How Does Frederick Douglass Overcome Physical Abuse

1168 Words3 Pages

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass, copyright 2004 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., Douglass faces many challenging hardships that change him. Douglass’s childhood and most of his adult life were spent as a working slave. Throughout his life, he encounters many different slave owners and other slaves who affect his life. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass experiences physical, emotional, and social hardships which change him forever. When Douglass worked for Edward Covey and in the shipyard after he gets out of prison, he experiences physical abuse that changes him. Throughout the majority of Frederick Douglass’s life, he does not receive as harsh punishment as some of the other …show more content…

In the beginning of Douglass’s narrative he starts by saying, “ I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (21; ch. 1). Frederick Douglass struggles throughout his life not knowing any years or dates or information about his birth. He compares the slaves and himself to horses with no knowledge. This changes Douglass to realize that education means freedom. If he is no longer as ignorant and uneducated as an animal, he can find a way to be a free man. Once Douglass slowly becomes more and more educated, he plans way to escape slavery. Douglass received his first form of education from Mrs. Auld, when he lived there for seven years. Frederick Douglass describes his lack of education as, “she at first locked the depravity indispensable to shutting me up in mental darkness” (61; ch. 7). Yet again Douglass, express how he is kept ignorant and uneducated in “mental darkness”. Douglass uses this metaphor to express how he knows nothing. This dehumanizing creates a desire in Douglass to educate himself in whatever way possible, so one day he can become a free

Show More
Related

  • Trickery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

    1878 Words  | 4 Pages

    Piano, Doreen. “Critical Essay on “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself”.” Nonfiction Classics for Students, Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works, 2001. Literature Resource Center. 24 April, 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Use of Rhetorical Devices in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass himself is a brutally honest portrayal of slavery's dehumanizing capabilities. The style of this famous autobiography can be best described as personal, emotional, and compelling. By writing this narrative, Douglass wants his audience to understand him. He does this by speaking informally like a person would when writing a letter or telling a story to a friend. By clearly establishing his credibility and connecting with his audience, Douglass uses numerous rhetorical devices to argue for the immorality of slavery.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass' "Resurrection"

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the amazing things about the story is the level of description and imagery that Douglass uses to describe the suffering around him. The excerpt spans a mere three days, but most of the text focuses on his abuse and battle with Mr. Covey. Douglass skips over the common parts of his life to further his case against slavery. By doing this, the Northerners rea...

    Read More

  • Teaching Frederick Douglass in American School Systems

    1609 Words  | 4 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. 1845, The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. 2032-2097.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass In 'The Columbian Orator'

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    Once Douglass learns to read, and gets his first book, “The Columbian Orator” he is immediately exposed to arguments against the suffering he is experiencing. Among the speeches in “The Columbian Orator” there is a dialogue between a slave and his master in which the slave convinces the master to grant him freedom. Douglass is like Adam and Eve after then ate the apple. He is enlightened, and he can never go back. Not only is he isolated from his brothers because of his intelligence, but he is also guilty of a serious crime. It is no wonder that Douglass views his knowledge as a curse, it has so far caused him nothing but pain, and isolation. Ignorance is bliss.

    Read More

  • Violence In Frederick Douglass

    333 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, emotional violence takes an aggressive toll not only on Douglass, but also his master Mr. Covey, his family, and fellow slaves. During his time with Covey, Douglass was affected deeply by the strain of slavery, especially in spirit and ways of hope. Mr. Covey was infamous for his reputation as a ‘‘nigger-breaker” and induced fear into slaves, emotionally scarring them (Douglass 53).

    Read More

  • Dehumanization and Freedom in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    1733 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frederick Douglass emphasizes the dehumanization aspect of slavery throughout his narrative. As is the general custom in slavery, Douglass is separated from his mother early in infancy and put under the care of his grandmother. He recalls having met his mother several times, but only during the night. She would make the trip from her farm twelve miles away just to spend a little time with her child. She dies when Douglass is about seven years old. He is withheld from seeing her in her illness, death, and burial. Having limited contact with her, the news of her death, at the time, is like a death of a stranger. Douglass also never really knew the identity of his father and conveys a feeling of emptiness and disgust when he writes, "the whisper that my master was my father, may or may not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little consequence to my purpose" (Douglass, 40). Douglass points out that many slave children have their masters as their father. In these times, frequently the master would take advantage of female slaves and the children born to the slave w...

    Read More

  • Fredrick Douglass

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997).

    Read More

  • Compare Frederick Douglass And Mark Twain

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Their education had given them a new perspective of everything around them—a glimpse to a whole new world. Upon learning to read, Douglass began to realize how an education could ruin slaves. With education, comes enlightenment, and for him his enlightenment was the realization to the injustices going on around him. With him finally being able to read, he understood more fully the implications of slavery sometimes served to make him more miserable as he came to comprehend the hopelessness of the situation for himself and the other slaves. He states in his narrative, “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me” (268) because he realized that his knowledge came at a cost—he knew that there was nothing normal and right about slavery, yet he had to live as one—whatever knowledge he had attained, festered in his mind and made him even unhappier with the conditions and treatment than

    Read More

  • Douglass -- The Narrative

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    Quarles, Benjamin, ed. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. By Frederick Douglass. Cambridge: Harvard Press, 1988.

    Read More

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    When first introduced to Douglass and his story, we find him to be a young slave boy filled with information about those around him. Not only does he speak from the view point of an observer, but he speaks of many typical stereotypes in the slave life. At this point in his life, Frederick is inexperienced and knows nothing of the pleasures of things such as reading, writing, or even the rights everyone should be entitled to. Douglass knowing hardly anything of his family, their whereabouts, or his background, seems to be equivalent to the many other slaves at the time. As a child Frederick Douglass sees the injustices around him and observes them, yet as the story continues we begin to see a change.

    Read More

  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The Formation of Identity

    2136 Words  | 5 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987.

    Read More

  • Key Arguments in "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave: Written by Himself (ed. John Blassingame) Yale University Press, 2001.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass is written to have people place their feet in the shoes of Frederick Douglass and try to understand the experience he went through as a slave. Douglass writes this piece of literature with strong wording to get his point across. He is not trying to point out the unpleasant parts of history, but to make people face the truth. He wants readers to realize that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that some slaves, like himself, have intellectual ability. These points are commonly presented through the words of Douglass because of his diction.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Theory On Slavery

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Douglass opens his narrative introducing himself stating his birthplace and age. However, he claims he cannot authenticate his introduction because he himself was a slave and was not given access to this information. Immediately he attempts to demonstrate the lack of knowledge slaves had because of their masters and slaveholders. Slaves were no...

    Read More

More about How Does Frederick Douglass Overcome Physical Abuse

Open Document