Frederick Douglas's Narrative Of Life

Frederick Douglass's Narrative of Life

Fredrick Douglas was an African American slave for 21 years before he escaped to freedom. Douglas first escaped slavery in 1838 after fighting with new owner Mr. Covey and has a result founded an anti-slavery newspaper titled the “North Star”. From the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass and American Slave, determination is an important theme because it shows how he was able to be his own man and how he stood up for his beliefs. Douglass original master was Thomas who would sale him to Mr. Covey. When Douglass first went to his new master he became a field hand. One of Douglass first task were driving oxen to receive a load of wood. As a result, this would be his first time dealing with oxen and would fail to the standards of his master. This would cause his master to whip him and then he would be continued to be whipped daily. In this action, Douglass would determine that he was worth more than a slave and stand up for himself. This is seen is his narrative, when his master first told him to take of his clothes to be whipped, but refuses to do so.

In his narrative, Douglas recorded that August 13th was one of the hottest days in the summer, and he was employed in fanning wheat. Due to the heat, Douglass would become ill, and stop working. Therefore, Mr. Covey would begin to kick him repeatedly in the head. As Douglas realized he was a man, then decided to do something. That afternoon, Douglas would go to his Master Thomas to file a complaint and ask for protection by walking seven miles. This would be one example of how Douglass stood up to his belief. He would already be ill, but understood in order to get some sort of action done, he would have to fight for it. Douglass would fight against the odds of being sick and walking the seven miles to change the way he had been