Frederick Douglass Hyperbole

Frederick Douglass fights to build the opposition to slavery in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by presenting anecdotal proof to appeal to Christians living in the northern United States during the nineteenth century. In order to dispel the false popular belief that African Americans deserve to spend their lives in bondage and are better taken care of as a result of this imprisonment, Douglass relives blood curdling memories in his narrative. He presents the most powerful of his experiences, those which most prominently define the cruel nature of slavery in his mind, in the second chapter of his book in order to demonstrate that slaves are not treated well, nor are they content. In chapter two, Douglass’ description

of his overseers and the songs slaves sing support his central claim.
Douglass describes the behavior and effects thereof of two of his overseers in chapter two, the first of whom goes by the fitting name of Mr.

Severe. Douglass describes Mr. Severe as a profane and barbaric man who takes pleasure in whipping slave women, often in front of their own crying children. Even his words terrified the slaves on his plantation: “It was enough to chill the blood and stiffen the hair of an ordinary man to hear him talk” (9). Here, Douglass deploys hyperbole to demonstrate the fear Mr. Severe’s coarse language invoked among slaves. Though clearly speech cannot cause one’s hair to suddenly stand upright, this hyperbole conveys that Mr. Severe so abuses and relishes the power he has over the slaves on his plantation that one vulgar utterance on his part spurs terror among all those that work under him. In fact, Mr. Severe bears such a terrifying and oppressive presence in the life of Douglass and his fellow slaves that when he dies, the slaves regard his death “as the result of a merciful providence” (10). Referring to Mr. Severe’s death as a miraculous act of God, Douglass likens his overseer to a demon from which a merciful deity seeks to spare his children, an image which brands Mr. Severe as the epitome of inhumanity. In addition, this comparison further extends the ongoing metaphor in the narrative which

compares Douglass’ journey through slavery to passage through hell. After the death of Mr. Severe, Douglass experiences life under a new overseer, Mr. Hopkins. According to Douglass, “He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. He was seen by the slaves as a good overseer” (10). This description reveals that the ideal situation for the slaves consists of a man that physically abuses them without taking pleasure in such actions; it implies that the best treatment a slave can hope for still entails corporal punishment and inhumane treatment. By articulating barbaric treatment of slaves by even the kindest of masters, Douglass not only invalidates the argument that slaveholders treat their slaves with paternal care and concern, but evokes an emotional response that further persuades his audience to consider his position.
As chapter 2 draws to a close, Douglass describes the only expressive outlet slaves have: improvised song. Many members of his audience operate under the false impression that slaves who sing do so out of joy, but Douglass quickly rejects this presumption. He explains that even in impromptu melody, even in the universal language of music, the only emotions the slaves can convey are those sorrowful sentiments brought on by their sorry state. As Douglass states, “Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains” (12). By deploying metaphor, Douglass conveys that the slaves sing to beg for mercy and feebly rebel against their imprisonment, that even through a medium as joyous as song, the only thoughts slaves can express are those of helplessness and grief that constantly occupy their minds. Douglass continues to say that slaves sing in a cathartic manner, to relieve them of their anguish “as an aching heart is relieved by its tears” (12). By comparing the songs of slaves to the tears of those plagued by heartache, this simile allows Douglass to express to the audience that melodies created by slaves serve to purge them of their agony, lest they keep it within and drown in it. Through his description of slave song, Douglass establishes slaves as discontent, even during activity considered leisurely or joyful by freemen.
During the course of the second chapter of his autobiography, Frederick Douglass establishes his daily life as characterized by the fist of an overseer clasped around a whip and the melancholy, melodic cries of his imprisoned brethren. Painful anecdotes such as these do not fail to serve as pathos, and do not appear in the book by happenstance. Douglass makes a conscious choice to access the emotions of his audience because his cause needs sympathy because he knows that the evils of slavery have yet to be exploited to the majority of his northern, Christian audience. By describing the harsh conditions under which slaves live every day and their only method of coping with them, Douglass proves that slaves are neither content nor well taken care of, thereby strengthening his argument against slavery and ensuring greater support for his cause.