He valued freedom very much and made the point if there is no struggle than there is no progress. Douglass’s element of freedom was by educating the people in displaying the horrors of slavery and the harsh treatments. He made it his mission to exhibit how white slaveholders extend slavery by keeping their slaves oblivious. During the time when Douglass was writing, a lot of people really believed that slavery was something that was normal. They had the belief that blacks were integrally powerless of contributing in civil society and therefore would need to be kept as workers for whites.
When he escaped slavery and learned to read he felt that it gave him hope and freedom. By learning to read he became the leader of the abolitionist movement, known for his oratory and antislavery writings. He challenged himself to set the goal to read, wanting to improve; it wasn’t an easy task and he often felt like giving up. “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free” (Douglass). If he’d done so he may never have been the first African American nominated for vice president of the United States.
Woodson also stressed that society did not make a valid effort in trying to domesticate the African-American after the oppression of slavery ended. Instead of having shackles around their wrists and ankles, African-Americans now had to deal with an industrialized world which purposely got a head start and left them behind. However, it was also stated by Woodson that African-Americans should forgive but never forget how they were placed in such an economical, physical, emotional, and social deficit, but use it as a tool of hope and determination for the
In his narrative, he writes about his mistress. He writes, “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had, in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by any one else” (Douglass, pg. 113). Because of the fact that Douglass was a slave, his mistress stopped teaching him and prevented anyone else from doing so. “When I was sent of errands, I always took my book with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return” (Douglass, pg 115).
Douglass investigates this element of his experience throughout his story. He notes that this is an approach that whites use to maintain their supremacy over slaves. He then generalizes from his own experience, explaining that almost no slaves know their true ages. A major theme within the text is that ignorance and slavery go hand in hand. Douglas learns this early on and decides that the key to his freedom lies in education.
Blake Overland Sanders/Youmans Modern Civilization 5 March 2012 The Inspiration That Drove Frederick Douglass to Freedom In Frederick Douglass's narrative of his life, there is a key turning point in the story when Douglass is staying with the Auld family learning the alphabet that comes to shift the inspiration and drive that existed in his life. Mr. Auld says things to Douglass in this passage that helps him understand the way that the white man feels about slaves and why they treat blacks like animals while at the same time also showing him the way out of slavery indirectly (1018). The specific passage mentioned earlier is very short, but can be seen as one of the most important parts of the entire work. Out of all the slave owners Douglass ever came into contact with, Mr. Auld can be seen in light of this story as one of the more significant. His view of Frederick also gives the reader a firsthand look at the way the slave owners in the South really
Irony is embodied largely in the justification of slavery through religion, as well as in the obliviousness of the slaveholders to the same, if not harsher, oppression they motivated after having fought against it in the American Revolution only decades before. Douglass’ diction is important to the readers understanding of the events in the story and the severity surrounding them. It also makes the whole engagement more enticing not only because it elucidates and canonizes emotions in the novel, but also because it helps to create imagery in the readers mind. He is also able to use diction and imagery to construct eloquent passages that are at the same time punctual and yet have deep emotional tolls on the reader. One such example is embodied on page in the text, “Mr.
Frederick Douglass’ personality is shown in a few different ways in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. His book was an in-depth look into the life of a slave in the mid 1800’s. The book helped people get a better view of how slaves were treated, on gave fuel to the Abolitionist fire. Frederick Douglass’ Narrative was a first person historical account of slavery. Since it is an account written by him, he helps us today to see slavery without exaggeration or Government re-written history books.
In the autobiography, “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass,” Douglass narrates his personal experience of being a slave and what steps he took to relinquish him from slavery and become a free man. Douglass uses vivid imagery in order to really depict what was really happening under the slaveholder’s hands. Without these images, his life story would have been in vain and everything he endured to achieve his dream of freedom along with it. Douglass’ style of writing, in his autobiography, is relative to the time when he wrote it. Not only did he want to voice the inhumane treatments brought upon other slaves, but he also wanted to let them know not to lose confidence, dignity or self-worth.
His community, however, is not very impressed with John's new personality. As he is newly educated, he understands racial and social injustices and shares his opinions with those within his community. At the party, he lets everyone know that people's religious beliefs or educational status do not necessarily matter, as the most important part was their own personality. The black John decided he wants to open up a school for the people in his community, since he wanted to give back. When he is given the permission to open this school, he is told to follow a racially unequal curriculum that promotes submission to the United States' racial hierarchy.