What Is The Theme Of Injustice In Frederick Douglass

Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were both conceived into the grasp of slavery. They experienced similar horrors of a terrible institution. While they shared related events during their time in bondage, they also experienced very different hardships. The trials and punishments of slavery were very diverse for men and women. Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery. Even though he had no former knowledge of slavery, he knew it was a terrible institution that was a means to pacify the black community and excel the benefits of slaveholders. A theme made obviously apparent by Douglass was the importance of ignorance in the slave community. “A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master…learning would spoil the best nigger in the world,”
Even though odds were against him, Douglass continued to pursue a resemblance of an education. Reading “gave tongue to interesting thoughts of my own soul…The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth…” (Douglass 1199). Douglass wasn't confused when he said knowledge would be the key to his escape from slavery, but he realized that knowledge would be the way to prove slavery as an injustice in society. Resistance is a crucial theme in Douglass’s narrative because this is Douglass’s main crusade: to become a free man and resist slavery. Douglass, like many slaves, endured horrible abuses from their masters. These offenses created an urge of resistance within a beaten Douglass. Douglass’s first form of resistance was the act of learning to read. After learning to read, he had successfully started his quite rebellion. When his will was tested and he was physically abused, he turned his rebellion to a physical resistance. “I resolved to fight; and, suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey by the throat,” (Douglass 1214) this act of defiance was a burst of anger from years of inhumane treatment which
Both writers wanted to underline the corrupting power of slavery. “Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me,” (Douglass 1198) this idea was shown in Douglass’s narrative when his kind Mistress was corrupted by slavery. She was molded into a hard and aggressive person that went out of her way to inflict pain upon Douglass. Jacobs’ owner also became corrupted by his power over her, “It was the first time he had ever hit me” (Jacobs 926). Jacobs illustrates how her master gradually became more obsessive and aggressive toward her. The point made by both writers was the institution of slavery warped slaveowners into extremely brutal people who excelled at abuse. Both writers spent most of their life as a slave on a rural plantation. They both truly tasted freedom when they established themselves in the city. Jacobs said, “I could never go out to breathe God’s free air without trepidation at my heart,” (Jacobs 937) although she felt endangered because of her vengeful owner, Jacobs knew the city would lead her to freedom. Douglass shared a similar feeling with Jacobs, “…after my arrival at New York, I said I felt like one who escaped form a den of hungry lions” (Douglass 1231). Both writers, as slaves, felt they had a reached a safe haven when they reached the city. This was because they had experienced freedom for the first time.