How Frederick Douglass Demystifies Slavery The Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Frederick Douglass, demonstrates the severe reality of slavery as it had never been shown before. Douglass demystifies slavery by rebuking its romantic image, refuting the idea of black intellectual inferiority, and showing that the system promotes disloyalty among the slaves. Douglass rebukes the romantic image of slavery by displaying brutal realities that hadn’t yet been told. He shows the prevalent beatings that “[cause] the blood to run.”(Douglass 59). When Douglass witnesses his first beating, he characterizes it as “the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery.”(Douglass 16). He doesn’t refrain from depicting the barbarous details and describes many of the beatings to convey just how frequent they are. White people assume that the slaves’ singing is “evidence of their contentment and happiness,”; however, Douglass clarifies that the songs really represent the …show more content…
Douglass explains that the slaves do not say anything bad about their slaveholders. Furthermore, there are fights between slaves who disagree which of their masters is better. Through their masters’ attempts to promote slavery, the slaves have been taught to think that “the greatness of their masters [is] transferrable to themselves”(31). The disloyalty was brought about by not being able to talk bad about their masters. Douglass also discloses that slaves “suppress the truth rather than take the consequences of telling it,” in the pursuit of self preservation, which can cause them to betray their fellow slaves (30). This demonstrates that the slaves’ drive to “prove themselves a part of the human family,” which results from their enslavement, is stronger than their loyalty to each other (30). There is a natural fellowship among slaves, but the system of slavery, nevertheless, promotes disunity between
Frederick Douglass’ “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” ties to our English Unit 3: Pursuing Freedom because he utilizes a piece of literature refers to the many struggles of African Americans on their road to freedom just like in the English Unit 3: Pursuing Freedom. The speech questions the principles of the Constitution and how it fails in protecting the rights of all its people. Douglass articulates of the profound irony that while others celebrate their independence, the slaves must overwork and eventually die. He also converses of how the hideous and unfortunate conduct of this nation reveals its false past, present, and future. This all relates to our collection because it provides the insight on such matters dictating the rights and
It was not only these images of violent acts of abuse that caused their hearts to demand the end to these practices but the clear indication of starvation that was forced upon them because of their master’s view of them being property not humans, “Added to the cruel lashings to which these slaves were subjected, they were kept nearly half‐starved” (1198). Theses clear harsh and abrupt realities that Douglass felt compelled to convey in his writings enhanced his audience’s awareness of the truth that they had allowed themselves
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass there is the abuse of black slaves, racism, and the systematic degrading of slaves. Frederick Douglass began his life as a slave at the beginning of his life but he was eventually freed; which is when he decided to write an autobiography. In his autobiography he details the treatment of himself and others who were enslaved by white men and their families. The way that slaves were treated was not how any human should be treated under any circumstance. Slaves were treated as if they were not humans, they had been dehumanized by their owners and environment so much so that they didn’t even see themselves as human.
Frederick Douglass Essay The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass brings to light the experience of being a slave. Through his experience as a slave. A central theme is that No one is safe as a slave, beatings, separation of families, and designated as property If one is a slave, they are guaranteed to get beat.
In one of the most famous slave narratives of all time, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave", Douglass makes known his full history, from his various masters to his multiple trades he learned to the tale of his journey as a slave into a free man, and he emphasizes the various hardships faced during these times. As a slave Douglass was beaten and whipped as well as forced to witness similar violence against fellow slaves. Through his precise use of diction Douglass creates scenes so vivid that the reader is left feeling as if he or she were present; furthermore this extreme attention to detail elicits greater emotional responses from his readers. The style of diction found in much of Douglass' memoir is analytical
Frederick wastes no time in his narrative to explain how slavery is more of a mental battle than a physical battle. He tells the reader “I was born in Tuckahoe.. I have no accurate knowledge of my age.” and “a want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness” illustrating that he was deprived of his self-worth and self-identity at an early age. In chapter 6, Douglass overhears his master say “learning would spoil the best nigger in the world” although harsh, this is my favorite part of the text because this triggers Douglass to begin his transition into a free man.
Slavery in one word is described as corruption. It was the reason for the United States Civil War and for the lost of so many lives. In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass describes the events of his life and how he was deprived of the natural rights. Frederick Douglass' message is that to a slave sometimes ignorance is bliss because the intelligence of knowing can be insanity because they have no power to control their lives. Slavery, however, does not only affect the morality of the slaves themselves but in the corruption of others around them.
Frederick Douglass wrote his narrative as a freeman, therefore, he is able to reflect on his life as a slave and decode the cryptic artifice of his former slave owners. Douglass lived a harsh life in the south before he made his valiant escape to the north, in order to evade further physical and mental torture. Therefore, Douglass is able to understand what it is like to be an invisible entity with a lack of identity, on physical earth. Metaphors are like string that Douglass uses to weave together a cohesive argument to support the eradication of slavery. As Douglass reminisces on his life he states that he “was made to drink the bitterest dregs of slavery...”
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an autobiography consisting of Frederick Douglass’ search for freedom from the slaveholders who kept many African Americans captive, allowed many to understand the pain and misery in the midst of slavery. Published in 1845, Douglass conveyed the lives of African Americans and how they have suffered a great deal of pain and discomfort through a provocative tone . Throughout his autobiography, Douglass used countless metaphors to portray his life. From Mr. Plummer to Mrs. Auld, the reader could better perceive the text by visualizing the metaphors that Douglass has used. Using Frederick’s writing, youthful audiences can gain knowledge about slavery and its effects.
You have probably thought that slavery was bad but you have no idea how bad it actually was. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a Autobiography by Frederick Douglass, his purpose of the story was to expose the real darkness of a slavery. Douglass was a slave before and he has gone through a lot of pain during those times. Douglass’ position on slavery was that slavery was terrible for slaves & that it corrupts the slave owners because the slave owners dehumanized other slaves, the slaves were treated inhumanely and were broken mentally. People believe that slavery is good for the slave owners and for the slaves, on the other hand Frederick Douglass believes that slavery corrupts the slave owners.
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.
In Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass emphasizes the abuse of Aunt Hester. Aunt Hester was a “woman of noble form” (319), but she faced severe cruelties from her master. Aunt Hester was whipped in an unseemly manner, causing the “so terrified and horror stricken” (319) Douglass to hide himself in a closet. This incident left Douglass flabbergasted because he “had never seen anything like it before” (319). Douglass’s witnessing of the brutality of the slaveholders fueled a stronger sense of hatred towards slavery.
Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
Thus, in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass is able to represent slaves as dehumanized property with the sole purpose of working their masters land until the day they die. Douglass also successfully represents slaves as intelligent people who wish to learn and begin to see the world for themselves, not through the eyes of a slave master. Douglass illustrated both sides of the spectrum of slave life, being deprived of knowledge and having, although against the rules, access to material to learn, to provide a distinction between how slaves are handled and how they truly