Preview

Education in Fredrick Douglass

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1886 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Education in Fredrick Douglass
Nicole Blount
Voices of America
English Literature 229.1
February 28, 2011

The Irony of Education in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”
The power of education in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is one of the most important themes in the entire work, but it is not a theme with a consistent meaning. Although Frederick Douglass understands that the only path to freedom, both for himself and fellow slaves, is through learning to read, write, and have an educational base to build on, he is at the same time disgusted with education because it causes him to understand the full extent of the horrors of slavery. At one point, he states, “It [education] opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out” (Douglass 47).

In his autobiography, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass often states that the condition of slavery and education are incompatible for slaves. Throughout the text, he is constantly oscillating between an intense desire to become more educated and gaining literacy and wanting to give up hope entirely. At one point, he states, “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out” (Douglass 61). For Douglass, finally being able to read and understand 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 other slaves. To make matters more complex, acquiring his education was a constant battle since he had to remain secretive since it was “unlawful to teach a slave to read” (Douglass 20). With the sense that the world was against his pursuit to learn, Douglass seemed to suffer because of his education and literacy as it became more advanced. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick



Cited: Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Boston, 1845. Print

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Cited: Douglass, Frederick. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave. Boston: Anti-slavery office, 1845.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article “learning to read and write” by Frederick Douglass, he describes about the challenges that he had when he learned how to read and write. He is an American slave who lived in Master Hugh’s family for seven years. His master’s wife was very kind towards him. She treated him as a human and thought him with some alphabet. But her husband refused her to do so because he did not want Douglass to learn anything.…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, is a story about Frederick Douglass’s life as a slave and how he goes on his quest to achieve freedom. Douglass was born into slavery and goes from master to master, and he finally sees the power of education when he reaches Baltimore to work for some new people. Here Douglass begins to learn how to read and write and he uses this to his advantage in hopes of becoming free one day. He manages to teach himself how to read in secret and then helps the other slaves become more literate. Eventually Douglass does manage to escape but he doesn’t stop there, he becomes an activist himself in hopes of ending all slavery one day. Through this book, Douglass reveals that learning is essential in order to achieve freedom, friends can help you to achieve your goals, and that slavery can have a very negative effect on a slave’s mind.…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slaves encounter tremendous challenges to get literate. Douglass, a young teenage slave, “live in Master Hugh’s family about seven years” (61). He is fortunate to learn the alphabet from his sympathetic mistress at first. However, Mr. Hugh perceives that his wife educates Douglass; then, he forbids his wife from teaching the salve. As a result, Mrs. Huge obeys her husband’s command; she loses her kindness to become a cruel slave owner, and she no longer teaches Douglass to read. As Douglass condemn, “education and slavery were incompatible with other each” (61). Slaveholders teach slaves to read and write, which is disadvantageous to them. When slaves become literate, they can run away to escape from their masters’ control. Therefore, education…

