Frederick Douglass Sentimentalism

In the "Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself” (1174), Douglass introduces to his audience many circumstances. Grief, sorrow, and emptiness during his life were just some of the adversities he faced. He was a slave deprived of all individual rights and was sold to many different plantation owners. Douglass eventually remains true to himself and overcomes the struggle by becoming an anti-slavery activist.

I think sentimentalism is the tendency to have or express feelings to such events that occur in your lifetime. Douglass uses sentimentalism throughout his narrative to give himself and his readers a sense of grief, sorrow, and emptiness. He does this have his readers the feel of how he and the other

In that narrative that Douglass explains this was told to him that happened and no one was ever brought to justice for this crime. This tells how during this time anyone could get away with anything without being put in prison. Also, Douglass talks about how the lady committed this crime and did not receive any further actions on this matter. "There was a warrant issued for her arrest, but it was never served," "thus, she escaped not only punishment but even the pain of being arraigned before a court for her horrid crime" (1193). In chapter five Douglass uses sentimentalism when he talks about how they were not on regular allowances, he wants his readers to understand how they were treated and feed as individuals. "Our food was coarse corn meal boiled," "this was called mush," "it was put into a large wooden tray or trough and set down upon the ground" (1194). This moment tells this to the readers that they were fed like pigs that would devour the mush. Douglass gives his readers a sense of satisfaction by stating, "I was probably between seven and eight years old when I left Colonel Lloyd's plantation," "I left it with joy"