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Frederick Douglass Inhumane Essay

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The story of Frederick Douglass’ is one of the most gruesome stories ever written in American literary history. The narrative goes in-depth about how the process of slavery was. It talks about how people would get whipped for the smallest of issues, dying if they resist enough, and even the process of the slave trade. It even shows how people become very different after the entire system of slavery gets into their minds. Through his powerful narrative, Frederick Douglass demonstrates how slavery dehumanizes not only the enslaved but also the enslaver, as it strips individuals of their basic humanity and perpetuates a system of cruelty and oppression. Frederick Douglass was a very young child when he was introduced to the culture of how …show more content…

Many masters act very cruel to their slaves and give no regard for their well-being or how they feel. They will whip them if they do something wrong, cut off an ear if they try to escape a multitude of times, and even kill them if they feel like the slave is doing too much. An example of this is how Mr. Gore had shot Demby. Demby had been resisting Mr. Gore’s call and had been in a creek trying to resist punishment. After the third call, Mr. Gore shot Demby and brutally murdered him. As Douglass recalls, “His mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood.” (Douglass 20) The worst part of this entire case is how Mr. Gore got off scot-free because he had told the people that he was setting an “example” to intimidate the other slaves. The last example of this is when Douglass moves in with Sophia Auld and Hugh Auld. Sophia is a very sweet lady and had never had slaves. She is unfamiliar with the way slaves are treated so she occasionally gives Douglass great life lessons. One of them is teaching him how to read and write. Douglass records this incident by saying, “She very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. ... Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read.” (Douglass, 29) After

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