In The Slave Mother and Room, respective authors Frances Harper and Emma Donoghue use the raw human emotions of hope, fear, and maternal love to convey how people cope with traumatic events. These qualities deepen enduring human conditions that continue to resonate with diverse audiences. Both authors draw attention to the way society often views individuals held captive as less than human. Their lyrics, however, are at pains to suggest otherwise. Through emotional language, visual imagery, and linguistic choices, Harper and Donoghue educate their readers about the human condition. They convey this message by discussing the stigma against people who face similar challenges as the main characters. The two texts use various religious symbols to represent hope, as it is one of the few aspects of both plots that remain free from corruption by the antagonists. The authors focus on this emotion, since without it humanity will never progress. However, the two texts differ when discussing the human response to fear. In The Slave Mother, the character retreats from his fight for fear of making the situation worse. Meanwhile, in Room, Ma uses fear to motivate himself to work harder. The instinctive character of motherhood in the two texts clarifies how a mother will protect her children before herself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Harper and Donoghue explore how their protagonists use hope to motivate them to embrace the possibility of freedom. Both texts chronicle the main characters' moving struggle to escape captivity and how they manage to maintain their sanity in the process. Frequently including symbols of Christianity, both texts draw attention to how people often turn to God when feeling hopeless. They suggest that their characters do this as if it were a mother's last line of defense. An example of this reference to religion is in line 32 of The Slave Mother, which states "Oh Father!" Should they separate?' By humanizing the mother with the use of rhetorical questions, Harper educates the audience to question their own beliefs about slavery and the human condition. Furthermore, although contemporary views of society do not tolerate slavery, the Bible condones it. Writing through a religious lens, Harper persuasively challenges the reader's beliefs about slavery. It encourages them to question the ethics behind it all and how the long-term effects impact victims emotionally. Audience positioning is achieved through the use of emotional appeal, to create a sense of compassion and justice, which in turn humanizes the characters. In contrast, Donoghue subtly uses religion by characterizing Jack and Ma as praying for the hope of a better day, instead of questioning their past. But he raises his son with Christian values, as allusions to Bible stories, such as Peter and Paul, John the Baptist, and Samson entertain Jack while he is in the "Room". Jack embodies Samson, as in the falling action of the novel he cuts his hair following Ma's drug overdose. He is inspired to become "her protector", and wishes to give her "his strength... like Samson in the story" . But he uses these Bible stories to teach his son valuable life lessons, hoping that with his limited supplies he can give him as normal a life as possible. Furthermore, the image of the sun, seen through the skylight in "Room", serves as a religious symbol, while at the same time resembling asymbol of hope. He first describes the sun as "the yellow face of God", becoming a recurring synonym throughout the rest of the novel. This stylistic feature allows the first-person narrative voice to have more childlike qualities. Using religious motifs throughout the plot, Donoghue convincingly reminds the audience that Jack and Ma are normal people despite their severe experiences, including myriad references to the outside world. Through the motif of Christianity, both authors point to the intrinsic nature of using hope to improve oneself when stuck in a toxic environment. The two authors also use the concept of human nature to explore the emotion of fear. The main characters show the repercussions of facing life-threatening situations, with the fight-or-flight response where the two differ. Harper and Donoghue differently describe the psychological and physical effects to be feared, through the traumatic events experienced by their main characters. In the second verse of The Slave Mother, the character has a "fragile form", with Harper using adjectives such as "weak", "sadly", and "terror". It implies how the slave mother gives up all her strengths as quickly as she acquires them. Harper describes both mental and physical responses to fear, with insightful emotional language describing the mother's complexion as "pale with fear" with a "look of pain" on her face. These literary techniques explore the psychological pain the protagonist experiences before seeing her son for the last time. Furthermore, Harper uses the metaphor “as if a storm of agony/ were passing through the brain” to illustrate a confronting image of the anxiety of a slave's experiences, which creates sympathy and thus humanizes the slave mother. The use of cacophonous language extends on this idea, exemplifying the character's terror as the slave owner tears her son from her arms. For example, “This binds his broken heart,” uses the repetition of the letter “b” to create a