In the Narrative of Fredrick Douglass, Fredrick Douglass gives an integral account of what life was like for enslaved people during the 19th century and likewise makes it a paramount issue. He was born a slave, however, he had the mental capacity to see himself free. Douglass’s narrative explores a plethora of themes which proved vitally relevant to his freedom. The themes of self-determination, self-worth and enslavement resounds clearly throughout the narrative and is told with only the genius that Fredrick Douglass can tell it. Similarly, Douglass ultimately uses these themes as liberating factors in his life. Most importantly, Fredrick Douglass was able to bridge many gaps because of his inside perspective on the institution of slavery. …show more content…
This became all too obvious to Douglass when at a young age, Mrs. Auld attempted to teach him how to read and her husband objected. “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master-to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world.” (Douglass, Chap VI, pg. 531) It is not that learning would spoil a nigger, the fear is that the so called nigger would begin to realize his true worth and start to question his treatment which would lead to a rebellion against his so called master. “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had, in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else. It is due, however, to my mistress to say of her, that she did not adopt this course of treatment immediately. She at first lacked the depravity indispensable to shutting me up in mental darkness.” (Douglass, Chap VII, pg. …show more content…
He is no longer in what he describes as mental darkness. For him, the need to be free begins to resonate loudly. This is exactly what slave masters feared. An educated slave who questions his enslavement. Douglass was sent to a notorious slave breaker named Mr. Covey. During his stay with Mr. Covey, Douglass was subjected to inhuman treatment. It is because of this treatment, Douglass begins to question his faith and loses his sense of self-worth and determination. “Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!” (Douglass, Chap X, pg.
To begin, one of the most influential black African Americans is known as Frederick Douglass. Throughout his whole life he worked hard to fight for life and equality. The purpose for this research paper is to argue information about Frederick Douglass life and impact.
Through his disgusting state of once being a slave, Douglass uses figurative language to express his thoughts and emotions of being a slave, and becoming free. Douglass expresses himself in the first paragraph as “ a man transformed into a brute” as a result of Mr Covey “succeeded in breaking me[him].” Douglass defines himself as an animal through his explicitly harsh word choice, and seems to be degrades him from being a human being, who deserves desires and thoughts of his own. In contrast of this,
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
Slavery consisted of numerous inhumane horrors completed to make its victims feel desolated and helpless. Many inescapable of these horrors of slavery are conveyed in the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. The entire prospect of the duration of the story is to plan an escape from the excruciating conditions awaiting Douglass as a slave. When his escape is finally executed, unpredictable emotions and thoughts overwhelm him. Within the conclusion of his narrative (shown in the given passage), Frederick Douglass uses figurative language, diction, and syntax to portray such states of mind he felt after escaping slavery: relief, loneliness, and paranoia.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave details the progression of a slave to a man, and thus, the formation of his identity. The narrative functions as a persuasive essay, written in the hopes that it would successfully lead to “hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of [his] brethren in bonds” (Douglass 331). As an institution, slavery endeavored to reduce the men, women, and children “in bonds” to a state less than human. The slave identity, according to the institution of slavery, was not to be that of a rational, self forming, equal human being, but rather, a human animal whose purpose is to work and obey the whims of their “master.” For these reasons, Douglass articulates a distinction between the terms ‘man’ and ‘slaves’ under the institution of slavery. In his narrative, Douglass describes the situations and conditions that portray the differences between the two terms. Douglass also depicts the progression he makes from internalizing the slaveholder viewpoints about what his identity should be to creating an identity of his own making. Thus, Douglass’ narrative depicts not simply a search for freedom, but also a search for himself through the abandonment of the slave/animal identity forced upon him by the institution of slavery.
As both the narrator and author of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself” Frederick Douglass writes about his transition from a slave to a well educated and empowered colored young man. As a skilled and spirited man, he served as both an orator and writer for the abolitionist movement, which was a movement to the abolishment of slavery. At the time of his narrative’s publication, Douglass’s sole goal of his writings was to essentially prove to those in disbelief that an articulate and intelligent man, such as himself, could have,in fact, been enslaved at one point in time. While, Douglass’ narrative was and arguably still is very influential, there are some controversial aspects of of this piece, of which Deborah McDowell mentions in her criticism.
