Douglass begins this chapter by telling us about Colonel Lloyd’s garden, and how many slaves often stole fruits from it. In order to stop the stealing, Lloyd coated the fence with tar, and any slaves that were found with tar on their body would be whipped for stealing. Colonel Lloyd also had a stable, which was run by slaves names Old Barney and Young Barney, and whenever Lloyd found anything wrong with his equipment, he blamed it on the Barneys. Lloyd was also extremely wealthy, and was rumored to own one thousand slaves, most of which he did not even recognize. Slaves who spoke badly about their masters, and were caught, were often sold to slave traders. Douglass explains that this is the common treatment of slaves who decide to tell the…
Lloyd owns many slaves, who call his central plantation the “Great House Farm.” Life on Lloyd’s plantations is horrible. Slaves are hungry and exhausted. They have little food, clothing, and no beds. Those who break the rules and even those who don’t are beaten, and sometimes even killed by the plantation overseers.…
Douglass begins by telling us he was born into slavery in Maryland, his mother’s name was Harriet Bailey, and he was separated from her at birth. He reveals he is not sure how old he is and that his father was a white man rumored to be his first master. He was later sent to Baltimore where his new master’s wife began to teach him to read. His Master Hugh found out and put a stop to it insisting Douglass would become unmanageable and unhappy. When Douglass heard this he realized that the lock on the bonds of slavery was ignorance, and education was his key to freedom. Eventually he succeeded in teaching himself to read and write with help from his white friends. After educating himself he developed a better understanding of slavery and began to regard his enslavers as wicked. When he is sent to be broken by Mr. Covey he is whipped on a regular basis and almost loses hope, but he ends up fighting back regaining confidence in himself. Douglas marks this as a turning point and vows never to be whipped again. Later, Douglass learns the trade of caulking, has a disagreement with his master over wages, attempts another escape and succeeds in reaching New York…
Colonel Edward Lloyd - Captain Anthony’s boss and Douglass’s first owner. Colonel Lloyd is an extremely rich man who owns all of the slaves and lands where Douglass grows up. Lloyd insists on extreme subservience from his slaves and often punishes them unjustly.…
In Peter Ripley’s essay “The Autobiographical Writings of Frederick Douglass,” he states that, “The Narrative signaled Douglass’ emergence as a committed abolitionist and suggests his developing intellectual skills during those early years of freedom” (135). Ripley describes throughout his essay how Douglass started as a slave, fought for his freedom, became an average lecturer, and in the end became, “Ambitious and intellectually curious… reading reform literature, participating in discussions and absorbing the lectures of his associates” (136). Ripley describes Douglass’ early lectures as unintellectual because of how long he had been a slave, using “plantation dialect” (136). Early on, Douglass got the image that he wasn’t an actual slave. So, he started to write about his slave experiences, giving names and dates to all the things that had happened to him to give himself authentication and to knock out some of the rumors about him and his past. One of Douglass’ biggest critics was a man by the name of A.C.C. Thompson, who wrote that he had known “the recent slave by the name of Frederick Bailey” (138) trying to disprove all of Douglass’ firsthand accounts. Douglass responds to the statements by describing his time as a slave and explaining that without those experiences there was no way that he would’ve been able to write The Narrative in the Life. Ripley then goes on to explain how writing The Narrative was a major sign of Douglass’ growth and maturity. This essay explains how Douglass transformed from slave to abolitionist then on to sharing his life experiences by lecturing and educating others.…
Douglass' life growing up on a plantation was never an easy one, often having to eat small rations of food and sleep in cold, harsh…
In order to create a different mindset, Douglass refutes the romantic image of slavery in his narrative. He establishes this idea by presenting the realities of Southern living and the appearance it reflects through slavery. As expressed in Chapter Two, slaves on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation were granted the chance to run errands which allowed them the occasion to sing as a method to express their feelings. This myth includes the belief that Southern slaves were happy and they stimulate their content behavior through singing. Douglass proves this position false as he describes the mood and intention of their chants by saying “Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy” (30). This misinterpretation drowns the reality of their sorrow hearts and…
Douglass is a young, naive slave who was blessed to have a master, Mrs. Auld,…
Frederick Douglass was a creative writer who lived in Augustus Washington Bailey and was separated from his mother when he was a few weeks old and was raised by his mother's grandparents.”when he was about eight he was sent to Baltimore to live as a houseboy with Hugh and Sophia”.…
Douglass begins his narrative as far back as he can remember, explaining that shortly after birth he was separated from his mother Harriet Bailey and was never truly sure of who his father was, although everyone suspected it to be his master, Captain Anthony. Douglass describes the horrible conditions by which slaves were forced to live, including intense labor and exhaustion, meager to no portions of food each day, a few shabby articles of clothing, and the absence of a bed. He goes on to talk about the frequent whippings slaves received, whether they were guilty of breaking rules or their masters simply wanted to express and establish their dominance. Douglass tells of how he was sold to several different masters, one of whose wives (by the name of Sophia Auld) decided to teach him the fundamentals of reading -- an act that became the beginning of Douglass’s realization that he could change his circumstances for the better. He talks about his continuation to work his way through the learning process by gaining help from local boys who could read, and as he learns to read and write, he becomes aware of the actual evil nature of…
In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Douglass uses metaphors to describe the cruel treatment of slaves at Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. An example of this would be the categorization of slaves at Colonel Lloyd’s plantation after the former masters of the estate had passed away. At this time, Douglass was sent to live with his master’s brother but was brought back to be valued with the other property for the new heirs of the estate. At this…
The most explicit theme of the reading that stood out to me was racism in the form of slavery in the southern United States. Throughout the narrative, Douglass included excellent examples of how slaves are dehumanized, mentally and physically, by the slave system. In many ways, slavery and segregation were the main obstacles in his personality growth. One of the most powerful lines in the narrative was in chapter ten, when Douglass directly addresses the relationship between slavery and the denial of manhood when he says, ''You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.’’ Because slavery was bound up in denying full selfhood to both men and women, many slaves were denied the ability to perceive themselves as full human beings. Not only by the people but also by the science. The introduction of psychological thinking into the Jim Crow South produced neither a clear victory for racial equality nor a single-minded defense of traditional…
Another great example of Douglass’s appeal to the emotions of the audience is found on page three where he talks about his separation form his mother. On page three he says “ I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life”(3).…
One of the subjects often approached by the author are the slave songs. While Douglass narrates the story, Douglass explains that until he became free, he didn’t understand the meaning of slave songs until later, he was able to recognize and interpret them as laments. While Douglass analyses the various songs, he demonstrated a sense of reminiscence for when he used to sing them. Most of the songs were often adapted to represent the experience of labor in the many plantations; these songs were divided into three different groups: the working songs, the recreational ones and the spiritual…
These words talks about Mr. Wilson, which are said by Tom Buchanan to Nick, due to they are going to New York with Tom’s mistress, Mrs. Wilson. Tom and Mrs. Wilson are cheating Mr. Wilson for staying together in several days. First, these words develop the character Tom, he is arrogant and ruthless. Second, it is irony the same circumstance will be play in Tom’s life again. At that time, he will become the person that he describes to Mr. Wilson, which is dumb and does not know he is alive.…