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Frederick douglass on a slave girls life
Analysis of a slave narrative
Women as instruments of slavery in Frederick Douglass
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In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, all of the various women who appeared in Douglass’ life were reduced to little more than caricatures of the violence that could be inflicted upon slaves. This is not necessarily the fault of the author, but of the institution of slavery, layered with the historical inequality of men and women of all races and classes. The victimization of female slaves was a horrible issue in history, and it is illuminated in the pages of the Narrative. However, the issues specifically pertaining to female slaves are too often glossed over in favor of the much broader topic of abolition.
The first woman mentioned in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is his Harriet Bailey, his mother.
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“I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart‐rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose,” writes the author (Douglass 3,4). Hester was prohibited from speaking to another slave nearby, Ned Robert. This restriction was set in place for no other reason than a perverted sense of jealousy felt by her and Douglass’ master. He would prohibit Hester from seeing this man, and then, when she inevitably rebelled and broke his ruling, would violently whip her to the point of the quote at the beginning of the …show more content…
First there was the city slaves who lived across the street from Douglass when he was in Baltimore, Henrietta and Mary. Douglass describes them, specifically Mary, as being suspect to the worst kind of physical torture and abuse, as the most “mangled and emaciated creatures” that he has ever seen (Douglass 15). He also describes his wife’s cousin, who was murdered by a slaveowner in the town where he lived. He says that the female slaveowner “seized an oak stick of wood by the fireplace, and with it broke the girlʹs nose and breastbone, and thus ended her life” (Douglass 10). In addition to these two, there is also Henny, a fellow slave of Douglass’ during his second stretch living in Baltimore. She was disabled, and because of that, her master found her an easy target for physical abuse. “I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture‐‐ʺHe that knoweth his masterʹs will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.ʺ Master would keep this lacerated young woman tied up in this horrid situation four or five hours at a time. I have known him to tie her up early in the morning, and
The narrative of Douglass quotes "Mr. Covey gave me a very severe whipping, cutting my back causing blood to run, and raising ridges on my flesh as large as my little finger". This quote also shows how horrible the men were abused and beaten too. Although, they had more of a chance to fight back against their masters, which is proven in this quote "This gave me assurance, and I held him uneasy, causing the blood to run where I touched him with the ends of my fingers". The quote explains how Douglass finally fought back against his master, after being beaten several times by him. The mental abuse is shown in the quote from Douglass's narrative that states" Mr.Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit.". This shows that the masters would mentally break the men, so they would behave and listen to them better. Most masters would drain all the spirit out of the men to make the threat of the slaves fighting back very rare. Those were the horrible struggles the men had to deal with in
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the inhumane effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. His use of vivid language depicts violence against slaves, his personal insights into the dynamics between slaves and slaveholders, and his naming of specific persons and places made his book an indictment against a society that continued to accept slavery as a social and economic institution. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1853 she published Letter from a Fugitive Slave, now recognized as one of the most comprehensive antebellum slave narratives written by an African-American woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves.
It was noticed that Harriet focus more on love, whereas Douglass focus more on trying to find a way out. In other words Harriet showed a lot of feminism throughout her narrative, and on the other had Douglass showed more determination to get out. Due to these events, and circumstances it can be justified that gender contributed a lot in the lives of Fredrick Douglass, Linda Brent (Harriet A. Jacobs). It can also be concluded that age, and dismemberment played a big role in their lives coming up as slaves.
As both the narrator and author of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself” Frederick Douglass writes about his transition from a slave to a well educated and empowered colored young man. As a skilled and spirited man, he served as both an orator and writer for the abolitionist movement, which was a movement to the abolishment of slavery. At the time of his narrative’s publication, Douglass’s sole goal of his writings was to essentially prove to those in disbelief that an articulate and intelligent man, such as himself, could have,in fact, been enslaved at one point in time. While, Douglass’ narrative was and arguably still is very influential, there are some controversial aspects of of this piece, of which Deborah McDowell mentions in her criticism.
