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Ignorance as a tool of slavery and education as a path to freedom in fredrick douglass a narrative of the life of fredrick douglass an american slave
Frederick Douglass Narrative and the importance of education
Frederick Douglass knowledge and freedom
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Fredrick Douglass was an American slave in the 1800’s, who the led to the path that knowledge is power and as an individual, a person can achieve anything they want if they put their mind to it. As a result, Douglass proved that knowledge at that time would eventually equal freedom, not only did he use that to his advantage but also started up Sunday school to teach his fellow slaves to spread the word that knowledge equals freedom. The major historical theme that was shown in this book and implemented throughout was freedom. It showed that anyone can obtain the freedom they want when they think for themselves and reach out to further their education. This belief was one of the key reasons the founding fathers of the United States based their …show more content…
Douglass knew that ignorance or lack of knowledge was the real slave and knowledge was the path to freedom, to a new life. Douglass believed that all people are created equal, but we weren’t just born free, we have to make ourselves into who we are and what we want to be. The worst thing about slavery is it prevents people from improving themselves through education. Douglass worked by making himself free not physically but also mentally free by expanding his horizons through various different forms of education. By furthering his education and improving himself to be the best person he could be, Douglass was free in a way, free to the fact that he wasn’t going to be the person the slaveholders wanted him to be, he was determined and willing to find his own freedom by any means. This autobiography proves that knowledge or education is the ultimate path to freedom, either mentally or physically. A person can push themselves to the limit of starvation, loneliness, and physical pain by winning their mental freedom, knowing that with a little bit of determination and education it can truly transform a person’s life and Douglass not only shows this throughout his autobiography but lived through it and proved
The significant of education in “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” is the most important theme in the entire passage. Frederick Douglass understands that the only way to freedom, for him and also other slaves, is through learning to read, write, and also have an education. Education helps Frederick to understand things that slowly will destroy his mind, and heart at the same time. Understanding the full extent of the horrors of slavery can be devastating to a person who has just set mind on morals, and values. In the passage Frederick says, “It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out” (Douglass 61). Using this quote as your guide, the reader can examine the meaning and importance of education with slavery time, and modern day.
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
There are a number of key arguments in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. A few of which include inequality, education, and Christianity as the keys to freedom in terms of its true values within the institution of slavery. While Frederick Douglass made some key arguments, he also made common ground to make his appeal for the abolition of slavery.
Once Douglass learns to read, and gets his first book, “The Columbian Orator” he is immediately exposed to arguments against the suffering he is experiencing. Among the speeches in “The Columbian Orator” there is a dialogue between a slave and his master in which the slave convinces the master to grant him freedom. Douglass is like Adam and Eve after then ate the apple. He is enlightened, and he can never go back. Not only is he isolated from his brothers because of his intelligence, but he is also guilty of a serious crime. It is no wonder that Douglass views his knowledge as a curse, it has so far caused him nothing but pain, and isolation. Ignorance is bliss.
Their education had given them a new perspective of everything around them—a glimpse to a whole new world. Upon learning to read, Douglass began to realize how an education could ruin slaves. With education, comes enlightenment, and for him his enlightenment was the realization to the injustices going on around him. With him finally being able to read, he understood more fully the implications of slavery sometimes served to make him more miserable as he came to comprehend the hopelessness of the situation for himself and the other slaves. He states in his narrative, “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me” (268) because he realized that his knowledge came at a cost—he knew that there was nothing normal and right about slavery, yet he had to live as one—whatever knowledge he had attained, festered in his mind and made him even unhappier with the conditions and treatment than
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts to escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery. Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054).
Douglass' enslaved life was not an accurate representation of the common and assumed life of a slave. He, actually, often wished that he was not so different and had the same painful, but simpler ignorance that the other slaves had. It was his difference, his striving to learn and be free, that made his life so complicated and made him struggle so indefinitely. Douglass expresses this in writing, "I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beastIt was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me" (Douglass, 53).