stentorian sound in the reader's ear. The harsh sound stimulates emotions of fear and vulnerability, as Harper skillfully educates the audience to experience similar feelings related to their own understanding of the human condition. Donoghue takes a different approach for Room, as he characterizes Ma as using her fear to push her forward. After holding Jack and Ma captive for seven years, it is only when Old Nick loses his job that the protagonists begin to organize their plan for freedom. The author uses Ma's fight-or-flight response to devise the absurd plan that ultimately works to free the characters from "Room." By writing the novel in the first person from Jack's point of view, Donoghue cleverly protects readers from some of the everyday horrors that occur in the novel. Furthermore, by incorporating various euphemisms and grammatical errors, the author encapsulates Jack's innocence throughout the novel as he is five years old. An example of his naivety is when he counts the number of "bed creaks" each night, which is old Nick raping mom. Additionally, Jack uses proper, singular names for objects in “Room,” allowing Donoghue to continue the tone of innocence and childlike nature throughout the novel. The author often compares the horrors that occur in the "Room" with Jack's innocence, to educate the audience that even in the twenty-first century, inhumane situations like these still occur around the world. Furthermore, it justifies Ma's actions for wanting to escape without thinking about the dangers it could bring to Jack if Old Nick caught them. These qualities are what humanizes Ma, as readers may associate him with making decisions on impulse, especially when hefind themselves in a situation where they are in danger. Donoghue disturbingly characterizes her as heroic, as Jack believes that "nothing scares Mama." Through these subtle messages, the author exposes how sexual violence is a taboo topic to discuss. Additionally, Jack's unawareness serves as a symbol of how people are unwilling to change the toxic culture surrounding such issues. Both authors use vivid and emotional imagery to ensure that the audience feels empathy for the protagonists, thus humanizing those who find themselves in similar scenarios. Furthermore, Donoghue and Harper explicitly point out that, even when struck by fear, a mother will protect her relatives from danger, both physically and psychologically. Maternal love and sacrifice are all experiences experienced by mothers to better their children, it is a crucial theme within the two texts, as both authors confirm how far each mother is willing to go to protect their relatives. Harper and Donoghue skillfully characterize their protagonists through nature symbols to inspire them to fight for their child's future. Furthermore, these symbols also represent the innocence of a child's love and the fact that nothing can be done to break the resistant maternal bond between two people. Flora and fauna are one of the few things that remain beautiful even in the most difficult situations, just as the love between the characters in the two texts can withstand any horror they experience. In The Slave Mother, lines 27 and 28 read “A fountain that springs ever new / Amid the wild wilderness of life.” Water symbolizes the mother's love for her child and the immense joy it provides. The barren landscape of the poem juxtaposes this image, as it shows how empty her life will be, once the slave owners take her son away from her. Harper uses vivid visual imagery to allow the audience to understand the reason behind the protagonists' actions. Furthermore, the forceful diction of the first stanza with words such as “wildly” and “scream” illustrates the animalistic struggle of the enslaved mother. Harper characterizes her tenacity in saving her son, even if it means putting herself at risk. By humanizing the protagonist, the author allows the audience to emotionally engage with the character, causing them to feel compassion when she attempts to free her only son. Their support for her allows them to feel empathy for her and allows them to connect the situation to their own experiences. Similarly, Donoghue uses the image of the dead leaves above the skylight as a symbol of Ma to motivate her to escape, after seven years in the eleven-by-eleven-foot box. When she attempts to explain the world outside the "Room" to her son, he doesn't believe her, instead saying, "Liar liar, pants on fire, there's no outside." It's only when he sees the leaves for himself that he begins to question everything he's ever known. Donoghue uses this as a turning point in the novel, as it is the first time the couple finds the courage to fight for their future. While the skylight is physically crucial to the plot, it also serves as an ingenious metaphor for a mother's love itself. Donoghue positions the audience in an inspiring way to show that no matter how horrible a situation is, family bonds will always be there to comfort them, just like the way the sun is always reassuring in the sky. Both authors incorporate several nature symbols into their lyrics to portray the two protagonists with enduring motherly love. Their maternal instinct is the driving force that stimulates their need for change, ensuring that children can live a better life than their mothers. Please note: this is just an example. Get a document now.