Behind every story lies a bittersweet message that sheds light on a shady subject. We remember his narrative as our glimpse into the depths of the unspoken truth. So in the effort to make his statement, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was a way to expose the dehumanization of slaves to an insensible society, and to fuel the approaching, national abolition. Douglass wastes no time in his vivid description of his early life. He states that, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it,” (Douglass, L. 3).
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass is his story as an American slave struggling to become a free slave. Douglass’ story supplies a more in depth look into how slavery was affecting him and other slaves from the victim’s perspective. The Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglass illustrates in great detail the life that Frederick Douglass was faced to endure. Through his narrative we are given the opportunity to follow Douglass from child hood to his life as a free man. Along this journey we are given an account of what slavery was like in the 1800’s, as well as an emotional outlook at the struggle which led Douglass to freedom, allowing him to become a prominent slavery abolitionist.
1. Ludwig van Wittgenstein once said, “ Language is the limit of thought.” What cannot be said cannot be thought without falling into disorder. Douglass’ vocabulary allowed for a more comprehensive analysis of the nature of slavery and the human conditions surrounding it. With his immense and comprehensive vocabulary Douglass constructed a novel indispensable in our country’s history. Language also enabled Douglass to construct imagery and passages that far more accurately reflected the true horrors of the events Douglass witnessed during the time he served as a slave.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”. Throughout the book professor Nash emphasizes on the struggles an early America had to deal with developing a country based on independence and freedom, the concept which is the foundation of the “Declaration of Independence”, and enslave the men, women, and children of Africa. Through the American Revolution it was discovered that there was inconsistency with slave system and the principle reasons for the problems between England and America. We have to ask, why was slavery protected as long as it was? Within the book there were many reasons that explained why the nation failed to end slavery but the main reason being the fear that Georgia and South Carolina’s would refuse to join the union if they were forced to abolish it.
The author of these pages wanted us to focus our attention on all the hardship that African Americans had to endure whether slave or free. The author stayed to the facts of the Fugitive Slave Acts. I have picked this subject matter to write about because I can’t put myself in this time of history. Going to school in Ohio, we studied about Oberlin and Wellington. These two places helped a slave escape a federal marshal so he couldn’t return the slave back to the South.
Knowledge Is Power Knowledge, as we know, can be powerful and because of this, the changes yielded by knowledge can be distinguish. The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, is a story about a man who uses knowledge to make a change: Douglass escaped from slavery to become a leading abolitionist and one of the most important writers. It is from Hugh Auld that Douglass learns this notion that the power of knowledge can lead to the way of freedom, as Auld forbids his wife to teach Douglass how to read and write because education ruins slaves. Douglass presents his literacy as the primary way that he is able to free himself, and as his greatest tool to work for the freedom of all slaves. Throughout reading, many readers might think Douglass’s battle with Mr.
For example, former slave Frederick Douglass education is the key to freedom. Douglass detailed the inspiration to, and recompenses of his achievement. By reading chapter 15, it becomes apparent that he clearly understood the extent of the unfairness of slavery. He felt more disadvantaged, and angrier than before. He valued freedom very much and made the point if there is no struggle than there is no progress.
Douglass begins his narrative with explaining that as a child he was unaware of how old he was and that as a slave, he was forbidden to ask. This was a major source of unhappiness for Douglass as a child, as all of the white boys around him knew their age. As this being the first thing that Douglass talks about, it is apparent that this lack of identity is going to be a big part of what Douglass focuses on. Douglass writes about how white slaveholders keep slavery alive by dehumanizing their slaves and keeping them ignorant. It also seems that ignorance is not only apparent in the slaves but in the slaveholders themselves.
Every slave’s journey to freedom is imbued with hopes, struggles and triumph. Each individual narrative complex and intriguing. The world is blessed to have one of those distinct stories written by an educated former slave that went by the name Frederick Douglass. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave, Douglass reminisces on his life and the countless trials that he had to surpass throughout the years to become a free African American. There were many endeavors on his path to freedom, almost too many to count.
Slave owners purposely tried to keep their slaves from learning these skills. Keeping slaves “ignorant”, so to speak, was a key part of the institution of slavery. A slave who could not read or write was without the “knowledge” of the wrong doings of the white salve owners (Goehring, 2012). Learning to read and eventually write was the most important thing for Douglass. This would open doors to his “Path to Freedom”.