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Issues of power in literature
Frederick douglas, the narrative of the life of fredrick douglas analysis
Issues of power in literature
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“But alas! This is kind heart but had but a short time remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influences of slavery, soon became red with rage, that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord, and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.” (Douglas 19) This is how Frederick Douglas describes the change in his former mistress, Sophia Auld, as slavery corrupted her whole way of life. From this excerpt we can see that people can change profoundly for the negative. The question is what could possess one to change so radically when given power over another human being. Prior to the mistress’ change, Frederick Douglas, author of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas (1995) describes her as “a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings.” (19) This brings us to one of Douglas’ motifs of how slavery can carry a fatal poison that if one possess’ can change their outsight to life. This poison affects some people more then others. For example, if one compares all of Douglas’ slave owners, it is easy to see that those born into a slave holding …show more content…
At first she does not seem to recognize the worth of this power yet over time and especially after her husband being furious over her teaching educational lessons, she came to know how much responsibility she possessed. When Auld realized the power she had, like Douglas describes, she started to abuse it. The sweet requests she used to make were soon followed by harsh orders and demands. The slave possessing lifestyle started out as a small poison and soon spread through her entire body from the way she acted to those demon eyes she
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,
Douglass then goes on to describe how slavery and his mistress husband’s beliefs alter her demeanor, for example, he writes about her “tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness.” He
Throughout the novel Douglass shows the damaging effects of slavery on the slaveholders. The excessive and corrupt power that the slaveowners impress on their slaves not only physically abuses the slaves, but morally abuses the slaveholders. Douglass shows this to depict that slavery is unorthodox for all involved. In America’s democratic society that we see today, no one branch of government should have unlimited power. There are checks and balances to keep this from happening. Power corrupts, the saying “absolute power corrupts absolutely” perfectly depicts what Douglass is trying to express. This absolute power is what corrupts the slaveowners. Slaveowners view their slaves as property and have absolutely zero respect for them. The slaveowners
The Life of Fredrick Douglass shows how slavery could of not only affected the slaves but the owners as well. Thomas Auld was overall a cowardly owner and quite tough compared to other slaveholders. Douglass believed that since Auld obtained slave owning from marriage, it made him more of an unpleasant master because he wasn’t used to being around slavery and having so much power. Fredrick Douglass also was convinced that religious slaveholders were false Christians because they became more self-righteous and thought that God gave them the power to hold slaves. By telling stories to the reader, Douglass hoped to bring awareness to the harsh subject of slavery and show how the slaves kept hope during these miserable times.
However, through rhetorical devices, Douglass demonstrates how slavery also had a degrading influence on slaveholders and thus shows its corrupting nature. Specifically, he contrasts the shift in Sophia Auld’s character through antithesis and metaphor after being exposed to slavery. Before Mrs. Auld’s corruption, Douglass described his master by claiming, “Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music” (32). Through metaphor, Douglass makes her sound like an angel with “heavenly smiles.” Angels are commonly associated with pureness and therefore by making this metaphor Douglass associates Mrs. Auld as originally being pure. However, he then juxtaposes this idea when he claims she has received the “fatal poison of irresponsible power”(32) also known to him as being a slave master. He explains her new characteristics by stating, “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made of all sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon”(32-33). Through metaphor and antithesis, Douglass shows how she shifts from being an angel to a demon. The metaphor associates Mrs. Auld with satan and the antithesis makes her list of changing features appear extensive. Through these rhetorical devices, Douglass is able to emphasize the abruptness of her change in character due to her experience around slavery. By explaining this personal experience in his narrative, Douglass shows to his audience the unexpected negatives of slavery and how it not only dehumanizes slaves, but masters as well. This most likely would have given Northern abolitionists stronger reasons to push for Douglass’s goal of
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography written by Frederick Douglass himself. No one knows the hardships and difficult times that Frederick Douglass went through as a slave, better than himself. That is why Frederick Douglass is considered to be, in my opinion, is the most reliable author when it comes to telling the story of his life as a slave.
Syntax and diction play a huge role in the beginning of Douglas piece. He speaks clearly about his first teacher, “the mistress”, and how she was so passionate to educate him. At first, Douglass acknowledges her as a kind and generous woman, as he reveals "there was no sorrow or suffering for which
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.
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.
Both slaves and women within the United States felt the vast inconsistencies that plagued t...
“12 Years a Slave,” an autobiography by Solomon Northrup written in 1853 after he spent twelve years in slavery down in the deep south. Solomon was born a free man to his father Mintus Northrup. Mintus was the property of a man named Henry B. Northrup, whom later became emancipated through Northrup’s dying will. Solomon lived thirty years free, until, the early part of 1841. Solomon went seeking extra money playing his fiddle, this was the turning point of his life for the next twelve years. His description about slavery, slaveholders, and the events throughout his captivity is nothing short of horrific and gives an alternate view through the eyes of a man that was once free.
Most African Americans of the early to mid-nineteenth century experienced slavery on plantations similar to the experiences described by Frederick Douglass; the majority of slaves lived on units owned by planters who had twenty or more slaves. The planters and the white masters of these agrarian communities sought to ensure their personal safety and the profitability of their enterprises by using all the tactics-physical and psychological-at their command to make slaves obedient. Even Christianity was manipulated in a way that masters communicated to their slaves that God had commanded them to obey their masters. People like Frederick Douglass who preached abolition of slavery, only had to nurture the already existing spirit within slaves to strive for freedom.
Afterwards, her attitude changed towards Frederick and other slaves. She started to become cruel to the slaves, and Frederick surveys this demoralizing metamorphosis. “Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instructions which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master” (Douglass 873). Frederick recognized how fast a person can change their views on slavery, but this is point at which he discovers that knowledge the key to freedom.
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.
Imagine being ripped apart from your mother as a child. Imagine watching family and friends receiving the stinging blow of a whip. Imagine religious men telling you that this is the will of god as they work you as close to death as they can. While difficult to imagine, this occurred to some of those who were enslaved in the early United States of America. One of the most heart wrenching of these accounts comes from a man born as a slave, Frederick Douglass. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an example of how some early Americans dehumanized slaves and how Fredrick Douglass’ viewed this atrocity. Despite this, Douglass found mental and physical means to fight this treatment.