Emotional Appeals in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass wrote his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass as an autobiographical account of his experience as an American slave and his later escape from slavery. The narrative is a fine example of rhetorical writing, as it attempts to inflame the passions of the audience and to make them aware of the injustices of slavery. Throughout the narrative, Douglass tells the facts of his story in a fairly straightforward manner while at the same time recalling what he was feeling during each event of the story. Douglass’ descriptions of the events that occurred during his time as a slave are often graphic and very emotional. This manner of relating these accounts serves to kindle the emotions of the audience in favor of Douglass and force them to consider and relate to the issue of slavery. One passage of the narrative that typically reflects this rhetorical strategy occurs during Douglass’ description of his time spent with a Mr. Edward Covey, a man who had “acquired a very high reputation for breaking young slaves.” He describes that shortly after he arrived at Mr. Covey’s farm, he was severely beaten for accidentally losing control of an ox-drawn cart, which resulted in the destruction of the cart. He describes this punishment graphically and says that Mr. Covey “gave [him] a very severe whipping, cutting [his] back, causing the blood to run, and raising ridges on [his] flesh as large as [his] little finger.” Douglass then proceeds to claim that a few months of similar punishments tamed his spirit as “Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking [him].” He describes his mental state at this time by saying,
“I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye had died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!”
The detailed and graphic way in which Douglass describes his first beating at the
“I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye had died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!”
The detailed and graphic way in which Douglass describes his first beating at the