Frederick Douglass And Blake Analysis

Douglass and Blake - Voices of the Mute Tolerance of inhumane actions has occurred throughout the entire history of the world. From one place to the next, there has always been a single person or a group of persons that will claim dominance over another - this is simply how institutions such as government and social classes are formed. In some cases, there is little argument and much agreement and diplomacy between those who are in charge and those who are under dominance of the more powerful, as seen throughout both India’s and China’s histories with rigid caste systems and tightly stratified social classes. This is due to the ideals of the people in those places, as much of their dependence is upon things such as order and the spiritual
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
His autobiography caused eyes to open to the true nature of slavery and greatly impacted the awareness of the public. Being a firsthand account of slavery, A Narrative of the Life... tugs at a reader more deeply than any fictional account, such as Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (although another influential book) ever could (Kohn 509). In addition, Douglass was the first to make a published account of his earlier life’s story and his descriptions of the emotional effects of slavery are evident of the careful thought and observation he took in writing it. Douglass’s Narrative of the Life... sold 30,000 copies in a few years and had a very large impact on American society due to the wide acceptance of the ideas he posed -- the general public seemed to appreciated his blaming of the institution and not its founders (Goldstein 470). Douglass ought to be given credit for the majority of the public shift from fighting against other humans to fighting against the corruption of an