The Man of Color and the White Woman in Moses and Mary
One of the convictions associated with the black is that they can kill anyone confidently without fearing the consequences. People in the town see such a view when Moses killed Mary. They see this happening as something normal because it is expected from their race. Because of these beliefs about the blacks, women in Africa are brought up to fear the servants and never trust them. The narrator describes this fear in the following quotation:
She was afraid of them, of course. Every woman in South Africa is brought up to be. In her childhood she had been forbidden to walk out alone, and when she had asked why, she has been told in the furtive, lowered, but matter-of-fact voice she associated with her mother, that they were nasty and might do horrible things to her. (GS 59)
As told before, another aspect of how Masters, treat their servants in an inhumane way is the hours of work during each. The servants work too much even without taking any
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One of these forms is the long hours they have to work without taking any rest. For example, Mary has made Moses work for long hours to finish the cleaning of the bathroom. She does not even let him take some rest or to have his lunch. The narrator describes how Mary feels about the natives: “She never thought of natives as people who had to eat or sleep: they were either there, or they were not, and what their lives were when they were out of her sight she had never paused to think” (GS 74). Furthermore, Mary mistreats one of her servants physically by whipping him for taking a rest while she has been leading the farm during Dick’s sickness. The physical abuse that servants face, shows the whites opinions about the servants. They see the servants as non-human creatures that do not have feelings; therefore, they will not be affected by the whipping. The narrator
Many colored individuals were forced into slavery and each and everyone of the slaves had a different experience with their master. The slaves were treated as if they were nothing, a piece of property that the white people owned. They were not allowed to learn how to read or write; only needed to know how to do their chores and understand what their master was saying. They were just an extra hand in the house that had no say or existed in the white people world. The slaves’ job was to obey their master or mistress at all times, do their chores and take the beating if given one.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an enticing tale of Douglas as he changes from slave to man. Near the beginning of the book, his first witness of a whipping reveals the entrance to the horrors that would come throughout his experience with enslavement. “No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim…” (4) it displays the physical, emotional, and spiritual breaking of an individual; powerful words to create an understanding of the terror of slavery. Beating into absolute submission strikes a sense of sadness, pity, justice in the reader that encourages them to see slavery in a different light. Throughout his narrative he continues to attack these points to encourage similar feelings of pity and acknowledgement “to enlighten white readers about both the realities of slavery as an institution and the humanity of black people as individuals deserving of full human rights.”.
To show his perception on the very cruel slaveholders, Douglass uses a multitude of adjectives to create an image in his reader’s mind, while also using metaphors to better comprehend the situation. For example, Douglass stated, “No words, no tears, no prayers, for his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose.” By using this metaphor, Frederick Douglass made the reader question how one could be so cruel to another human being. By visualizing one whipping another without any guilt, it makes the audience understand the inhumanity of slavery. In total, this metaphor creates a agonizing image in the reader’s
Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.
‘’ They were frequently whipped when least deserving, and escaped whipping when most deserving it.’’ (page 18). Douglass captures the audience by using parallelism to explain how the slaves was regularly whipped. Douglass use of parallelism displayed how slavery was inhuman. Douglass again uses parallelism to show how slavery was heartbroken by describing how the overseers didn’t care.
When somebody doesn 't do the right they get hit with a whip till they do what is told. Slavery is nothing like doing chores for your parents it 's worse you can 't take a break until you are done you have to keep working until they tell you when your done, and you barely get paid for it. • B. Background information: There has been a lot of injustice in society in slavery like beating up up someone when they don 't do the right thing for the job. slavery isn 't there choice they have to do it for them not for
The story titled the Long Black Song has a controversial balance of power that is shown throughout the narrative. As time progresses, the struggle between men and women is heightened and there seems to be a passive partner paired with a mastery one. Sarah, a married housewife, was portrayed as being powerless within her own race, but when compared to the white man, Sarah gained physical and mental strength because she was curious about how being with the opposite race would feel, as well as the fact that black men were exceedingly domineering. Sarah was portrayed as a very frail character when equated to her husband, Silas, because the black men are the most dominant partner within an ethnically similar relationship.
Through his story, Douglass proves that slavery has negative effects on slaveholders. He uses imagery, flashbacks, and characterization to persuade the reader of the true nature of slavery. His deep thoughts and insights of slavery and the unbalanced power between a slaveholder and his slave are unprompted for a social establishment. Douglass insists that slaveholding fills the soul with sadness and bitter anguish. In addressing effects of slavery on masters cause one man to rethink his moral character and better understand the laws of humanity.
With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. ”(7) The character developement of Douglass’ planning is overshadowed by the humanism inside the children. The white boys Douglass meets have not yet been exposed to severe racism and the hate of black Americans, and humanistically teach Douglass how to read as if he was just another boy. Humanism seems to be an overlooked theme throughout Douglass narrative, the system of thought of putting humans before divinity and emphasizing human empathy is truly a large theme in how slavery has
Dehumanization of both slaves and slave owners must occur for slavery to exist. Slavery harms everyone involved, including the slaveholders who superficially seem to profit from the arrangement. Douglass’s narrative acknowledges the damage inflicted on both sides of the institution of slavery, emphasizing that a human being’s personality and disposition form per the laws and socially acceptable practices exhibited within the society. Douglass has an excellent example how he seen with his own eyes how his mistress became demonized when she became an owner of a slave. Douglass became Mrs. Auld's first salve owner and at the begging when they first met “she [was] of the kindest heart and finest feelings” (38).
During 1450-1750, a change in the foundation of the labor systems, which would be slavery, was never considered by the majority. This, in itself, was inherently inhumane, but those who practiced slavery didn’t take into account the changes in society that the predominance of slavery would bring. The subjugation of a specific set of people, based on race instead of war prisoners as before, impacted the white man 's perspective on equality between
Discrimination was a huge factor during this time. It went both for African Americans and women. We can see this throughout the book. “Well, you keep you place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.
PAGE 2 In the Narrative Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, he uses this text to explain his purpose in “throwing light on the American slave system”, or show it for what it really is, as well as show his position on how he strongly believes slavery is an issue that needs to be addressed and how it differs from those who defended slavery, with experiences from his own life to support his argument. Douglass uses experience from his early days as a young slave to throw light on the aspect of physical abuse. According to his narrative, Douglass states, “Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder.
Throughout the narrative, the author includes his personal stories about experiencing the violence of slavery first-hand. For example, on page 20, he writes about the first time he witnessed a slave, his own aunt, getting the whip. “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest…I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition… It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery…” The author including his experience of his aunts whipping, in detail, appeals to the emotions of the reader.
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.