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The narrative of the life frederick douglass analysis
The narrative of the life frederick douglass analysis
Stylistic devices used in the narrative of the life of frederick douglass
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Fredrick Douglass is a great American author. His book the Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass makes a compelling and complex argument for the abolition of slavery. One facet of his argument is disproving the idea that slavery is beneficial to the slave. In order to accomplish this Douglass uses a plethora of strategies to persuade his reader. The most poignant method is the vivid descriptions of the brutality of slavery, made all the more powerful by his judicious use of diction, imagery, and specific examples. The brutality of slavery seems unquestionable today, however in 1840’s it was a matter of debate. Douglass’s use of intense and unflinching imagery confronts his reader with slavery’s intrinsic viciousness. He achieves this …show more content…
After she was deemed too old to be useful, she was left alone in a desolate and remote cabin, as Douglass’s phrases it, “turning her out to die!”(Douglass 29). Following this exclamation, he describes her wrenched condition; she was alone, without the children and grandchildren she cared so deeply for, too old to care for herself and with no one there to care for her. He believes she must have died; he imagines her death, her suffering, her loneliness, and misery (Douglass 29). Douglass ends his depiction of his grandmother’s fate by remarking that if she lives, “she lives to suffer” (Douglass 29). This specific example, enriched by the potent imagery, makes the myth, that slave owners tended to their slaves when they were no longer useful, shatter in his readers …show more content…
Douglass mentions countless instances where slaves were murdered in cold blood, or beaten nearly to death with the white perpetrators never being punished. This indifference tinged with contempt for slaves’ lives is summed up with the phrase, it’s “Worth a half cent to kill a N—, and “half-cent to bury one” (Douglass 15). All of these pieces of evidence help to destroy in the reader’s mind the idea that slavery is a benevolent system for the slaves. The imagery catches the readers eye, makes them see it in their mind. It brings the horror of slavery out in gory detail as they read it. The pure visceral images of a woman being beaten among her crying children, a mother and son torn apart, of guiltless flesh being beaten for a sadistic mans pleasure, of an old woman left to die alone, all add to the power of the argument. The diction builds the imagery, packs it with meaning, makes it unforgettable and haunting. The specific examples pile on each other, as a wave of facts, a tidal wave of un-deniability; it crashes on the reader’s head with a tangible force, making them rethink things they believed to be true, to be self-evident, to be righteous. All of these literary devices and more work together in Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass to shatter the belief that slavery is beneficial for the slave, that it is in any way is kind, gentle, or
Douglass, Frederick. The Heroic Slave. In Violence In the Black Imagination. Ed, Ronald T. Takaki. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
One of the amazing things about the story is the level of description and imagery that Douglass uses to describe the suffering around him. The excerpt spans a mere three days, but most of the text focuses on his abuse and battle with Mr. Covey. Douglass skips over the common parts of his life to further his case against slavery. By doing this, the Northerners rea...
Frederick Douglass was brought from Africa as a baby to the U.S. to become a slave during the 17th century. In his narrative book “Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass,” he used rhetoric to provoke reader’s emotions, and inspiration of hope when everything isn’t good. Douglass used the rhetoric appeal pathos to show people how horrible he was treated as a slave, and how he kept up his motivation about becoming free from slavery. In addition, he also used pathos so effective that readers can see his experiences in front of themselves.
In The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, emotional violence takes an aggressive toll not only on Douglass, but also his master Mr. Covey, his family, and fellow slaves. During his time with Covey, Douglass was affected deeply by the strain of slavery, especially in spirit and ways of hope. Mr. Covey was infamous for his reputation as a ‘‘nigger-breaker” and induced fear into slaves, emotionally scarring them (Douglass 53).
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.