    • 126 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While knowledge can open many doors for success, it can also put a lock on various doors for people who don’t have an opportunity to practice it. “Learning to Read and Write,” an essay written by a former slave, Frederick Douglass, explains how he gains knowledge and the effect it has on him. A former student of the EOF Program, Michael Scott, believed that attaining knowledge for Douglass was more a curse rather than an accomplishment and there were no alternatives to his circumstances. However, Michael Scott is not exactly correct for the reason that Douglass did have alternatives. For Frederick Douglass, learning to read and write is indeed more of a curse rather than blessing apart from there being other alternatives to his dark conditions. Becoming knowledgeable puts Frederick Douglass’s safety at risk; it led to suicidal thoughts from Douglass; and it makes him aware of the rights every human being should have, but no way of attaining it.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Frederick Douglass's autobiography The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. He elegantly depicts his journey of learning to read and write in the seven years of enslavement by the Hugh family. In order to argue the effect of slavery on literacy and the importance of literacy.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass’s sad tone helps the reader understand the effect that his literacy had on his thoughts and feelings toward slavery. Douglass describes how his mistress had given him “the inch” that he needed to learn to read and how he used bread to convince the little white children to teach him. He soon found the knowledge of how horrible his enslavers were. “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 120-121). This quote describes how he is depressed because he had learned the truth of his enslaves and wished that he would forget the truth. Although learning to read was a great ability he had acquired, it was a curse that led…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the excerpt “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass talks about his experiences in slavery living in his masters house and his struggle to learn how to read and write. Frederick Douglass was an African American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman. Some of his other writings include “The Heroic Slave”, “My Bondage and My Freedom”, and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass”. In this excerpt, Frederick Douglass uses an empathic tone, imagery, certain verb choice, contrast, and metaphors to inform African Americans of how important it is to learn to read and write and also to inform a white American audience of the evils of slavery. I find Frederick Douglass to be relatively persuasive in his argument to his intended audiences.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass in this fragment of his autobiography he tells us how with diverse tricks he succeeds in learning to read and write in an environment where slaves weren’t allowed to be literate. As he matured and developed his linguistic skills, the essence of his thoughts, and the level of understanding had transformed his ideas of freedom.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nelson Mandela once said, “ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” One man who lived up to this quote was abolitionist/orator, Frederick Douglass, Douglass was able to use education as weapon to verbally attack the structures and fight for the abolishment of slavery. Without Douglass being educated then we would not know Frederick Douglass for who he is today. In the narrative Learning to Read and Write the author, Frederick Douglass explains his endeavors to learn how to read and write although he is a slave. After Douglass’s instruction subsequently ended he made multiple attempts to learn how to read and write. As a child, Douglass took the initiative to seek educating himself; he also used his cleverness to gain…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the course of Douglass’s life, he came to realize that slavery was a “poor school for the head and heart” (Douglass 4) and steadfastly attempted to transcend the education barrier built up against slaves. After his timely departure from Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, Douglass was transported to Baltimore where he met the Auld family and learned to read. When Mr. Auld heard about his wife’s private sessions he became enraged because education was thought to be linked with autonomous thought processes, which could rival the established authority and potentially lead to insurrection. Although Mrs. Auld was reprimanded for teaching Douglass and was forced to stop, this only increased his desire to read and so he took to the streets and manipulated…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass, in chronological order, tells the reader about his life as a slave. Douglass begins with him learning the ABC’s from his mistress, then how he began to learn how to read and write. During this time, he understands that “learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (Douglass 334). He argues that not knowing one is suffering is prefered over knowing one is suffering and forced to stand by.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Douglass’ enlightenment of learning the alphabet gives him hope to building a stronger literacy for a better life than that of a slave. Then, he improves in his literacy and finds his enlightenment to then feel sad and tormented. For example, Douglass says, “I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free” (191). On one hand, Douglass…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Frederick Douglass was an African American man who made a huge impact towards the abolitionist movement. Douglass grew up in Talbot County, Maryland. Douglass never knew his age or the identity of his father. Douglass’s father was thought to be his master, Captain Anthony. The uncertainty of major things in life such as his age and father drove Douglass to thirst for knowledge and stability.These two things paired together led him to live the life that he pursued. “Douglass became an influential abolitionist himself which eventually led to his writing the story of his life under slavery.” (Masterplots, Fourth Edition). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass successfully highlights the importance of a strong education,…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Douglass knowing that he could no longer be educated by Mrs. Auld, he would look for other methods to teach himself. Douglass’s determination to be educated guided him well. In chapter seven, Douglass shares how he gained an education without a formal teacher. Douglass became friends with local poor white boy’s, who he traded bread with in return of knowledge. Douglass also made use of the child of Mr. Auld, by using his educational books. Mr. Auld was right to fear the education of slaves, it was Douglass’s education which led him to seek freedom from slavery. It was education which caused Douglass the passion to better his mind. It was education which helped Douglass establish a legacy, which presented the harsh reality of being a slave. By taking a slave’s education away, a master can maintain their power other their slave, continuing their suppression. Douglass was born into a world that did not want him to be educated, but his persistence to learn resulted in him gaining both an identity and his own freedom. Education is something that many of us nowadays take for granted, but Douglass demonstrates the true power and importance of knowledge within his…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays