As she makes the point that many slave narratives written by men emphasized individuality, as opposed to community, Winifred Morgan refers to this fight, writing, “In the Narrative Douglass appears single-handedly to have beaten Covey to a standstill. (Douglass’s second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, reveals that Caroline, a strong slave woman, could have tipped the balance in his opponent’s favor; however, she chose to stay out of the fight and was later punished for not helping Covey.)” (80). With this observation, Morgan suggests that Douglass benefitted more from the support of those in his community than he indicated, even if this support wasn’t direct and active.
Morgan discusses the secret testimony that results in the discovery of their escape plan as an example of the experiences that undermine Douglass’s feeling of community with others, writing, “Douglass’s first attempt to flee North with two other slaves by using the passes he has written almost ends in disaster because someone, presumably another slave, has warned the owners. The Narrative thus gives the impression that neither slaves nor whites can be trusted” (80). While this is true, Morgan’s more general conclusion that Douglass “and the other slaves in the Narrative live isolated and mistrustful lives” seems to be at odds with the description of camaraderie between him and the men he tries to escape with. Douglass writes “The fact was, we cared but little where we went, so we went together. Our greatest concern was about separation. We dreaded that more than any thing this side of death.”
Winifred Morgan writes “Jacobs’s most important relationship, of course, is with her children, and this keeps her in place when she might otherwise have fled or even committed suicide” (87). In keeping with her point that Douglass’s narrative emphasizes self-reliance and the power associated with literacy, as opposed to community, it’s relevant to consider the fact that when Douglass mentions the prospect of suicide, the thing that saves him is not necessarily the thought of other people, but “the hope of being free.” He feeds this hope by reading, trying to use the dictionary to understand what the word “abolition” means.