America in the mid to early nineteenth century saw the torture of many African Americans in slavery. Plantation owners did not care whether they were young or old, girl or boy, to them all slaves were there to work. One slave in particular, Frederick Douglass, documented his journey through slavery in his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Through the use of various rhetorical devices and strategies, Douglass conveys the dehumanizing and corrupting effect of slavery, in order to show the overall need for American abolition. His use of devices such as parallelism, asyndeton, simile, antithesis, juxtaposition and use of irony, not only establish ethos but also show the negative effects of slavery on slaves, masters and
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography written by Frederick Douglass and published in 1845. Frederick Douglass, a former slave and passionate abolitionist, provides descriptive stories of his life as a slave, all the way from his childhood to his escape. Chapter four specifically focuses on the unjustness of slavery, and Douglass’ central claim that there is no justice system in the slave world. In chapter four, Douglass describes the brutal murder of Demby and recounts multiple killings of slaves by overseers to support his central claim that slaves receive no justice, safety or security.
The overall tone of Chapter 6, in the book The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, is insentient. Insentient means incapable of feeling or inanimate. He simply is spiritless when he writes this chapter. At the end of chapter 6 Douglass wrote about how a slave named Mary was whipped so often she would bleed. “I have seen Mary contending with the pigs for the offal thrown into the street. So much was Mary kicked and cut to pieces, that she was oftener called “pecked” than by her name”(Douglass page 31). The way he wrote it was as if he didn’t flinch at the awful details of her being whipped. A less disturbing part of his life that he wrote about was when Mrs. Auld got in trouble for teaching him his A, B, C’s. Mr. Auld said it was unlawful and unsafe to teach a slave. Mr. Auld also used mean names to refer to Douglass. Even when Douglass heard them, then realized the white man's power to enslave black man after he didn’t seem very hurt. He took it to heart but didn’t act out. I think Douglass was very controlled which made him seem unattached
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.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.
Frederick Douglass’ landmark narrative describes the dehumanization of African-American slaves, while simultaneously humanizing them through his moving prose. Douglass shows the dehumanization of slaves through depictions of violence, deindividuation, and the broken justice system. However, Douglass’ pursuit of an education, moving rhetoric, and critique of his own masters demonstrates to the reader that African-Americans are just as intelligent as white people, thus proving their humanity.
In this final research analysis, I will be doing a comparison between the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and the “Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” to show how both Douglass and Rowlandson use a great deal of person strength and faith in God to endure their life and ultimately gain their freedom.
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.
At first glance, the book “my bondage and my freedom by Frederick Douglass appeared to be extremely dull and frustrating to read. After rereading the book for a second time and paying closer attention to the little details I have realized this is one of the most impressive autobiographies I have read recently. This book possesses one of the most touching stories that I have ever read, and what astonishes me the most about the whole subject is that it's a true story of Douglass' life. “ Douglass does a masterful job of using his own experience to expose the injustice of slavery to the world. As the protagonist he is able to keep the reader interested in himself, and tell the true story of his life. As a narrator he is able to link those experiences to the wider experiences of the nation and all society, exposing the corrupting nature of slavery to the entire nation.”[1] Although this book contributes a great amount of information on the subject of slavery and it is an extremely valuable book, its strengths are overpowered by its flaws. The book is loaded with unnecessary details, flowery metaphors and intense introductory information but this is what makes “My Bondage and My Freedom” unique.
When there is ever a conversation about oppression the subject of identity, and how it is lost, is seldom forgotten. From the minute and personal to the grand horrors of slavery an oppressor will always remove one’s sense of self as a way of preventing resistance, for in the sense of self lies dignity. It is this sense of losing one’s identity that is ever present in slave narratives. From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano written by himself to The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass also written by himself the goal of the work is indeed to dispel the notion that slavery should ever be acceptable, but so often the vehicle upon which this goal travels is the reclamation of self. In his autobiography Frederick Douglass reclaims this sense of self firstly by learning to read and giving himself intellectual agency, then in the physical confrontation with Mr. Covey he reclaims physical agency, and finally when he eventually escapes he reclaims agency as a human being. It is through this reclamation