Defining Autobiography

Defining autobiography as a "reflective reshaping of events" is interesting because it almost contradicts the belief that an autobiography is a direct reflection of the truth. However, personally, I would argue that an autobiography can never be fully truthful because it is written by an unreliable author from a limited perspective (their own). Furthermore, autobiographies are generally written with an audience in mind, therefore creating a purpose for the text. When a person writes about their life with a purpose in mind, I believe it causes them to recreate their perspective of events in order to emphasize their purpose for the text, whatever that might be. Additionally, people rarely feel the exact same way about a situation while it is occurring as they do looking back on it after so many other experiences. I believe that this phenomenon is very apparent in the texts of Smith, Equiano, and Douglass. Therefore, in this essay, I plan to show how defining autobiography as a "reflective reshaping of events" is accurate when considering the texts of Smith, Equiano, and Douglass because of both the purpose the men had in mind when recreating their experiences and the amount of time that had passed between each author's actual experiences and the time in which they wrote their narratives.

In his narrative An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Travels of Col. James Smith, James Smith recounts his experiences living with the Native Americans after he was kidnapped as a young adult. During his years with the Native Americans, Smith was allowed to keep a journal, the contents of which composed this narrative. However, Smith's narrative was not written in journal format; rather, it was written in story form. This suggests that some editing was performed by Smith on the content of the narrative, and he himself offers that he had "revised [the journal] shortly after [his] return from captivity" (262-3). Furthermore, Smith did not publish his narrative until nearly forty years had passed since his captivity.

There are many things present in Smith's narrative that make it seem as though it had a purpose. This is perhaps most apparent in the final pages of his narrative where he discusses the "manners and customs of the Indians" (335-6), "their traditions and religious sentiments" (336-9), "their police, or civil government" (339-40), and, finally, "their discipline and method of war" (340-6). These final pages show that Smith's purpose in writing his autobiography was to further the advantages of the Europeans in their conquest over the Native Americans. This purpose, I believe, could have skewed his recount of his captivity, making it a "reflective reshaping of events."

In his narrative From the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Oluadah Equiano states that his narrative was published at the request of his friends. At the end of Equiano's life, he became involved in the abolition movement and, interestingly, wrote his narrative shortly afterward. In the beginning of the narrative, Equiano states that he believes there are "few events in [his] life, which [had] not happened to many" (225), meaning that he did not feel his suffering had been nearly as great as many of the other Africans that had been taken from their homeland as he was. Therefore, Equiano did not publish his memoir because he felt that he had a story to tell that was so much different that the story so many others like him could tell; rather, he was telling his story because his friends had convinced him that it would be a great asset in the abolitionist movement. And, again, Equiano's narrative was not written until many years after he had bought his freedom from slavery.

Frederick Douglass published his narrative in 1845, following a four-year long tour in which he lectured on the anti-slavery circuit (866). This fact alone presents a purpose for writing his memoir. Furthermore, Douglass uses many rhetorical devices in his narrative, considering his audience of white people in the north who could vote. First, he uses a considerable amount of Puritan rhetoric, commonly citing God alongside of his most terrible experiences. He uses many Christian archetypes that would have been familiar to Puritans -- one example is when he calls Mr. Covey "the snake" (901), a typical Christian image of something that resembles the devil. Later, he mentions "the Almighty" (903) when he is ruminating over the ships and thinking that he was not allowed as much freedom as an inanimate object. Both of these instances forced Christians to imagine the suffering they were inflicting on Africans -- a race they believed had no feelings or emotions.

Perhaps most telling is Douglass' appendix, where he devotes several pages to contemplating Christianity. Throughout his narrative, Douglass criticizes the institution of Christianity, saying that it is not Christ's Christianity. I believe that Douglass included this appendix as damage control as not to offend Christians with all of the criticism he had handed them throughout the rest of the book. Furthermore, he wanted his audience to know that he was human, and that he was just as capable as any white man to love God and be a Christian. All of these things point to the purpose of Douglass writing his autobiography.

In conclusion, I believe that the texts of Smith, Equiano, and Douglass exemplify the definition of autobiography as a "reflective reshaping of events." All three men had a political purpose they hoped that their narratives served, and all three men wrote their narratives long after their actual experiences. Both of these things signify stories that could have been adapted by purpose, by the unreliability of an author with only his own perspective on events, and by the passing of time and the reshaping that occurs with it. I don't think that an autobiography can ever be an accurate portrayal of actual events because there's always a purpose for one choosing to write a narrative, and because one must always consider his or her potential audience when choosing what elements of their story to omit and what to include.