Up From Slavery: Key Facts

Full Title Up From Slavery

Author Booker T. Washington

Type of work Autobiography/Non-fiction

Genre Bildungsroman

Language English

Time and place written 1901, Tuskegee, Alabama

Date of first publication 1901

Publisher Hamilton W. Mabie of The Outlook Magazine

Narrator Booker T. Washington

Point of view First-person

Tone Objective, retrospective

Tense Past

Setting (time) 1856-1900

Setting (place) United States: Virginia, Alabama, Washington, D.C.

Protagonist Booker T. Washington

Major conflict The search for meaningful work and the social advancement of African-Americans

Rising action Washington’s attainment of education

Climax The success of the Tuskegee Institute

Falling action Washington’s tour of Europe

Themes Dignity through labor; Selflessness, Desire to be useful to one’s community; Impracticality of political agitation

Motifs Attraction of superficial pleasures and items; Mutual goodwill amongst the best of the races; Learning from and through failure

Symbols Homespun cap; The toothbrush; Henry O. Tanner

Foreshadowing Penniless Washington sleeping under a raised sidewalk in Virginia in Chapter III; Washington’s work as a teacher and leader in Malden, Virginia in Chapter IV; Washington’s invitation to speak on behalf of the city of Charleston in Chapter VI

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