Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave

Sydney Thompson Professor Dennard History to 1877 15 November 2015
Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave
Summary

In the narrative written by Fredrick Douglass, Douglass touches many hands-on points that many people, during the time, had no idea what the concept of slavery truly meant and how it not only effected slaves, but also, slaveholders. Douglass did an amazing job of remaining unapologetic and powerful throughout the story. Not only did the reader have a clear view of Douglass's treatment from childhood to adulthood, but he also highlighted focus on things like the treatment of women, the attitude of slaveholders, and how slavery impacted specific people. After completely reading the narrative, the theme
of the story is ignorance is bliss and knowledge is power. There were many key characters that could allow the reader to get a glimpse of what lifestyle was like in The South.
Aunt Hester, for one, was a great example for the harsh treatment of women. A lot of times, women were abused and used. Douglass specifically recalled one night when he watched as his Aunt Hester get so brutally beaten that he could only watch as he feared for his own safety. Douglass remembered feeling hopeless because he knew that there was nothing he could do. Another time in the book, he stated that women could be used specifically for "breeding" and the owners would allow men to rape their women for the pure reason of adding slaves to the plantation. The elderly didn't seem to get much justice either. Since they were often too old to work, slaveholders viewed them as useless. After a character named Betsy Bailey, was dropped off in the woods instead of being set free after completing all her duties as a slave the reader really began to see the cruel world of slavery. Fortunately Douglass was lucky enough to become educated. Once Douglass began to learn, a whole new light came into the book. Finally a sense of hope and humanity has been seen. Once Douglass began to learn the alphabet from Sophia Auld the story took a turn. Douglass realized that by keeping slaves uneducated that is the power
other people had over them. Douglass proved this through contrasting events like showing ignorant slaves and the lack of chance they have for freedom. Sandy Jenkins for example, believed things like roots would protect a slave from beatings and she showed high lack of faith in freedom. That is why the theme is knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss. Slavery was not only about physical abuse, but mental also. Slaveholders kept the slave ignorant because ultimately knowledge equals truth.
Analysis
After reading the narrative written by Douglass, I feel very enlightened, proud and a little sad; especially as a young black female today in America. "'If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master-to do as he is told to do.'" Chapter 6, pg. 78. This quote really opened my eyes on the reality of how whites viewed actual human beings. That is why I feel as if Douglass's tone was a bit unapologetic, and because he was unapologetic it was easy to analyze the strength and weaknesses of Douglass’s narrative. Throughout the story we got to see his innocence, suicidal, hopeful, and bold behavior. Douglass seemed to be hardened with facts on slavery in The South and how he experienced it. I feel enlightened because there is so much that I thought I knew, but truly I didn't. I learned that not every slave is on the same status and neither is every slaveholder. Captain Anthony was a clerk for Colonel Lloyd. While both men were cruel in the book, and had their own way of handling slaves, Lloyd was way richer and owned hundreds of slaves. When slaves seemed problematic they would go to "breakers", which is also something Douglass experienced after he continuously snuck over to his neighbors for food. Covey, the slave breaker, kept Douglass for one year. The idea was to use harsh and strict tactics to train a slave. Ironically after a physical encounter that Douglass had with Covey, he was never beaten again by him. It is so powerful to process this, considering that slaves could be killed and their deaths were rarely ever investigated. Slaveholders found their actions justified a lot of the time through Christianity. "Will not a righteous God visit for these things?" Chapter 8, pg. 93. It began to make me wonder about the ideals and morals this country was brought up on, which was a great point for Douglass to make because it gave the reader something to think about. It is only natural as an African-American to feel proud.
As readers we got to read a story that was projected in a powerful tone of a former slave, which is still mind blowing. The book was so nicely written in the sense that we got so many aspects of his story. We saw Douglass from childhood to adulthood, from ignorant to knowledgeable, and grow from a slave’s mindset to a free man’s mentality. How many times do you get these aspects in books? Rarely. I cannot blame Douglass for seeming somewhat unapologetic, because after seeing the life he was given he had to be. I can see how people could take offense to this, but that’s only if you didn't receive the message of his true struggle as a slave. Even when all the odds are against you if you remain hopeful and knowledgeable there are no limits. Not even to a slave. That is the true strengths that Douglass acclaimed while writing this book. Unfortunately while reading, I had an overwhelming sense of sadness. I felt sad for my people and their treatment. I felt as if I was a lot more sympathetic than Douglass, which to me was his biggest weakness. Slavery is such a sensitive topic and can really hit home for many people whether white or black. Since Douglass held this unapologetic tone it seemed as if he was desensitized by slavery. Douglass had a job to enlighten people on what slavery was truly about. Because he had this duty, I feel like he spoke on his experiences and kept things factual so that people would know. It
makes sense because in reality they were not sensitive when it came to slaves and slavery, especially not slave owners, which was the problem. Everyone tried to justify and hide slavery and make it seem like it wasn't dehumanizing when it was. When you have to do this job you have no choice but to be harsh and straight to the point. Me, personally, I am a sensitive person. "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 died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!" Chapter 10, pg. 105. I felt the emotion in the scenes where Douglass yearned for his freedom and education; whereas Douglass viewed it as something he just knew he had to do to be free. If he could've mashed the two a little better that could have really touched readers in many different ways. Overall, Douglass’s life was extremely interesting to learn about. I often would put myself in the shoes of a slave and wonder how I would feel or what I would do in a particular situation. I also enjoy that his message was to enlighten and wake people who wish to remain blind, not only that, but also the underlying emphasis about the power of knowledge. If you seek you shall receive. One obstacle does not determine your fate whether it’s being told you can’t continue to learn, or it’s getting caught before an actual attempt to escape for freedom. A book about slavery had so much hopefulness and positivity it wasn’t a hard read.