Trickery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

1878 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Narrative of the life of Douglass

Humans are natural tricksters, beguiling others for benefits and survival; however, deceiving others is a skill possessed by few African-Americans and thus they do not survive. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Douglass harnesses the ability to conform to the world of trickery and conveys his journey to freedom. Through his appeal to pathos, use of dramatic asides, and application of anecdotes, Douglass expresses the necessity of slaves to play the game of trickery to survive in the world of tricksters.

Effectively establishing an appeal to pathos, Douglass emphasize his raw emotions to the reader, allowing the reader to feel more connected to why Douglass complies with the rules of trickery. Douglass conveys a feeling of accomplishment, in Lee’s words, “when a white mistress cracks an opening in the white discourse… [and] seizes the opportunity to enter the power structure” (“The Politics”). Mrs. Auld, the “white mistress,” teaches Douglass the basic skills to read, and, as Douglass begins to read, he “got hold of a book entitled ‘The Columbian Orator’” (23), which, according to Piano, “reveals psychological insights into the slave/master relationship” (“Critical Essay”). The “Columbian Orator” consists of abolitionist documents, allowing Douglass to gain insight on the power the white men have over the black men and compelling the audience to sympathize with the black men. These new feelings also allow Douglass to be at a compos mentis with the white oppressors, achieving acuity for surviving the world of tricksters, and gaining the ability to learn how to beat the white oppressors at their own game, permitting Douglass an edge on how to escape captivity as a slave. In Piano’s views, “[the ...

... middle of paper ...

...995.
Lee, Lisa Yun. “The Politics of Language in Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of an American Slave.” Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, 2004. Literature Resource Center. 24 April, 2014. .
MacKethan, Lucinda H. “From Fugitive Slave to Man of Letters: The Conversation of Frederick Douglass.” Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, 2004. Literature Resource Center. 24 April, 2014. .
Piano, Doreen. “Critical Essay on “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself”.” Nonfiction Classics for Students, Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works, 2001. Literature Resource Center. 24 April, 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Devices

    91 Words  | 1 Pages

    Frederick Douglass wrote in his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, about the devastation associated with slavery and the destruction from which comes desperation. Douglass intends to summon upon the guilt and empathy of his white audience by giving an account from which the reader is able to coax up a new perspective on the dreadful oppression. Seen especially in the third paragraph where Douglass provides a series of rhetorical devices including: apostrophe, anaphora, personification, exemplum, and epithet in his sorrowful bellowing to passing ships.

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Syntax Analysis

    310 Words  | 1 Pages

    Frederick Douglass, an African American social reformer who escaped from slavery, in his autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself,” denotes the perilous life of a slave in the South. Through syntax, Douglass is able to persuade his readers to support the abolitionist movement as his writing transitions from shifting sentence lengths to parallel structure and finally to varying uses of punctuation. Douglass begins his memoir with a combination of long and short sentences that serve to effectively depict life his life as a slave. This depiction is significant because it illustrates the treatment of slaves in the south allows his audience to despise the horrors of slavery. In addition, this

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass' Words Caught the Attention of Many - Including Slave Owners

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literature is written in many ways and styles. During his time, Frederick Douglass’s works and speeches attracted many people’s attention. With the amount of works and speeches Douglass has given, it has influenced many others writers to express themselves more freely. Though Douglass lived a rigorous childhood, he still made it the best that he could, with the guidance and teaching of one of his slave owner’s wife he was able to read and write, thus allowing him to share his life stories and experiences. Douglass’s work today still remain of great impact and influence, allowing us to understand the reality of slavery, and thus inspiring many others to come out and share for others to understand.

    Read More

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. An American Slave Written by Himself. (New Haven, Ct: Yale University Press, 2001)

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass and Martin Delaney

    6401 Words  | 13 Pages

    Foner, Philip S., ed. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass: Pre-Civil War Decade 1850-1860. Vol. 2. New York: International Publishers, 1950.

    Read More

  • Key Arguments in "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself (ed. John Blassingame) Yale University Press, 2001.