In the beginning of Douglass’s narrative he starts by saying, “ I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (21; ch. 1). Frederick Douglass struggles throughout his life not knowing any years or dates or information about his birth. He compares the slaves and himself to horses with no knowledge. This changes Douglass to realize that education means freedom. If he is no longer as ignorant and uneducated as an animal, he can find a way to be a free man. Once Douglass slowly becomes more and more educated, he plans way to escape slavery. Douglass received his first form of education from Mrs. Auld, when he lived there for seven years. Frederick Douglass describes his lack of education as, “she at first locked the depravity indispensable to shutting me up in mental darkness” (61; ch. 7). Yet again Douglass, express how he is kept ignorant and uneducated in “mental darkness”. Douglass uses this metaphor to express how he knows nothing. This dehumanizing creates a desire in Douglass to educate himself in whatever way possible, so one day he can become a free
In the passage of the Narrative of Fredrick Douglass, the author masterfully conveys two complimentary tones of liberation and fear. The tones transition by the use of diction and detail. The passage is written entirely in first person, since we are witnessing the struggles of Fredrick Douglass through his eyes. Through his diction, we are able to feel the triumph that comes with freedom along with the hardships. Similarly, detail brings a picturesque view of his adversities. Since the point of view is first person, the reader is able to be a part of the Douglass’ struggles with his new freedom. With diction, detail, and point of view, the reader is able to get a rare glimpse into the past of Fredrick Douglass.Fredrick Douglass’ diction is powerful as he describes his life as a slave and with his new freedom. Fredrick Douglass calls being enslaved an act of “wretchedness,” yet he was able to remain “firm” and eventually left the “chains” of slavery. Fredrick Douglass expresses that being enslaved is a wretched act and that no man should ever deserve such treatment. Despite being a slave, he kept strong and eventually broke the chain of society. However, Fredrick Douglass experienced great “insecurity” and “loneliness” with his new freedom, and was upon a new “hunting-ground.” His new freedom brought other devastating factors, being a new state without any friends, which caused his loneliness. In this new state, he grew insecure for he was in a new danger zone where at any time his freedom could be rejected. With new freedom come new obstacles, which are described in the diction of Fredrick Douglass.
The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.
Frederick Douglass’ source, “The Desire for Freedom” was written in 1845. He was born into slavery in 1818 and became an important figure in the fight for abolition. Douglass was also involved in other reform movements such as the women’s rights movement. He “experienced slavery in all its variety, from work as a house servant and as a skilled craftsman in Baltimore shipyard to labor as a plantation field hand” (Pg.207¬). “The Desire for Freedom” was meant to document how his life was within slavery and how his education could someday help him escape it. Douglass meant to speak to American slaves and those who did not really understand slavery in order to help persuade everyone that life was meant to be lived freely. In order to obtain this future, Douglass wrote about his own personal experience and how he believed that enslavers were “in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery” (Pg. 208). This source brings on the idea that slaves were willing to fight back, wanted to be educated, and, most importantly, wanted the chance to live life freely.
Throughout the reading, of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, there are several themes that comes up from. One important theme is the power that man will have by literacy. Frederick, in his narrative, had the belief that education is the pathway to freedom. He believed that becoming a literate is the most powerful way to prove we are human, not sub human as the white society described black people. Literacy helped him to change his position in the master/slave relationship and moved him to become a free man.
The confines of ignorance and both physical and mental abuse kept slaves from self discovery and rebellion. Frederick Douglass provides the journey of life as a brute to a free man. Frederick Douglass’s new identity included having a wife, a job of his own, a house, and the goal to reach out and help the people that were still stuck in slavery. From the rock bottom life of a slave he built himself up and became a successful
Douglass was not aware of what slaves were and why they were treated in a bad condition before he learns how to read. He was deeply saddened upon discovering the fact that slaves were not given the rights every human being should have. In an effort to clarify Douglass’s feelings of anguish, he states: “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 146). The fact that other slaves are content with their lives is what brings awareness to him because he knows that he is stripped of basic human rights. He envies his fellow slaves due to the reason that they are pleased with the life he cannot live to like anymore. Also, he is often wishing he never learned how to read because he doesn’t want to burden about his life. Douglass knows more about the disturbing conditions than most of the slaves around him, but he greatly regrets it. Before he started reading, he lived very much in contentment and now he cannot stand the fact of being
“When children teach children, the result is marked improvement in student learning which increases the productivity of the school, In peer tutoring, students are ‘prosumers’ - they are both producers and consumers of education”, based on Peer Tutoring Facts. Majority of the students in a classroom struggle with the comprehension and sometimes their educator can’t solve that problem. Some students that struggle don’t know how to reach out for help, they just fall behind and have no one to help them. If there was a television show that was based on a camera that looked over every student’s desk, the show would be hilarious and very interesting. There are three types of students: 1. The student who pays attention, great note taker, passes the