speeches were published after his escape to England. His only fiction work was also about slavery. His need to document the plight of slaves and fight for the abolishment of slavery was apparent in all of his writings. Alexandre Dumas the writer of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers was from France (Goetz). Even though Alexandre had been born a freeman, his grandmother was a slave. Alexandre grew up in the world of his white father. Thus his writing reflected 19th century France. The revolution in France had redefined justice. You see in The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask the new democratic views sweeping France at Alexandre Dumas’ time. Even the black writers not mentioned in this essay wrote about their plight at the time. Before the Harlem Renaissance black writers faced hardship, whether they were slaves or not. Even the best master could not help a writer they did not see as an equal. Each writer before the Harlem Renaissance faced a bias audience.