Throughout the narrative, Fredrick Douglass gives a descriptive account of his experiences as a slave and his arguments against the practice of slavery is evident in these experience. He describes how he witnessed his aunt Hester being whipped by her master Ms. Auld. Aunt Hester "was led into the kitchen, forced to strip from her neck to her lower waist, leaving her entire neck, shoulders and the back entirely naked. Also, He then told her to cross her pair of hands and soon the warm red blood came dripping from the floor. Furthermore, I was so terrified and horror-stricken when I saw the scenario" (Douglass, 1845). His argument is that Ms. Auld became a bad person because of owning slaves. "Also, this good heart had but a little time to remain such. In addition, the dangerous poison due to irresponsible power was in her lethal hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. Also, that cheerful eye under the influence of slavery soon became fumed with anger; the voice made of sweet rhythm, changed to one of harsh, rude and horrid discord’’ (Douglass, 1845). From this experience, we are able to learn that Douglass argument was that slaves were not treated as human beings and were considered as property. Douglass states that “I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery” (Douglass,
Douglass explains the harsh interaction that occurred between slaves and their slave masters. One which he witnessed his Aunt Hester getting whipped because she went under her master wish to talk to a man he told her not to talk to (Pg. 6). At the age
In, “The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, readers get a first person perspective on slavery in the South before the Civil War. The author, Frederick Douglass, taught himself how to read and write, and was able to share his story to show the evils of slavery, not only in regard to the slaves, but with regard to masters, as well. Throughout Douglass’ autobiography, he shares his disgust with how slavery would corrupt people and change their whole entire persona. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos to help establish his credibility, and enlighten his readers about what changes needed to be made.
In sum, all of these key arguments exist in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” because of the institution of slavery and its resulting lack of freedom that was used to defend it. This text’s arguments could all be gathered together under the common element of inequality and how it affected the practical, social, and even spiritual lives of the slaves.
In Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, one of the major themes is how the institution of slavery has an effect on the moral health of the slaveholder. The power slaveholders have over their slaves is great, as well as corrupting. Douglass uses this theme to point out that the institution of slavery is bad for everyone involved, not just the slaves. Throughout the narrative, Douglass uses several of his former slaveholders as examples. Sophia Auld, once such a kind and caring woman, is transformed into a cruel and oppressive slave owner over the course of the narrative. Thomas Auld, also. Douglass ties this theme back to the main concern of authorial control. Although this is a personal account, it is also a tool of propaganda, and is used as such. Douglass’s intent is to convince readers that the system of slavery is horrible and damaging to all included, and thus should be abolished completely. Douglass makes it very clear in his examples how exactly the transformation occurs and how kind and moral people can become those who beat their slaves and pervert Christianity in an attempt to justify it.
Douglass also gives accounts of the horrific treatment of slaves by the plantation owner. "He (Master) would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at dawn by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood."(14) He mentions the tangible blood and shrieks to emphasize the pain and torture of a human being. This slave bleeds like any other person and so it is easier for a reader ...
In conclusion, women were considered property and slave holders treated them as they pleased. We come to understand that there was no law that gave protection to female slaves. Harriet Jacob’s narrative shows the true face of how slaveholders treated young female slave. The female slaves were sexually exploited which damaged them physically and psychologically. Furthermore it details how the slave holder violated the most sacred commandment of nature by corrupting the self respect and virtue of the female slave. Harriet Jacob writes this narrative not to ask for pity or to be sympathized but rather to show the white people to be aware of how female slaves constantly faced sexual exploitation which damaged their body and soul.
The first topic found in these books is the difference in the roles of women and men slaves. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gives us the women 's point of view, their lifestyle and their slave duties and roles. On the other hand, The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows us the male side of slavery; the duties and role of men slaves and their way of living their situation. Both books state clearly the roles of both men and women slaves. We can easily observe the fact that slaves’ roles were based on their gender, and the different duties they had based on these roles. This gender role idea was based on American society’s idea of assigning roles based only on gender. Slave men’s role was most of the time simple. Their purpose was mainly physical work. In
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.
For instance, Douglass mentions he observed Master Andrews grab his little brother by the throat and throw him to the ground while he then advanced to stomp upon his head until blood gushed (337). He also recognizes that two black women belonging to the Hamiltons looked “mangled” (331). He indicates that Mrs. Hamilton would sit in the center of the room with a cowskin in her hand and would hit her enslaved women as they walked in front of her (331-332). Douglass remarks the “festering sores” spread all over the women. These occurrences show the hatred the whites had towards the blacks. Both white men and women would punish the slaves without any justification. The whites took advantage of the power they acquired and tortured innocent people daily. This is the biggest reason of why Frederick Douglass demonstrated disgust towards
In Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author subjects the reader to a dystopian slave narrative based on a true story of a woman’s struggle for self-identity, self-preservation and freedom. This non-fictional personal account chronicles the journey of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) life of servitude and degradation in the state of North Carolina to the shackle-free promise land of liberty in the North. The reoccurring theme throughout that I strive to exploit is how the women’s sphere, known as the Cult of True Womanhood (Domesticity), is a corrupt concept that is full of white bias and privilege that has been compromised by the harsh oppression of slavery’s racial barrier. Women and the female race are falling for man’s