Two Versions of the Truth: Class and Perspective in Early Captivity Narratives

Abstract

This study deals with early American narratives about North African captivity. The focus is put on two widely differing narratives that were written about the same event (the capture of the USS Philadelphia in 1803), one by an officer, the other by a regular sailor. The aim of this study is to show how class, monetary considerations and literary ambitions influenced the seemingly factual retellings of those events.