As I began A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison, I realized I was still reading the text like it was Stein's. Old habits die hard; Stein's pseudo-fictional, symbolic meanderings are about as far from the concrete, chronological story of Jemison's life. However, as I continued to examine how different the two texts were, I suddenly realized that both texts are connected intrinsically through plot and emotion.
Stein's life was characterized by incessant globe trotting and deep pondering. She wrapped words around her experiences and placed them onto paper to portray her subtle emotions of wandering through disillusion to find peace. On the other hand, Jemison gave her concrete story of how she wandered literally in captivity in search of a way to settle down and make peace with her circumstances (70). She conjures up emotions in the reader not through artistic phrasing, but through raw experience. While Stein expresses mental anguish and has all the tranquility life can offer her (a maid, a partner, and a substantial amount of cash), Jemison finds emotional peace and control though she is jerked around from place to place. Furthermore, both are substantially discombobulated by the end of their lives. It is interesting how, regardless of circumstances, people must find a kind of anchor.
Finally, just an incredible coincidence: Jemison spent time around Alleghany (73)! I think that Stein and Jemison's role reversal and similarities almost prove reincarnation.
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The differences between Stein and Jemison warrant mentioning, but I think there is also a critical similarity--both are voluntary outcasts of the society of their birth. Stein, born an American, ultimately makes her entire life in Europe, primarily Paris. Jemison, raised in English settlements, becomes firmly entrenched in Seneca society. Admittedly, Jemison is more a victim of her circumstance, but even she rejects opportunities to return to the society of her birth. Both characters contribute something to the notion of the outsider, a foreign entity in a foreign land, whose state is directly a result of his or her own decision.
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