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Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass book analysis
Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass book analysis
The effects of slavery on people
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Slavery has always been known as physical abuse where the whites would constantly beat the blacks. However, there is a psychological aspect of slavery as well. The whites create a fear within the slaves by constantly punishing them and making them seem like they’re unimportant so they don’t start a rebellion. The slaves are restricted from receiving any more information than what the whites tell them because with knowledge, the slaves could almost seem humane. The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” explores and explains the idea of how mental conditions are the reason behind the whites having control over the blacks and maintaining a powerful position in the social hierarchy. The preconceived idea that whites will always be higher is etched into the slave’s brains from the beginning to the end of their life. …show more content…
Slavery causes a shift in the way a person thinks. Instead of finding slavery monstrous, whites condone slavery and accept it as a lifestyle. Even the best of people can’t overcome the powers of slavery. When Mr. and Mrs. Auld become the slave owners of Frederick Douglass, Mrs. Auld “kindly [commences] to teach [him] the A, B, C [and assists him] in learning how to spell words of three or four letters” (48). As his skills develop, her husband finds out what she’s doing. She didn’t know that slaves weren’t supposed to be learning proper sentences or know the alphabet. Due to her teaching him, Douglass is eager to know more. A fire is lit inside him and nothing could stop him, especially after Mr. Auld convinces his wife to stop feeding Douglass new information. Douglass knows that it would be tough for him to learn how to read without having a mentor, but he has a heart made up of hope even after seeing the cruelty of slavery. Although he is full of determination, he has yet to experience the changes slavery could make in a person. Soon, he saw “[her] tender heart [became] stone, and
“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” This quote is by Booker T. Washington. In the book “Up from Slavery” Mr. Washington was a poor African American man who wanted an education. He was able to peruse an education, through hard work and perseverance. Then he wanted to help others also receive an education, by building a school.
Frederick Douglass’s narrative shows how slaveholders perpetuate slavery by keeping their slaves ignorant. At the time Douglass was writing, many people believed that slavery was a natural state of being. They thought that black people were inherently unable to participate in civil society and thus should be kept as workers for white people. The Narrative explains the strategies and procedures used by whites to gain and keep power over blacks from their birth onward. Slave owners keep slaves ignorant of basic facts about themselves, such as their birth date or their parents. This imposed ignorance, which robs children of their natural sense of individuality. As these grew older, slave owners prevent them from learning how to read and write,
In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the author, Frederick Douglass, uses similes, insults, figurative language, and repetition to portray the dehumanization of slaves and slaveholders. To most slaveholders, African Americans were seen as beasts or wild animals, and they were treated as such. Kind slaveholders were a rarity in this time. Owning another person gave white people a sense of power and dominance. Douglass’ narrative accurately depicts the tragic brutality African Americans faced and the devastating effects of slavery.
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.
The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, An American slave takes a look at how it really feels like to be a slave. There is only so much you can learn about slavery in the textbooks. Oftentimes we know what slavery is, but never really understand how brutal it was for the slaves. Within the autobiography, chapter one lets you learn about who Frederick Douglass is and you learn about his childhood. You learn about his family, and the life he lived as a slave. Douglass shares his experiences to help us learn how exactly slaves were treated. Douglass emphasizes his writing in a unique style to capture the audience, while also reeling in their emotions to embrace the experience of being a slave, and uses an effective tone to illustrate
“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more, if only they had known they were slaves.” Harriet Tubman was a woman known for her important role during the time that led up to the Civil War. She was a woman of incredible strength, courage, and determination. And while Harriet Tubman is credited for giving the slaves an option as to what way they shall spend the rest of their life, the sad truth lies within the quote above. While many people like to believe that slavery was a horrendous act that happened only with small minded people from the south many years ago, that isn’t the case in all honesty. In fact, the idea of slavery was highly debated about and troubled more minds than many are led to believe. While there are
Back in the 1800s, many had the idea that slavery was a natural, necessary practice. Some even referred back to the Bible to justify the actions of abusive slaveholders. In Frederick Douglass’ narrative of his life as a slave, he shares his side of the story, and explains that the positive ideology of slavery is a facade. Douglass debunks the mythology of slavery by rebuking its romantic image through vivid imagery and specific diction, by refuting the belief of black intellectual inferiority through self-education, and by revealing the promotion of disloyalty among slaves through stories of betrayal.
Saiba Haque Word Count: 1347 HUMANITIES 8 RECONSTRUCTION UNIT ESSAY Slavery was a problem that had been solved by the end of the Civil War. Slavery abused black people and forced them to work. The Northerners didn’t like this and constantly criticized Southerners, causing a fight. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Lincoln to free all the slaves in the border states. “
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.
Douglass argues in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, in some circumstances, possessing the privilege of an ability or ownership can actually have a negative impact on the individual. It might not be perceived as favorable or desired as it had seemed in the past and as a result, some individuals wish to return to the past in which they had not changed so drastically. Slavery not only brutalizes the slaves but also to those in charge, as Douglass insisted, “Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (Douglass 32). Primarily, owning slaves signified acquiring authority and control.
When Douglass moves to Baltimore, he becomes the property of Hugh Auld. There he is cared for by Hugh’s wife, Sophia. The reader’s first impressions of Sophia are favorable; she is a warm, gentle woman who wishes to teach Douglass to read and write. Douglass himself is surprised at how kind she is at first, and he mentions that Sophia Auld has never owned slaves before, and therefore has not been affected by the evils of slavery. Douglass notes that she does not wish to punish him just to keep him subservient like his former masters did, and she does not beat him or even mind at all when Douglass looks her in the eyes. Sophia also teaches Douglass the alphabet and several words. However, her husband Hugh, who has already undergone the transformation that slavery causes, immediately orders her to stop when he hears of this. Here, we see the contrast of two distinctly different people with regards to the institution of slavery. Sophia Auld is pure, innocent, untouched by the evils of slavery. Hugh Auld, on the other hand, has experience with the system of slavery and knows that in order to keep slaves obedient, they must also be kept ignorant and fearful.
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
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.
The word “slavery” brings back horrific memories of human beings. Bought and sold as property, and dehumanized with the risk and implementation of violence, at times nearly inhumane. The majority of people in the United States assumes and assures that slavery was eliminated during the nineteenth century with the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth; rather, slavery and the global slave trade continue to thrive till this day. In fact, it is likely that more individuals are becoming victims of human trafficking across borders against their will compared to the vast number of slaves that we know in earlier times. Slavery is no longer about legal ownership asserted, but instead legal ownership avoided, the thought provoking idea that with old slavery, slaves were maintained, compared to modern day slavery in which slaves are nearly disposable, under the same institutionalized systems in which violence and economic control over the disadvantaged is the common way of life. Modern day slavery is insidious to the public but still detrimental if not more than old American slavery.