Frederick Douglass And Mr Auld Summary

Douglass effectively opposes the argument of Mr. Auld’s explanation for the problem with teaching slaves to read through the use of logic, irony, and ethos. In chapters 6 and 7, Douglass builds his opposition of the idea through first-hand experiences. Douglass often uses logic to disprove Mr. Auld and his point. He implicitly points out that slaves are human. He mentions that white people can be taught and white people are considered humans. He points out that slaves can also be taught, but aren’t allowed to be, also making them human. This shows that slaves are just as competent as white people. They can be taught and become literate, but the white people refuse to let that happen. Douglass then states how this is clearly illogical because all men are humans and are created equal. They should be able to be taught. Douglass also disproves Mr. Auld’s by claiming that it is ironic. He mentions that this whole scenario has not only dehumanized him, but it has also dehumanized his masters. He claims that Mr. Auld has always been a demon, but that it demonized Mrs. Auld so much that she fell from her angel-like status and fell to be a demon, being even worse than her husband. He also talks about how Mr. Auld believes that poor white kids that are worse off than the well-kept

Auld’s argument. The kids on the street are white, which puts them above slaves because of their inartistic ethos. Douglass states that slaves are dumb and will never be able to read or write, giving them a much lower place in society because of this inartistic ethos. Douglass decides that he is going to create an artistic ethos for himself. He plans to become smart and literate, even though his masters shame him for it and think it is wrong. He plans to put himself at the level of the white kids, to show The Aulds and society that they can and should allow slaves to be literate because they are humans