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After reading chapter X I can say that Frederick Douglas’s statement: "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” provided a new insight of the mental, physical and emotional torture and torment Douglass had faced as a slave and how it transformed him into the strong and determined man. One cold morning in January, Douglas had a task to guide a team of unbroken oxen. The oxen were difficult to tame, and Douglass barely escapes with his life. Upon learn that Douglass has failed his task, Covey orders him to take off his clothes and receive punishment (Gates, Smith 363).When Douglass does not answer, Covey hurries at him, tears his clothing off, and whips him over and over again. Covey continues to whip
Douglass almost weekly, usually as punishment for Douglass’s supposed “awkwardness.” (Gates, Smith 363). While Douglas was a slave for a year, he recalls that he spent his hardest times as a slave throughout his first six months rented to Covey. Mr. Covey had damaged the spirit of Douglass, until the scuffle they Douglass had with Mr. Covey. Douglass was a broken man, "Mr. Covey succeed 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" (Gates, Smith 364-365). Douglass states: “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom and revived within me a sense of manhood” It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free (Gates, Smith 369).With all these being said the loss of pride, dignity, and education a man was made a slave, while on the hand that slave was made man by regain self-confidence, hope and faith that God will deliver him Douglass, Fredrick. “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass.” Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr and Valerie A. Smith. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. 326-393. Print.
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...
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.
This is what Douglass understood. He knew there was power and strength in numbers but firstly, they had to attack their masters from a mentally and then physically, if necessary. The greatest form of resistance is knowledge. With it you would know manipulation, deception and how to advance yourself in society. In this instance Covey was the knowledgeable one which meant he was the "law" that Douglass managed to challenge because of Jenkins: "This battle with Mr. Covey was a turning point in my career as a slave" (42). The word "career" indicated that slavery was not a choice of lifestyle but an obligation for every enslaved man." He can only understand the deep satisfaction which I experienced, who has himself repelled by force the bloody arm of slavery. I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom" (42) This is an ironic reference to the resurrection of Christ. He also went further to say he was freed mentally and was determined to be free in
The narrative of Douglass quotes "Mr. Covey gave me a very severe whipping, cutting my back causing blood to run, and raising ridges on my flesh as large as my little finger". This quote also shows how horrible the men were abused and beaten too. Although, they had more of a chance to fight back against their masters, which is proven in this quote "This gave me assurance, and I held him uneasy, causing the blood to run where I touched him with the ends of my fingers". The quote explains how Douglass finally fought back against his master, after being beaten several times by him. The mental abuse is shown in the quote from Douglass's narrative that states" Mr.Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit.". This shows that the masters would mentally break the men, so they would behave and listen to them better. Most masters would drain all the spirit out of the men to make the threat of the slaves fighting back very rare. Those were the horrible struggles the men had to deal with in
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.
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.
Douglass does not understand what slavery really is while he's a young boy until the day he saw his aunt get whipped by his master. Douglass really starts to suffer and see what slavery is when he starts to work for Covey. When Douglass says to die rather than let himself be whipped again, he gains the strength that he will need for his
Throughout the chapter I went on a rollercoaster ride of emotions from excitement for Frederick Douglas, to sadness, and then followed by further excitement. At first I was excited because I believed that Frederick was truly getting a better life. For example, Frederick had exclaimed that his mistress had not liked traditional gestures of a slave showing that he/she was inferior. Furthermore, I had finally felt that things would become good for Frederick when he said that his mistress had started to teach him how to read and write the letters of the alphabet. However, my heart had shattered as everything seemed to change in a matter of a few lines of a few text. For instance, his master had told his mistress that a slave is forbidden from
Frederick Douglass life changed was when he fought covey because when he go transferred to Mr.Covey he got a very severe whip in his back and Mr.covey didn't really care to whatever he was going to do to him so one day they were feeding horses and doing work in the farm.So Mr.Covey got him from the legs trying to tie him but Frederick douglass had an idea of what he was going to do so Douglass started to struggle and then they started to fight and Covey was really weak and called hughes to help him but you know that Frederick Douglass is stronger than them so he kicked them.Then he got a really good kick so minutes after they stopped fighting Douglass saw Covey and didn't do anything so he Federick Douglass was surprised that he didn't get a whipping of his life so instead Covey gave this other 16 year old a whipping.So Douglass made a conclusion that says “such as it is, I will give it.
