Comparison to Frederick Douglass: Selim Aga

Selim Aga is different from Fredrick Douglass because although they were both enslaved at one point Aga’s story was a bit different than Douglass’s. Aga did not grow up in the south he was enslaved straight from his native country and therefore did not grow up in slavery. Aga knew what it was like to be free and at first during his capture had a hard time excepting the fact that he belonged to someone else. Aga is also different than Douglass because after he was sold to the British consul Aga was treated very well and was taught by his master to read and write. This is something that Douglass did not get a chance to do until he was much older because during the time Douglass was a slave, slave owners did not want their slaves learning how to read and write. Another difference between the two is that after Douglass became free and wrote is autobiography he started advocating against slavery. In Aga’s biography he dedicates the book to the women who was a mother figure to him and to the place where he learned to ready and write. This shows that these two men had very different views on slavery. What makes the two similar is that they were both slaves, they were both males and they both wrote an autobiography about their time as slaves. What also makes them similar is that they were both ripped away from their families at one point during their times as slaves.