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How Does The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Convey Fear?

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In the passage from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass is describing his experience when he first arrives in New York as a newly freed slave. He understands that the reader won’t understand the gravity of his situation, so he makes use of imagery to convey the emotions that he faces. While no longer a slave, his slave mentality is still with him, as shown by the mental and physical traits that he shares with the reader, such as an aphorism that he learned as a slave. To convey the strong feelings of excitement and fear that he experiences, Douglass immerses the reader with rich imagery while relating concepts that may not be familiar to the reader with metaphors as a connection to more commonly experienced events. The gravity of his situation is further emphasized with a run-on sentence, listing all the challenges that Douglass faces in New York. By making use of these literary devices, Douglass conveys to readers who have not experienced slavery the thoughts and feelings that Douglass had in his story. When Douglass first arrives in New …show more content…

The pirate that Douglass has escaped from is slavery, which he fears may follow him and try to recapture him. Douglass explains that the maxim he learned as a slave, “Trust no man”, is still a part of his thoughts. The sense of fear that was present with Douglass in the South has been brought with him to the North. Even though he is surrounded by thousands, he feels that every white man is an enemy, while every black man isn’t trustable. While Douglass desires to connect with people in New York, he fears that someone he speaks to will lead him to be captured by slave traders and brought back into slavery. This feeling of restriction and inability to socialize contradicts Douglass’s new freedom. Even though life as a slave was much harder, certain aspects of his life were more concrete, and as a free man, they are more

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