Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was written by Frederick Douglass himself, and was published in 1845. Douglass takes the readers through his own experience with American slavery while holding back very little. Douglass’s narrative goes on a journey beginning in his birthplace, Talbot County, Maryland. While Douglass mainly focuses on his own experiences with the American slave trade, he also shares the trials and tribulations of those around him throughout the book. Another attribute of this narrative is the high level of literacy Douglass has. While reading this narrative, there were plenty of passages that included figurative language and insightful religious references. Along with religion, brutality is another

At the beginning of Chapter I, while describing his childhood, Douglass mentions the mystery of his age, recalling, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (40). This is one of the tactics slave owners used to strip slaves of their humanity early on in their life. Almost to make them seem like animals. As a child, Douglass knew that white children were aware of their own ages, and was confused as to why he was “deprived of the same privilege” (40). This was just the beginning stage of the machine called

To preface the incident, Mr. Gore (the active overseer under Colonel Lloyd) was described as, “artful, cruel, and obdurate”, just the man for the job (Douglass, 54). In my opinion, Gore’s presence is a product of the personality of the previous overseer, Mr. Hopkins. Mr. Hopkins was not viewed as a cruel man, and was even called a “good overseer” by the slaves (48). Mr. Hopkins didn’t hold the position long. Douglass recalls, “Why his career was so short, I do not know, but suppose he lacked the necessary severity to suit Colonel Lloyd (54). To an extent, Mr. Gore was everything Mr. Hopkins