StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass is one of the most influential black American reformers of the nineteenth century who fought for the abolition of slavery and made countless efforts to end racial discrimination…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.1% of users find it useful
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

Download file to see previous pages

In the opening sentences of his narrative, Douglass stated the fact that slave owners thought of slaves as animals (Douglass, 47). It was not just the slave owners who treated their slaves as animals but the slaves themselves also had the perception about themselves. The access to reading opened a new world for Douglass and casted a new light on the world he was already living. The dawning of self-consciousness was the outcome of the acquisition of reading skills, which made him capable to think independently.

He also stated that learning to read was a curse rather than a blessing because after gaining knowledge he was able to see his miserable condition with no remedy to get out of it (Douglass, 84). Douglass occasional regrets regarding his wretched condition were due to the knowledge that self-education afforded him and was the main source to change his status from a slave. The ability to read and write was important in the eyes of Douglass because it was through this ability he was able to describe his story in his own words and refuted the common misconception that slaves were not capable enough to communicate through the standard conventions of American literature.

The ability to fully understand his environment and comprehend the hopelessness of the situation faced by him and other slaves was only because of the literacy which was the greatest tool to work for the freedom of slaves. This revolutionary incident of Douglass was the turning point in his career as a slave which revived a wave of manhood in his heart (Douglass, 113). There are no illusions that education plays a key role in setting slaves free because it equips them with the skills and knowledge to improve their lives.

It helps in articulating the injustice caused by the slavery and awakens the consciousness to fight against abolition. In case of Frederick Douglass, he was able to reveal the strategy of his master, Hugh Auld, about how he used to manage to keep blacks as slaves and by which blacks would be able to free themselves. This quote from his narration clearly depicts the importance of learning: “If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave.

He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (Douglass, 49). These ironic words were delivered to the Mistress, wife of Auld, who taught Douglass how to read and was strictly forbidden because they believed that education ruins slaves. The transformation of a kind-hearted woman to a harsh mistress made him realize that the institution of slavery has a major effect on well-intentioned people as well (Douglass, 82). This means that illiteracy and ignorance were the most important elements in the subjugation of slaves.

The desire to gain more knowledge was not only a constant battle for Douglass as it was unlawful to teach a slave to read and had to be a secretive process (Douglass, 20). Douglas further said that his mistress gave him the start by teaching the alphabets and nothing was so powerful to prevent him from learning (Douglass, 81). The harsh attitude of mistress and vigilance to stop Douglass from seeking knowledge by many means made him clear that an educated slave is a dangerous notion for the masters.

It can be noticed that when it comes to education, masters and slaves are inherently opposite to each other. The thing that changed the whole life

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay”, n.d.)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/history/1436485-narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass
(Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay. https://studentshare.org/history/1436485-narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass.
“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/history/1436485-narrative-of-the-life-of-frederick-douglass.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Analysis of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Book

The author of the essay analyzes Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which is an autobiographical account of the twenty years of the author's life which he had spent as a slave serving under many masters.... douglass begins his account by reminiscing about some memories of his childhood.... His master had never felt the need to inform him and whenever douglass had gone to him with such a query, it had been turned down....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper

Review on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave

Name: Instructor Name: Course Name: Review on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass is an autobiography in which the author has shared his life experiences, from his birth in Maryland to his role in ending slavery from the American society.... Frederick Douglass's autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave'' was published in 1845.... The question is whether Fredrick douglass still holds an impact on the American culture, politics, law and society or not?...
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Literacy in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

One of the most important of such accounts is the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass which will be discussed in this paper.... Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is significant since it is a first-hand account of the hardships of slavery.... Auld puts into helping the education of frederick douglass....             Overseers according to the narrative of the book that Frederick Douglass writes, behave in a very cruel manner with black slaves....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

View's of Education in Voltaire's Candide and Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

This paper represents Francois-Marie Voltaire's Candide, or Optimism and Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.... Doe English 344 8 May 2000 Views of Education in Voltaire's Candide and Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Though Francois-Marie Voltaire's Candide, or Optimism and Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave come from two different genres of literature, fiction and nonfiction respectively, both works make extensively developed statements about societal issues....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

The writer of the current essay would summarize the autobiographical book "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave".... Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American SlaveFredrick Douglas was an American slave just as the title of the book indicates and he lived in Maryland (different parts of it though most of his slave life he spent in Baltimore).... Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Book Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Douglas never saw his father, he met Book Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass The narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas gives an autobiography of the freed slave Douglas.... he life of a slave as Douglas portrays is not appealing at all.... n the last chapter Douglas portrays a life of partial freedom, he, however, does not give the exact way he escaped since he did not want to hinder other slaves from escaping.... It is about his life in slavery....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

Learning to Read and Write by Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

This paper "Learning to Read and Write by Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" focuses on a very informative piece of work where the author takes the audience through the stages and challenges he faced in the process of learning the two essential concepts.... Douglass is worried upon realizing the burden he carries after knowing how to read where while thinking about death as well as an abolitionist movement, he makes a decision to escape from the life of slavery but again believes he is too young for such....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Analysis of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, contains graphic portrayals of the brutal lives of slaves in nineteenth-century America.... This paper also considers douglass' view of slave 'holidays', alcohol, and Christianity.... It then focuses on the turning point in douglass's life that left him determined to escape from bondage.... Chapter 10 opens with him brutally whipping douglass with switches from a gum-tree....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us