Douglass is a role model for me , because he tried to change the world in a better way. He was saying the truth even it was dangerous to share. He was fighting for equality which has been received couple centuries ago. His tone was a little bit mean but full of truth, which needed to be spread in racist people’s hearts. In his writings he uses a lot symbolism and rhetorical question which makes his writing more interesting.
In order for Douglass to reach his goal of becoming a free man he thought the only way out was education. He needed to learn how to read, write, and think for himself about what slavery was. Since literacy and education were so powerful to Frederick he persevered to get himself the education he wanted. …. Douglass knew it wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t stop him. Douglass realized the “ conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with a high hope, and
...edge. In his narrative, Douglass layers the many brutal, cruel, inhumane, and true components of slavery in his life, underlying each story with a political motive and relation. This method of writing was for his audience removed from slavery, those ignorant of slavery, uninformed, misunderstood, and those who were fortunate to have freedom. Douglass illustrates living conditions, experiences, tragedies, and struggles to great depths. Everywhere, African Americans escaped the binds of slavery due to Frederick Douglass' determination. He revolutionized America, being one of the greatest leaders of the abolition, being the reason for so many freed lives, and leading to the complete abolition and illegality of slavery in America.
In, “The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, readers get a first person perspective on slavery in the South before the Civil War. The author, Frederick Douglass, taught himself how to read and write, and was able to share his story to show the evils of slavery, not only in regard to the slaves, but with regard to masters, as well. Throughout Douglass’ autobiography, he shares his disgust with how slavery would corrupt people and change their whole entire persona. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos to help establish his credibility, and enlighten his readers about what changes needed to be made.
In sum, all of these key arguments exist in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” because of the institution of slavery and its resulting lack of freedom that was used to defend it. This text’s arguments could all be gathered together under the common element of inequality and how it affected the practical, social, and even spiritual lives of the slaves.
The setting of the story is set in Maryland in 1833 when we are introduced to Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass tells that while he was a slave he went to work for Mr. Covey. He explains through the story that Mr. Covey is very harsh and cruel through his personal experiences with Covey. Douglass claims that Covey has beaten many times to the point where he has ridges on his back the size of his little finger. Furthermore, because Covey spied on his slaves, one day Douglass falls on the ground because he was not feeling very well and Covey notices. Covey kicks Douglass and begins to beat him once more breaking douglass’s spirit and confidence making him
Auld, he was introduced to education which gives him a sense of humanity back. Mrs. Auld taught Douglass the alphabet and how to spell small words. However, Mr. Auld found out and disapprovingly said “ if you teach that n- - - - - how to read… it would forever unfit him to be a slave” which Douglass took note of to (250). Douglass realized the importance of his master being scared of him reading and spelling and noticed the value in having and education. Having an education and realizing the importance of that was a major building block in forming Frederick Douglass’s identity.
He liked to hide in the grass to catch the slave taking breaks when they are supposed to be working. Covey also forces the slave women he owns to have children with men who aren't their husbands. Since Covey is a poor man, he's trying to build up a stock of slaves by “breeding” them. On Sundays, Douglass sits under a tree instead of going to church. This is an example of the beast like attitude Covey wants him to have. By treating him like an animal, Covey is turning him into one. One Sunday, he looks out at the sails on the Chesapeake Bay and suddenly bursts out with a big speech. It's a strong passage because we suddenly hear Douglass's voice. One day, Douglass faints from working too hard in the heat. Covey tells him to get up, and after refusing, Covey pounds on him and then leaves him there. Douglass plans to go back to his old master and beg for his help. Douglass’s plan doesn’t turn out to work and he’s sent to walk the 7 miles back to Covey. Douglass knows he's going to be beaten when he gets back, so he hides in the woods until he meets another slave named Sandy who gives him a special root that will help protect Douglass when he
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass can be referred to as a memoir and writing about the abolitionist movement of the life of a former slave, Fredrick Douglass. It is a highly regarded as the most famous piece of writing done by a former slave. Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer, statesman, orator and writer in the United States. Douglass believed in the equality of every individual of different races, gender or immigrants.