...in by Mr. Covey. He realized that any white man who wanted to succeed in whipping him would have to kill him. He may have been a slave physically, but in his heart he was free. He told me, If I would be happy, I must lay out no plans for the future. [Ch. 11, p. 96.] Again, a reoccurring point in the narrative about the happiness of the slave. Master Thomas claims that if Frederick wants to remain “happy”, he should forget about freedom and just realize he will always be a slave. Unfortunately for his master, it was too late for Frederick to go back. He had learned too much. He had seen the horrors of slavery and knew there was much more for him. I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust. [Ch. 11, p. 99.] What else could Frederick feel after being a slave his entire life? No white man ever gave him a reason to have trust. There had been nothing but cruel, lying white men surrounding Frederick. As for his won race, he was still suspect. After being told on for trying to escape, he became wary of his fellow slaves. He may have been in a free land, but he had learned the ways of man and knew what he had to do to survive.
Covey's use of slaves like Caroline show the obscene nature of slavery and showcase dehumanization. Mr. Covey's use for Caroline is to impregnate her and make more slaves for himself. “After buying her, he hired a married man of Mr. Samuel Harrison, to live with him one year; and him he used to fasten up with her every night” (Douglass 103). This testimony is giving us a window into the true horror of Caroline's life. This kind of life strips Caroline completely of her dignity and shows us truly how badly slaves could be dehumanized. Other ways that Mr. Covey dehumanized his slaves are showcased through Douglass himself. “My awkwardness was almost always his excuse for whipping me” (Douglass 100). What is told to us here is that the reason that Douglass received weekly whippings from covey was purely due to a personality trait. This truly shows that to Mr. Covey his slaves are nothing but useless items that he can freely
The first step was mental, and it first manifested itself when he thought to himself, “there is a better day coming”. (Douglass 365) The first step becoming free is believing that there is hope, believing that there is a way out besides death. His next mental step towards ascending back towards manhood was his refusal to comply to Covey’s orders, “I made no effort to comply, having now made up my mind”. (Douglass 366) This refusal of Covey’s orders showed him that he no longer had broken Douglass and Douglass will no longer continue to be overcome by Mr. Covey’s violence and deception. In order to make a true transformation one’s mind has to be in the right state. By believing that there was more for him, Douglass freed his mind from the chains of slavery. The mental transformation of Douglass continued at Mr. Freeland’s plantation. Douglas decided that, “1835 should not pass without witnessing an attempt, on my part, to secure my liberty”. (Douglass 373) From that point on, Douglass prepared his mind for freedom, focusing on all ways he could attain
Michaels, where Thomas Auld, Hugh Auld brother inherited Fredrick ad took charge of him. Thomas Auld later hired Edward Covey because he was provoked by the youth lack of respect towards him. Covey was a local farmer and a well-known slave breaker in the 18th century. He was a very cruel man and gave unstinting labor and repeated whipping. Douglass one day, decided to fight back. In his narrative, Fredrick Douglass explains this argument with Covey as “the turning point in my career as a slave (Pg.69)”. He stated in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick” that he felt a revived within him a sense of his man hood for fighting Covey back. This became a celebrated scene in all of African American
In the Autobiography, “Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas: An American Slave,” Fredrick Douglas writes to show what the life of a slave is like, because from personal experience, he knows. Fredrick Douglas not only shows how his life has been as a slave but shows what it is like to be on the bottom and be mistreated. Douglas shows that freedom isn’t free, and he took the initiative to become a free man. Not many African-Americans had the opportunity to make themselves free and were forced to live a life of disparity and torture. Through his experience Douglas shows us the psychological effects of slavery. Through Douglas’s memory we are able to relive the moments that continued to haunt his life. Douglas’s book showed the true
So, Covey tries to whip him again, Douglass, defends himself from the slave breaker. After a two-hour fight, Covey gives up. Douglass vows never to be whipped again, and as a result, it never happens again. After this, Douglass is passed from master to master. While being handed around, he is constantly on the lookout for a way to escape to freedom. He finally succeeds, after one failed attempt at escaping, and makes his way to New York, then finally back to Massachusetts. But even after he 's free, he quickly realizes that his journey isn 't