A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

1276 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Frederick douglass narrative of life slave essay

Possibility of a Better Life Imagine waking up before the sun rises feeling sore and unrested. You pull yourself together and start your daily duties with just seconds to spare before your master realizes you are late. As you begin your chores you cringe when you hear the crack of a whip followed by a sharp, painful scream from a fellow slave. You quickly distract yourself from wondering if there was a reason for the abuse or if it was "just because". The daily monotonous routine is taking its toll on your body as you stumble and accidentally break your master's tool. Overcome with fear you hide your mistake and continue your job. Hours later, still regretting your error you feel a hard blow to the back of your legs. Turning around you see your master yelling and swearing. You cover your face in shame and fear as you are beat until unable to move and covered in blood. Forced to finish your day's work every move you make is accompanied by agonizing pain. Finally, the day is drawing to a close and you stagger to your "bed". Closing your eyes you can feel your stomach turning in hunger and you pray that God will either give you the strength to continue or allow you to die. You finally doze off in a restless sleep only to wake up and to do it all over again. As awful and unrealistic as that sounds it was a reality for many slaves. Despite being harshly treated many slaves still had a positive and hopeful outlook on life. Slaves were treated like animals and in some cases worse than animals. Slaves were bought and sold at auctions and considered "property". They were examined along with the horses and pigs "holding the same rank in the scale of being" (Douglass 2002, 373). Many were not even given the luxury of a bed. A coarse bla... ... middle of paper ... ...ed being whipped has made you weary. The thought of freedom has seemed like a distant dream. By persevering and slowly saving anything you can you wake up and realize that freedom has become a reality. You actually made it! All the hard work has paid off. By keeping your head held high and focusing of the possibilities of a better future you made your life to be something few other slaves get to experience. There is potential for a much better happier future for yourself, your children, and your grandchildren. You get to tell your story. Douglass, Fredrick 2002 "Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave," in: Henry Louis Gates Jr. ed., The Classic Slave Narratives New York, NY: Penguin Books, 323-436. Prince, Mary 2002 "The History of Mary Prince" in: Henry Louis Gates Jr. ed., The Classic Slave Narratives New York, NY: Penguin Books, 250-322.

Show More
Related

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, depicts a vivid reality of the hardships endured by the African American culture in the period of slavery. One of the many things shown in Frederick's narrative is how slaves, in their own personal way, resisted their masters authority. Another is how slaves were able to create their own autonomous culture within the brutal system in which they were bound. There are many examples in the narrative where Frederick tries to show the resistance of the slaves. The resistors did not go unpunished though, they were punished to the severity of death. Fredrick tells of these instances with a startling sense of casualness, which seems rather odd when comprehending the content of them. He does this though, not out of desensitization, but to show that these were very commonplace things that happened all over the South at the time.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Mary Prince And Olaudah Equiano

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of brutal and completely unjust treatment of African-Americans. Africans were pulled from their families and forced to work for cruel masters under horrendous conditions, oceans away from their homes. While it cannot be denied that slavery everywhere was horrible, the conditions varied greatly and some slaves lived a much more tolerable life than others. Examples of these life styles are vividly depicted in the personal narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince. The diversity of slave treatment and conditions was dependent on many different factors that affected a slave’s future. Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano both faced similar challenges, but their conditions and life styles

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

    1560 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The law on the side of freedom is of great advantage only when there is power to make that law respected”. This quote comes from Fredrick Douglas’ book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, written in 1845. Fredrick Douglas who was born into slavery in 1818 had no understanding of freedom. However, his words shed light on the state of our country from the time he made this statement, but can be traced back fifty-eight years earlier to when the Constitution was drafted and debated over by fifty-five delegates in an attempt to create a document to found the laws of a new country upon. However, to eradicate the antiquated and barbaric system of slaver would be a bold step to set the nation apart, but it would take a strong argument and a courageous move by someone or a group to abolish what had enslaved thousands of innocent people within the borders of America for centuries. There was an opportunity for the law to be written within the Constitution, which would support this freedom Fredrick Douglas alluded to. However, the power, which controlled this law, would as Douglas stated, “make that law respected”.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Frederick Douglass: A Got Away Slave

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amid a period of war prompting recreation of the United States of America there were few that had such energy to take a stand in opposition to subjection to set forward laws of fairness. A got away slave, Frederick Douglass, conflicted with current times with the likelihood of being caught and executed turned into an abolitionist. Ladies in the public eye were seen as valuable items, you shouldn 't publically beat ladies. Douglass ' account demonstrates numerous slave ladies being beaten by other men and ladies. The majority of the rough scenes in included ladies. He relates ladies with anguish. Frederick makes a unique purpose of depicting the traumatic sight of female slaves being beaten and mishandled. The assault of female slaves by their lords was another regular event. He begins off the story in part one with the beating of his close relative Hester.

    Read More

  • What did freedom mean to harriet jacobs

    1325 Words  | 3 Pages

    To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...

    Read More

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. An American Slave Written by Himself. (New Haven, Ct: Yale University Press, 2001)

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    *Frederick Douglass, "Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass," in The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1987)

    Read More

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.

    Read More

  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The Formation of Identity

    2136 Words  | 5 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.

    Read More

  • City and Rural Slaves

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were three different types of social or slave classes. The first class consisted of the city slaves, who were primarily used as domestic labor. They worked around the houses or mansions of their wealthy masters; they were called the aristocrat slaves. The first class slaves could read and write, for they quickly noticed the language in the home setting (Dailylife). The second class was the town slaves. They were not just domestic slaves of the common citizen, but also skilled labor. They worked as mechanics, laborers, washwomen, etc. They, likewise, were somewhat educated. They were considered every freedman’s right hand man. In addition, they were sometimes hired and paid for their work. The payment was little, but a step toward abolishment. The final and largest slave class consisted of the field or rural slaves. They had little to no education and were primarily used as unskilled manual laborers. They were far below the two upper classes (Commager 467-469). The conditions they lived in were horrible, and their treatment was brutal (Boston; Conditions).

    Read More

  • Key Arguments in "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself (ed. John Blassingame) Yale University Press, 2001.

    Read More

  • Essay on Literacy in African-American Literature

    2285 Words  | 5 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: New American Library, 1987. 243-331.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, an African American male describes his day as a slave and what he has become from the experience. Douglass writes this story to make readers understand that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that he still has intellectual ability even though he is a slave. In the story, these messages are shown frequently through the diction of Frederick Douglass.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass: The Psychological Approaches Used to Maintain the Institution of Slavery

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave” Douglass discusses the deplorable conditions in which he and his fellow slaves suffered from. While on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, slaves were given a “monthly allowance of eight pounds of pork and one bushel of corn” (Douglass 224). Their annual clothing rations weren’t any better; considering the type of field work they did, what little clothing they were given quickly deteriorated. The lack of food and clothing matched the terrible living conditions. After working on the field all day, with very little rest the night before, they must sleep on the hard uncomfortably cramped floor with only a single blanket as protection from the cold. Coupled with the overseer’s irresponsible and abusive use of power, it is astonishing how three to four hundred slaves did not rebel. Slave-owners recognized that in able to restrict and control slaves more than physical violence was needed. Therefore in able to mold slaves into the submissive and subservient property they desired, slave-owners manipulated them by twisting religion, instilling fear, breaking familial ties, making them dependent, providing them with an incorrect view of freedom, as well as refusing them education.

    Read More

  • Close but not Deep: The Use of Richness in Love’s Literary Ethics and the Descriptive Turn

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick, and David W. Blight. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: With Related Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print.

    Read More

More about A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Open Document