Frederick Douglass In Learning To Read And Write Summary

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. While becoming literate, Frederick Douglass puts his safety at risk by seeking the help of unreliable individuals and puts himself in danger of being
caught. If a slave were caught attempting to gain knowledge, which was forbidden during slavery, he/she could be severely punished. In an effort to portray the cruelty of being caught reading, Douglass encounters a ruthless incident with his Mistress and states: “I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension” (Douglass 144). The fact that Douglass’s Mistress becomes angry with him for having a newspaper justifies that she is worried he will become knowledgeable and act in ways that may have negative effects. However, after this dreadful incident, Douglass continues to learn how to read and write. By doing so, he puts himself at a higher risk of being caught because his Mistress is aware of his intentions. Douglass learns how to read by feeding the “many poor children in [the] neighborhood…” and “in return they would give [him] that more valuable bread of knowledge” (145). Although Douglass is trying to succeed in learning how to read, he is also putting himself at risk of being caught by trusting children. Children can easily be manipulated especially in times of need, which can put Douglass’s life on the line. Douglass gives up his safety in order to learn how to read which subsides a blessing and raises a curse. Frederick Douglass begins to have suicidal thoughts when his newfound knowledge opens his eyes to the conditions he has been living in as a slave. After learning to read, Douglass learns about the conditions slaves endured and he is disheartened in what he finds out. Frederick Douglass was stressed and he would often find himself “regretting [his] existence, and now wishing [himself] dead,” [he] had no doubt that [he] should have killed himself” (146). While learning how to read, Douglass is not aware of the harsh conditions slaves endure. However, he learns about those conditions after becoming literate and it worries Douglass deeply because he has no one to express his emotions to. Although Douglass suffered emotional difficulties, he still hopes to one day be free. Douglass’s emotions are captured in this statement: “I look forward to a time at which it would be safe for me to escape” (146). This depicts how Douglass gains information about freedom, but no way of attaining it. The only way Douglass can attain freedom is to escape and that was a difficult task due to his lack of knowledge on fleeing. Hence, when Douglass learns to read, he is disheartened about the conditions he suffers as a slave, but is also living with a burden of acquiring emancipation.
Through the knowledge that Frederick Douglass gains, he becomes aware of the fact that slavery deprives many African Americans of an essential human right, freedom. Douglass becomes aware of the rights which he and his fellow slaves have been blind to when he states: “What I got from Sheridan was a bold denunciation of slavery and a powerful vindication of human rights… It had given me a view of my wretched condition” (145). Frederick Douglass lives some of his life believing that slaves are meant to do the work, which slaves perform. However, after reading Sheridan’s book, he now realizes that slaves are regular human beings who should be given the basic human right, which is freedom. Though Douglass learns about freedom, he is also enlightened that it will be tough to maneuver. Douglass’s attitude toward learning about freedom is portrayed in this statement: “Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever” (146). Douglass learns about the right of being free, but freedom is fading away slowly because he has idea of how he can gain it. Accordingly, Douglass gains knowledge of the rights, which every human being should have. He understands that all slave are entitled to freedom but he does not have a solution to his issue of how to become free.
Throughout the essay “In Learning to Read and Write,” literacy proves to be a curse rather than a worthy accomplishment for Frederick Douglass.
In accordance with Michael Scott, his response to Douglass gaining knowledge was more of a curse rather than a blessing is indeed true. However, there were other alternatives to Douglass’s situations, which were not convincing enough to be a resourceful blessing. While Frederick Douglass gains knowledge, he puts his life at risk, it makes him aware of the rights slaves should have, and led to Douglass to having suicidal thoughts. In many years to come, individuals will continue to speculate whether gaining knowledge for Douglass assist as a blessing or a curse. Frederick Douglass went through so much as to putting his life on the line to learn how to read and ends up regretting all of it because he finds out his life was
miserable.