Frederick Douglass

2005-01-20T22:07:00.000-08:00

In this narrative by Douglass, I believe that he had two possible directions that he wanted to lead the reader in. Some may feel that he put of more importance on one than of the other. Was he trying to emphasize the notion of equal human rights between African Americans and Caucasian Americans; or the importance of education and literacy?

I feel that Douglass was trying to convey to the reader the importance of literacy for survival of life, whether it be of a white or a black person. A direct quote from chapter 7: "Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell". I believe that what he mend by this was that this was his first understanding that his education was his way to his freedom. He needed to be educated to devise a plan, to out wit his master, and to survive in society "the real world" once he arrived there. His mistress simply began to teach him the alphabet until she was scorned not to educate a slave ever again by Douglass' master. But this did not matter to Douglass, learning the alphabet was all he needed. One could say that he took this small piece of information and ran with it. Douglass was able to become literate by educating himself and by the tutoring of young boys who he would visit when doing a job in town. He found that once he was educated he was finally able to have the full insight into his freedom. Douglass was eventually successful at his attempt to fulfill his goal.

Douglass used an immense amount of detail, much of which was very visual. I feel that he wanted the reader to visually understand the brutal beating that he witness during his time as a slave. The treatment of the slaves was inhumane and just down right disgusting. He talked about the beatings that were intended to go on until the slave bled, and how even some slaves we shot dead. Many of the female slaves were raped and there was little legal action taken for these crimes. In this quote, Douglass talks about one of the times he witness one of those brutal beatings. "I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine,whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood". I personally, strongly feel that with these descriptions of Douglass experiences of the brutality of slavery that no one person should question the authenticity of his narrative and the treatment of slaves during that time. Douglass was also to achieve something that many slaves never even thought of; not just freedom, but more the freedom of his mind; education.

Introductory Post

2005-01-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

Introductory Post

Amy's ENGL 121 Blog

Frederick Douglass

Introductory Post