Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Book Report Essay

Picture this going through life without the ability to read or write. Without these abilities, it is impossible for a person to be a functioning member of society. In addition, imagine that someone is purposely limiting your knowledge to keep a leash on your independence. Not only is an American slave raised without skills in literacy, he cannot be taught to read unless someone breaks the law. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the reader is given a detailed explanation of why slave masters keep their slaves ignorant and the effects such a strategy has on the slaves’ lives. In his autobiography, Douglass describes how the knowledge he obtains has substantial positive and negative effects on his psyche. He is given renewed passion and hope for freedom while struggling with the burden of enlightenment of his situation. Ultimately, however, education shapes his fate, and he achieves freedom and prominence as an advocate for abolition.

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.

Douglass’s narrative is a courageous work, as it confronts the slavery institution, and the misuse of Christianity by the slave owners

Throughout the novel there are stories that affect the reader mainly because they feel the pain and sorrow Frederick experiences through his words rather than another author. An example of an anecdote like this is when Frederick’s Aunt Hester was whipped, which was the first act of cruelty he saw on the plantation. His words conveyed the suffering that was displayed to him, and made him “hide himself in a closet, and dared not venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over” (Douglass 5). Since it is written in first person, the readers get a glimpse of how petrified Frederick is rather than hearing the facts of the story. Another anecdote is when he describes plantation life where

Frederick Douglass was an inspiring African American speaker, writer, politician, and social reformer. Shortly after Douglass escaped from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining acknowledgment for his brilliant speeches and keen antislavery writing ability. As a former slave, Douglass stood as a living counteraction to slave-owners' arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual ability to function as prosperous American citizens. Slavery had an enormous impact on Frederick Douglass' sense of manhood. Within this essay, I will analyze the various effects that slavery had on Douglass' sense of manhood.

Throughout the book ,”Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Douglass embodies the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Frederick Douglass was an African-American who wrote on his experiences with slavery. Slaves would often get their life, liberty, and happiness taken from them. First off, slaves were deprived of their own life. For instance, slaves were killed by their owners for minor issues.

Complete Title: An Exploration of the Relationship between Southern Christianity and Slaveholding as seen in the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Written by Himself”

The most stunning and horrible dehumanizing effects of slavery apparently appear in the daily lives of slaves. They are kept in the darkness since their births. Unlike white children, children of slaves are deprived of the simple privilege of telling their ages. Also, in Maryland, it is a common custom to separate the slave children from their mothers, because slaveholders wish to keep their slaves ignorant. For the same reason, slaves are kept uneducated. When Mr. Auld realizes that his wife is teaching Douglass the alphabet and some small words, he orders her to stop immediately, because he says that education ruins slaves, and they will “become unmanageable, and of no value to his master” (Ch. Ⅵ ). Working conditions are unbearable for slaves. “It was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow, too hard for [them] to work in the field”(Ch.Ⅹ). In addition, slaves are not perceived as humans in the eyes of slaveholders, but rather as properties and animals. Under the valuation, they have to undergo a narrow examination. “There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and

“To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it: the pains of power are real, its pleasures imaginary” said Charles Caleb Colton. Slavery reared its ugly head on millions within the U.S., the masters and overseers of those slaves all the while holding a power that was especially evil. Frederick Douglass, one of the millions, documented his time as a slave in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his time as a slave, Douglass faced numerous hardships. His owners sought to dehumanize him and take away any sense of freedom that he would find within himself.

Working in the hot sun all day, having no leisure time, abuse, and meager conditions are

While reading the ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ it became apparent that slave owners used a lack of education to suppress slaves. To have a lack of education and a lesser understanding of the world and how terrible the conditions slaves were put under, made slaves be dependent on slave owners because they don’t know any better or different. To let slaves have the knowledge of basic facts about themselves would be to let them have a separate identity from one another, to be an actual person. Lastly slaves were kept illiterate as to keep them from releasing the terrible conditions of slavery to citizens. Furthermore, slaves were not given an education as to not have the understanding

During the 19th Century, slaves were misrepresented to the general population, or, non-slaveholders as “The freest people of the world” due to the fact, according to Fitzhugh’s article, “They enjoy liberty, because they oppressed neither by care or labor”; However, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, refutes the “facts” commonly given out to the public through a very detailed personal account of Frederick’s life as a young slave growing up between multiple slave plantations in Maryland, and the up-and-coming city of Baltimore. While reading through the Narrative, one might come to the understanding that, only the person on top of history actually writes history, and the narrative is the one of the first well-known documents that

To say that slavery only affects slaves is inaccurate; it dehumanizes the slaveholders too. Some of the slaveholders were sympathetic, innocent human beings. They were not automatically corrupt just because they owned a slave. Rather, slavery changed their actions and characters from merciful to vicious. In his autobiographical novel, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Douglass reveals how the act of owning slaves turns many dignified human beings into barbarians.

Frederick Douglass slave owner was his dad. This book is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The author is Frederick Douglass of his narrative. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery he was working on the farm by age 7. His dad ( Fred’s slave owner ) whipped him as well as Fred’s mom. He was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.” When Fred got older he ran away to Baltimore and got a new slave owner.Fred tried to run away and he got caught luckily they threw away the evidence of what the plan was when they were trying to escape.Fred got caught and went back to Mr.Covey.

In the novel Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass, Mr. Douglass delivers valuable lessons by relaying his own life story. Douglass helps readers realize how powerful the mind can be. First, Douglass is able to show how the mind of person can still be psychological strong enough to survive and excel in the poverty and circumstances he was introduced to in his early life. Also, Douglass is able to identify the power of slavery to be in direct connection to the slave-owners’ ability to entrap the mind. A significant lesson that Douglass also brought to readers’ attention is the ability of the mind to make a person believe, even at times of haunting sin, that their actions are righteous. Frederick Douglass’ novel is a great motivational resources that help remind society that the mind is a powerful tool.