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Ethos Essay

    616 Words  | 2 Pages

    In, “The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, readers get a first person perspective on slavery in the South before the Civil War. The author, Frederick Douglass, taught himself how to read and write, and was able to share his story to show the evils of slavery, not only in regard to the slaves, but with regard to masters, as well. Throughout Douglass’ autobiography, he shares his disgust with how slavery would corrupt people and change their whole entire persona. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos to help establish his credibility, and enlighten his readers about what changes needed to be made.

    Read More

  • Slaves Narratives: Frederick Douglass, Olaudah Equiano

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...fred D. “Frederick Douglass.” Encyclopedia of African-American Literature. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 144-146. Print.

    Read More

  • Fredrick Douglass

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997).

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass is written to have people place their feet in the shoes of Frederick Douglass and try to understand the experience he went through as a slave. Douglass writes this piece of literature with strong wording to get his point across. He is not trying to point out the unpleasant parts of history, but to make people face the truth. He wants readers to realize that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that some slaves, like himself, have intellectual ability. These points are commonly presented through the words of Douglass because of his diction.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Ethos Pathos Logos

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a former slave, bereft of any free will, written words were all but unavailable to Frederick Douglass. Slaves were unable to tell their stories, to expose the dehumanization that their enslavement caused on both sides of the racial rift; so it was necessary for Douglass to fight tooth and nail to obtain the right to learn, and ultimately to narrate his own life story. Amongst the narration, multiple rhetorical strategies are integrated into the text in order to uncover the dehumanizing effect their mistreatment had on slaves during this time. His primary purpose is to educate those who are ignorant of the horrible conditions that slaves lived in and the cruelty that they suffer. He does this through the use of rhetorical devices such as anecdotes, irony and by further connecting to his audience with pathos and ethos. By using his own personal experiences as the subject of his argument, Douglass is able to make a strong and compelling case against slavery; at a time when it was socially unacceptable to do so.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    America in the mid to early nineteenth century saw the torture of many African Americans in slavery. Plantation owners did not care whether they were young or old, girl or boy, to them all slaves were there to work. One slave in particular, Frederick Douglass, documented his journey through slavery in his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Through the use of various rhetorical devices and strategies, Douglass conveys the dehumanizing and corrupting effect of slavery, in order to show the overall need for American abolition. His use of devices such as parallelism, asyndeton, simile, antithesis, juxtaposition and use of irony, not only establish ethos but also show the negative effects of slavery on slaves, masters and

    Read More

  • The Institution Of Slavery’s Corruption Of The White Slaveholder

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, one of the major themes is how the institution of slavery has an effect on the moral health of the slaveholder. The power slaveholders have over their slaves is great, as well as corrupting. Douglass uses this theme to point out that the institution of slavery is bad for everyone involved, not just the slaves. Throughout the narrative, Douglass uses several of his former slaveholders as examples. Sophia Auld, once such a kind and caring woman, is transformed into a cruel and oppressive slave owner over the course of the narrative. Thomas Auld, also. Douglass ties this theme back to the main concern of authorial control. Although this is a personal account, it is also a tool of propaganda, and is used as such. Douglass’s intent is to convince readers that the system of slavery is horrible and damaging to all included, and thus should be abolished completely. Douglass makes it very clear in his examples how exactly the transformation occurs and how kind and moral people can become those who beat their slaves and pervert Christianity in an attempt to justify it.

    Read More

  • Slavery’s Dehumanizing Effects on American Slaves and Slaveholders

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The Formation of Identity

    2136 Words  | 5 Pages

    The reader is first introduced to the idea of Douglass’s formation of identity outside the constraints of slavery before he or she even begins reading the narrative. By viewing the title page and reading the words “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, written by himself” the reader sees the advancement Douglass made from a dependent slave to an independent author (Stone 134). As a slave, he was forbidden a voice with which he might speak out against slavery. Furthermore, the traditional roles of slavery would have had him uneducated—unable to read and incapable of writing. However, by examining the full meaning of the title page, the reader is introduced to Douglass’s refusal to adhere to the slave role of uneducated and voiceless. Thus, even before reading the work, the reader knows that Douglass will show “how a slave was made a man” through “speaking out—the symbolic act of self-definition” (Stone 135).

    Read More

More about Trickery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Open Document