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.
Narrating these stories informs readers not familiar with slavery a clear idea on how slaves lived and were treated. The novel brings a strong political message to our society. If Douglass explains to people what slavery was about, they would be influenced to make a change. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is the story of Frederick Douglass from the time he was born a slave to the time of his escape to freedom. Through years of physical abuse and assault, Douglass overcame these obstacles to become an advocate against
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
Slavery was a fulsome practice that was practiced by the Southern states in the antebellum and Civil War period. This practice viewed today, and by some then as morally unacceptable, was accepted in Southern society as a necessary evil. Many Northerners and some Southerners alike did not know how slaves suffered, but one slave would show how the slaves suffered. This slave's name was Frederick Douglass. In his book The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he exposed the horrors of slavery. Douglass tells of the atrocities of slavery, to expose the defense of the cruel atrocities by slaveholders, and to incite the Northern populace to exhort the abolishment of slavery.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass and edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. described how slaves in the U.S were treated before the American Civil War. The cruelties that these slaves faced every day were beyond what all of us would expected. They were abused with force and starvation by their masters and overseers, additionally they were also being suppressed by their owners, intellectually and economically. Many of us think of slavery as an act of confinement and denying a person of his/her freedom. However, American slavery is way worst than that. Slavery in U.S is a way to suppress generations of African Americans by treating them with violence. As Douglass described what he saw " I had seen [master] tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked back..Master would keep this lacerated young women tied up in this horrid Comment [G5]: Deleted:y Comment [G1]: Inserted: were Comment [G2]: Inserted: ies Comment [G4]: Deleted:a Comment [G3]: Inserted:
All in all, Frederick Douglass’s book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was a story of slavery and freedom. He was fortunate that he was able to experience a better slave life than others. He was able to obtain knowledge about reading that he was not obtaining to be a slave for all his life. He, unlike other slaves, knew he was not supposed to be a slave for the rest of his life. He described the ways by which slaveholders justify themselves for their actions. He was one of the rare ones who did not lose their way to freedom; he discussed the many ways that slaves were kept from thinking about escaping and freedom. Once he was free, he wrote this Narrative and refutes many myths that many have said about slaves and slaveholders.
The book “ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” written by himself, Frederick Douglass, was a great book. When Frederick Douglass wrote this book, his goal was to give a taste of what being a slave is like to everyone. The book gives a very detailed story of the life of Frederick Douglass, what he had went through and how difficult it has been for every slave in America during slavery times.
Frederick Douglass is known for being an outstanding orator, but he is mostly acknowledged for being an incredible abolitionist. His work to demolish slavery has been greatly known, detailing his life experience as a slave and expressing his theory on slavery. In “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” he demonstrates the way religion and its literature, the bible, had a negative influence and effect on slavery as well as the development of white Christianity.
In The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Douglass shares the story of his lifetime in slavery. By revealing the hardships he had to endure, Douglass attempted to gain support for abolition. Throughout the book, Douglass discusses the horrifying whippings and beatings he and other slaves had to suffer through. At 20 years old, after being enslaved for his entire life, Douglass succeeded at escaping from his master in Baltimore. From here he went on to create a life for himself by working hard and earning his own living. Once he became free, Douglass dedicated his life to helping others that were not lucky enough to escape and writing this book was just one step he took in doing that. The southerners false beliefs that it was god wills for them
The narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass an american slave is an autobiographical narrative. He expresses his perspective of slavery and the horrific events that was brought along with. The narrative was mainly meant for white northerners to grasp the knowledge of what slavery really was and why it should be extinguished. The fundamental reason why Frederick Douglass didn’t accept slavery was because the negative effect that not only left on the slaves, but also their masters. Douglass knows his audience are christians furthermore, he uses religion and many other key moments in reaching his objective. which is ending slavery once and for all.
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.
His intended audience was the country he loved, the people he hoped to help, and I believe that his hope was his story would touch future generations. In his book, Mr. Douglass addresses one of the most difficult topics of slavery and that is how it fit within the Christianity of his day. He pointed out the hypocrisy of the Southern preachers that “Instead of preaching the gospel against this tyranny, rebuke, and wrong, ministers of religion have sought, by all and every means, to throw into the background whatever in the bible could be construed into opposition to slavery, and to bring forward that which they could torture into its support.” (3) He was even chastised by other Christians suggesting that he was “injuring the cause of Christ” or “undermining religion.” (3) As a Christian man himself he was able to see the differences between the God of the bible and the people of the religion and I admire his ability to stand for what he believed and that he was brave enough to defend his God against the people that were twisting the bible for their own gain. “It is because I love this religion that I hate slaveholding… It is because I regard one as good, and
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass gives a first person perspective on the life of a slave laborer in both the rural south and the city. Frederick Douglass gave himself an education against horrible odds, and was able to read and think forever about the evils of slavery and good reasons for its abolishment. The primary reason for his disgust with slavery was its effect of dehumanizing not only the slaves, but their masters too. His main goal: to abolish slavery.
The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.
With a few short words he could conjure powerful emotions and images that would better help his readers understand his life and experiences. The bible was a touchstone between white and black audiences. The reading public, and certainly the paying reading public, was largely white. The people who could effect change based on reading Douglass' book were white. Lisa Margaret Zeitz, in her essay, “Biblical Allusion and Imagery in Frederick Douglass' Narrative” wrote “the white abolition audience for whom Douglass wrote...would certainly have responded to a language of religious reference, but Douglass was probably not consciously catering to their tastes” (56). This may be taking it too far. Douglass was almost certainly aware of the effect his