Rhetorical Analysis Of Frederick Douglass My Bondage And My Freedom

Frederick Douglass, a former slave and famous abolitionist, wrote My Bondage and My Freedom in order to prove he was a slave before being an amazing orator and also to prove the power knowledge has when it is used precisely.
Originally, Mrs. Auld thinks Douglass deserves to be able to read just like her son. Mrs. Auld later becomes “violent in her opposition” to Douglass’ reading because her husband puts her in “check” (Douglass 521). The author uses his words to appeal to the ethos of the audience by creating a seemingly kind and innocent perspective of Mrs. Auld and later completely reversing it. Subsequently, after collecting enough money, Douglass buys the Columbian Orator at the age of thirteen. Reading the Columbian Orator transforms Douglass from “light-hearted” (Douglass 526) to “wretched and gloomy” (Douglass 526) by opening his eyes to the true horror of slavery. The author creates a sense of realism and appeals to the ethos of the audience by creating a link of the inevitability of Douglass’ circumstances and what today’s society knows about slavery and its history.

Douglass states, “My feelings were not the result of any marked cruelty in the treatment I received; they sprung from the consideration of my being a slave at all,” (Douglass 527). This experience proves his mistress’ belief that education and slavery are incompatible because education gave Douglass knowledge that he had the capability to escape slavery. Douglass explains this in his speech, “It was slavery-not its mere incidents-that I hated. I had been cheated. I saw through the attempt to keep me in ignorance …. The feeding and clothing me well, could not atone for taking my liberty from me,” (Douglass 527). The author appeals to the reader’s logos by showing how Douglass was knowledgeable enough to be aware of his surroundings and realize he deserved more than to be a